America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

He had been fed too much of it lately and felt like vomiting.

The party's hostess, Joanna, stood in front of a fountain greeting guests in a typically stylish forecourt setting.

Kate Winslet had been waiting for Louise and upon seeing her arrive with Martin on her arm, quickly walked over to greet her good friend with a hug, "You look really beautiful tonight."

Then she turned to Martin and said, "Handsome, you've finally come to develop your career in Los Angeles... Let me take a closer look; you and Louise are just like a match made in heaven." -verified

Martin behaved like a gentleman, picking up Kate's hand and kissing the back of it, "Beautiful English rose, may we have the pleasure of dancing together later?"

"No problem," Kate started leading the way: "I'll introduce you two."

Louise nodded, "A formal introduction from you is definitely better than me going over there rashly."

The three of them approached the fountain, where Kate introduced Louise and Martin to Joanna, a fellow Brit.

Harvey Weinstein also came over from one side and chatted with Louise for a bit.

Soon, Martin and his companions moved on, heading toward the crowd.

Louise asked, "Kate, are you planning on leveraging Harvey Weinstein's power?"

Kate shook her head: "Not at this round, it's not his movie, so how can he be expected to exert effort?" She aimed for the Oscar for Best Actress: "Maybe later, if it doesn't work out this time, Joanna might be able to help me to some extent."

Louise sincerely suggested, "Try for a role of a lunatic or a monstrous villain."

Kate couldn't help but laugh, looking at Martin: "I remember you said the same thing last time."

Martin was aware of his limitations, "I don't even know which way the academy's gates open."

Kate came over and hooked arms with Louise: "May I borrow your companion for a moment?"

Martin naturally slowed his pace.

In a lower voice, Kate said, "If Harvey Weinstein approaches you privately to discuss business, make sure to have Martin with you."

Louise understood her meaning, "I won't cooperate with him, nor am I interested in doing so."

"I'd prefer not to either," Kate repeated her stance, "But you always feel like something's missing without that little gold man from the Oscars."

All Louise could say was, "I wish your dreams come true soon."

Kate gestured unconsciously with her hands: "Because I've had high box-office sales, I'm being disrespected by a bunch of old men with no commercial success, and there's nowhere to make sense of it."

"Let's not talk about these vexing issues," Louise's voice also lowered, "Do me a favor later."

She whispered to Kate for a while before they stopped.

Kate agreed, "Alright, it's not about you anyway, mainly because of how good Martin was to me in Atlanta."

Louise's demeanor changed instantly, the air of a libertine not even suppressed by her formal evening dress: "What? Sam can't satisfy you? Kate, if you want in, I don't mind, and Martin surely wouldn't either."

Kate dropped her arm: "I'm going to find Wes Craven."

Martin followed from behind and asked, "Will it work?"

Louise spoke, "Do you think Kate has a problem with acting?"

Martin caught a glimpse of the tall figure of Wes Craven and took Louise's hand, "Let's go around the other way."

Louise asked, "Are you sure it will work?"

"Not sure, but you said Wes Craven likes group parties, so I'll give it a try," Martin responded with his usual strategic thinking, "I'll give it my best shot, and if it doesn't work out, we'll pull back."

He said in a low voice, "You've put a lot of money into this, and if we don't go all-in soon, I have to think of something too. Do you really expect to be my sugar mama? What happens when you wring me dry and ditch me?"

The two took a detour, waiting until Kate and Wes Craven struck up a conversation, then casually walked over, greeting people along the way as if mingling normally.

In Wes Craven's little circle, besides Kate, were two others — the married actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette from the "Scream" series.

The latter was one of the leading ladies from "Friends," very well-known.

They were discussing horror films.

Martin and Louise joined in, with Louise greeting Kate, "So this is where you've been."

Kate smiled, "I ran into Wes here, and just as David and Courteney came over, we started talking about horror films."

Craven took a moment to size up Louise: "You're Mel's daughter."

"Yes, my father has mentioned you several times; he's a faithful fan of the Elm Street series," Louise stated.

Afterwards, she introduced Martin.

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Bringing a male companion to a formal occasion, even if he's a stranger, will earn him attention from everyone.

If Martin himself couldn't join such circles, he could only leverage Louise's influence.

It wasn't wrong to say he was being kept.

After some brief pleasantries, Kate's gaze swept over Martin and Louise and swiftly returned to the topic of horror films, "The first 'Scream' summarized a bunch of clichés from horror films, but in the end, it still followed the same old path."

Craven agreed, "It's hard to innovate in American horror films nowadays. The 'Scream' series is just new wine in old bottles—just more unexpected killing methods, special identities of the killers, and more absurd motives..."

Courteney chimed in, "Some of the horror elements from the East are good. DreamWorks even adapted a Japanese horror film."

But Craven countered, "The reception was average. With different cultures, the acceptance in the market varies."

Louise, from an investor's perspective, said, "Traditional splatter films still have an audience, and such films have been big sellers in the last couple of years."

Martin joined in, "'Final Destination' had a good concept, but the sequels became formulaic."

Louise remarked, "It's difficult to reinvent a new horror film model. Passing the investor stage is quite a challenge."

Craven completely agreed, "Without investors, even the best ideas are just that—ideas. Production companies are conservative, wanting to continue successful models while innovation means taking on great unknown risks."

Martin added, "That's why Freddy and Jason have one sequel after another."

Seeing Martin and Louise join the conversation, Kate spoke less.

Louise then said, "Last year they made 'Freddy vs. Jason,' which I think is quite interesting when you put monsters from different movies together."

Craven, who was the screenwriter and producer for that movie, said, "It's a conservative kind of innovation."

Martin, picking up on his remark, suggested, "What if we put even more horror monsters into one movie? Like giant pythons, unicorns, the Tooth Fairy, psychopaths, giant bats, ghosts, zombies, witches, werewolves, and so on. Find a suitable story and concept, stuff them all into one film for a big free-for-all; wouldn't horror fans get a big kick out of that?"

Craven imagined it in his mind, "Sounds chaotic, I can't picture it at the moment."

"It's just a personal musings," Martin looked to Louise, "How about I do a horror monster theme for next week's costume party? The black of night, all sorts of monsters lurking around—it's thrilling just to think about it."

Louise said, "It's your call."

Kate offered assistance, "Sounds fun, can I join?"

"Of course, it would be my honor," Martin said, seizing the opportunity to extend an invitation, "David, Wes, Courteney, if you're interested, feel free to come as well."

Louise said with a laugh, "He always brags about being the king of parties, loves to come up with all sorts of fancy new ideas. You all should come and judge for yourselves."

David and Courteney, the couple, asked for the time, saying they would attend if available.

Craven, who already enjoyed parties, had gone to fewer in recent years mainly due to a lack of fresh excitement. Hearing Martin's idea, he became interested, and very seriously said, "You bringing a bunch of horror monsters together will be just right for me to see how they interact."

Martin, ever the people person, immediately turned on his charm, "I've also been involved in the production of horror films; we could have a special discussion on horror movie themes."

In front of others, Craven had to maintain his composure, "This theme has research value."

Louise took out her and Martin's business cards, exchanged them with Craven, set a date, and said to everyone, "I'll send out the official invitations next Monday."

The group enjoyed a good chat before parting ways after some time.

Later, using family matters as an excuse, Louise bid goodbye to Joanna.

Martin and she went to the parking area but didn't get into the Bentley; instead, he called Bruce.

Waiting for the Volkswagen to arrive, Martin asked, "I'm planning on renting that villa in Malibu where we shot 'Star Partners' last time. I'll cover the cost, but I don't have any professionals on my side, so I need your help again."

Louise reminded him, "The debt you owe me is mounting."

Martin bluntly suggested, "I can pay in kind."

Louise opened the door to the Volkswagen, pushed Martin into the car, and said to the driver, "Old Cloth, dump this trash into the Malibu sea; I'll settle the bill with you later."

Bruce turned back with a smile, "Civilized people do things properly, rest assured."

Martin got into the car and pulled out a little notebook, handing it to Louise, "See if this will clear my debts?"

Louise opened it, smiled with satisfaction, "Old Cloth, spare his life for now."

The door of the Volkswagen closed, and it sped away.

Louise got into her car and called her assistant, "Nicky, find a villa in Malibu for rent as soon as possible."

Bruce drove out of Beverly Hills along the freeway heading northeast and asked, "This investment is going to be steep; are you sure you can make it back?"

"Investing now is for higher returns in the future," Martin pulled out his phone and called Jenna Jameson.

According to Louise's description, Wes Craven liked community parties, not just pure horror costume balls.

Even if Hollywood model agencies were willing to take on the job, they would charge a lot.

Martin had already called Jenna James in the afternoon, and now that the party was confirmed, of course, he wanted to hire a professional, "Sorry, Jenna, for keeping you waiting so late. Old Cloth and I are on our way to the San Fernando Valley, traffic's a bit heavy, it will probably be about an hour before we arrive."

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