America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Burbank's Studio Four had a sign change, and the James Franco and Ben Affleck School of Acting was officially established in front of dozens of media cameras.

For secondary and tertiary stars, especially those not much in demand, this business is very lucrative.

But A-list stars who are hot right now rarely delve into it.

On one hand, they lack the time, and on the other, they feel it's beneath their dignity.

Ben and Franco gave gifts to every media journalist who came by to increase the school's exposure.

After sending off the journalists, the two returned to the office to discuss their next steps.

Ben didn't have much cash to spare, so he could only invest a small amount of capital, along with his fame and channel resources. After all, he had the Foot Clan behind him, and getting some temporary actors and small-time actors into the Foot Clan's productions wasn't difficult.

He could even arrange for some of the girls to meet Harvey Weinstein.

James Franco was still the school's largest shareholder, sitting in the office chair, he said, "Now there's only one important thing left to do!"

The two were in the honeymoon phase of their partnership, and Ben naturally continued, "Admissions! We need to start recruiting students as soon as possible!"

It wasn't that he had no assets, but that his personal funds were limited. Nowadays, his truly valuable assets were all in joint ownership with his spouse, and selling them would require Jennifer Garner's agreement.

Ben was a good big brother who didn't want his brother to end up in jail dropping the soap, he said, "We need to recruit students fast and make money!"

Franco said, "Ben, how about we each lead a class? This would increase efficiency, and halfway through the course, we can swap teachers between the two classes, thus fulfilling our promise of dual-star teaching!"

Ben, who was all about making money, agreed, "That's a good plan, let's do it your way."

After a week of training, the previous group of students had officially graduated. Franco called in an assistant and asked her to contact newspapers to advertise for new students.

Jennifer Lawrence stayed at the acting school, temporarily acting as an assistant, then patiently waiting for the good opportunity that James Franco had mentioned.

After finishing the media contact work, Lawrence took out the Nokia 1100 specifically prepared for her by Nicholson and composed a text message with only numeric codes, sending it to the secure phone Nicholson had specifically activated for this operation.

......

In the Beverly Hills Sunset Boulevard North Area, Nicholson was leisurely enjoying afternoon tea with Lorraine.

The classic Nokia ringtone sounded, and he pulled out a black 1100, glanced at the text, and said to Lorraine, "Go to the study and bring me my leather-bound notebook."

Seeing as her father had just made a tidy sum of money for her from TMZ, Lorraine didn't say much and quickly went to the first-floor study to fetch the notebook.

Nicholson opened the notebook and started deciphering his own code to see what it meant.

It couldn't be helped, he was getting older and his memory was failing.

He had been enthusiastic about creating the code, insisting Martin and Lawrence memorize it, only to forget it himself completely.

Lawrence had sent a message using the code, but Nicholson couldn't understand what it meant.

Nicholson continued looking through the code until he finally found the corresponding information—it turned out the acting school was preparing to recruit new students.

The next step of the operation could begin.

Phone calls were not an option; Nicholson strictly followed the rules he had set himself when Martin left Los Angeles. Picking up the Nokia 1100, he found Bruce's designated number and forwarded the codes.

Lorraine asked out of curiosity, "What's up? You're being all secretive."

Nicholson replied, "It's a secret operation. Don't pry."

"Ha, what a secret," Lorraine expressed her displeasure. "Jack, can't you pay attention? The girl you've recently taken up with is even younger than me!"

After confirming the text was sent, Nicholson put down the phone, "We had an agreement; I don't interfere with your private life, you don't interfere with mine."

Lorraine pouted, "Fine, I won't interfere!" Her tone shifted, "I think Martin is quite something, a whole bunch of mistresses, both public and private, some even with husbands and boyfriends. Is there something special about him?"

Nicholson looked up.

Before he could speak, Lorraine blurted out, "Jack, don't you like having fun? What if your brother and best pal became your father-in-law, wouldn't that be interesting?"

Nicholson's eyes widened, momentarily at a loss for words.

......

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro.

Martin and Nolan were inside a TV station's studio, recording a program, with Bruce standing by in the back.

His phone vibrated; stepping back a couple of paces to get away from the crowd, he took out his spare phone to see a message consisting of just codes.

Bruce recalled for a moment, then grasped what they meant—it was from Nicholson.

Ignoring the rules set by Nicholson, he directly called Ivan's phone and said, "Keep an eye out, they should be recruiting over there now."

Ivan's response was succinct, "Received."

Bruce ended the call and took a step forward to continue standing behind Martin.

Some time later, Martin came out of the studio to go to the restroom.

Bruce followed, whispering, "Jack sent a code, it has begun."

Martin thought of the code and got a headache, "He completely immersed himself in it and even wrote a whole page of code."

Bruce said, "You don't take it down, but you ask me to remember it!"

"Your memory is better than mine," Martin replied. A thought crossed his mind, and from Nicholson, he thought of John Wick, "How about we get old Jack to play one of the big shots behind the high-stakes tables in the future?"

"His acting fee is very high," Bruce, who also wore the title of an agent, said, "Unless a single film later can pull in 400 million US dollars at the box office. But for an R-rated action movie, that's very tough."

Martin waved his hand, "We'll talk about it later."

......

In Los Angeles, Jody picked up her makeup mirror and touched up her makeup before heading out to drive to Griffith Park after receiving a call from Ivan.

Under a pavilion in the park, Jody met Ivan.

"Is it major news?" she asked directly.

Ivan shook his head, "Recently, luck hasn't been on my side, no big news caught directly."

Jody pulled out a cigarette, offered one to Ivan, and seeing him wave it away, she put it in her mouth and lit it, saying, "You wouldn't come to me without news."

"I've just got some information, but I'm too old for the trouble of verifying it myself," Ivan said.

"You know TMZ's rules, we don't buy news without solid evidence," Jody was very pragmatic, "I can't pay you just because of a piece of information you gave me."

Ivan fell silent for a while, then said, "Payment can be made afterward, verify the news first, and just pay me informer's fee."

The informer's fee was low, but Jody agreed, "I can make this decision. If the information is solid, I'll give you double the informer's fee."

Ivan pulled out a newspaper he had rolled up in his hand and handed it to Jody, "Take a look."

The newspaper was divided into two parts, the upper half reported the establishment of the James Franco and Ben Affleck Acting School yesterday, while the bottom half was an enrollment advertisement.

"Is there a problem with this school?" Jody asked.

Ivan detailed, "At my previous apartment, two girls on the same floor took acting classes at Franco's Studio Four. I've heard them mention, they all faced sexual harassment by Franco in class, even being asked to perform completely undressed, under the guise of art, performing explicit scenes with Franco, and even being asked by Franco to go to a hotel after class..."

Jody didn't interrupt rashly.

After receiving Bruce's notification, Ivan really did a lot of preliminary work, "I wanted to persuade them, but they were afraid their path in acting would be cut short. They dared not come forward."

"I wouldn't either in their place," said Jody.

Ivan continued, "And Ben Affleck, he used to be a part-time teacher at the Adler School of Acting. He was only there a short time before being complained about by several female students, the contents similar to Franco's."

Bruce had told him, it was a common ailment of many acting schools in Hollywood, the so-called 'casting couch' didn't just start with auditions for roles, girls with no connections or background started facing the casting couch choice from the very beginning of their acting studies.

Jody had vaguely heard such rumors, but didn't know much about them, and asked, "Are you sure?"

"The information and news I've provided you, have I ever given you false ones?" Ivan asked back.

Jody thought back for a moment, not once.

"I've given you the information, I have to go now," Ivan said.

Jody nodded, "I need to get support from my superiors, wait for my news."

Ivan smiled slightly and left the park with hands in pockets.

Jody left the park from the other side, drove back to the company, pulled out the files on James Franco and Ben Affleck, reviewed them thoroughly, and then headed to the editor-in-chief's office.

Unlike traditional media, TMZ didn't dare to truly provoke those big shots but chose to expose celebrity scandals more often than settle with the subjects.

After hearing Jody's description, the editor-in-chief asked, "What do you think?"

"Franco is a secondary star, aside from being closely associated with The Rat Pack, his background and connections are mediocre. Ben Affleck is a bit more troublesome. He's one of Harvey Weinstein's guys..." Jody continued.

The editor-in-chief cut her off, "Harvey Weinstein? Involving him is a bit troublesome."

"He's only one of Harvey's henchmen," Jody pressed on, "Since the failure of Daredevil, Ben Affleck's career has severely declined, no longer enjoying the limelight he had at the turn of the century, a has-been star with a relatively big name."

She was very direct, "We at TMZ can totally handle them!"

The editor-in-chief quickly reviewed the information about the two men on his computer, "Okay, but you know TMZ's principle, we can make news, but we must never publish fake news!"

Jody, still young and beyond being skinny, quite pretty, said, "I'm planning to sign up for their acting school, to experience the classes firsthand."

She came to the editor-in-chief seeking support, "During this period, I'll need a lot of special photography and recording equipment."

"I'll authorize it," the editor-in-chief praised, "Jody, you've got guts."

Jody was unyieldingly resolute, "All for the sake of news."

With the support and the equipment, Jody quickly signed up, becoming the aspiring actor yearning for fame, and began her life at the acting school.

Her first teacher was Ben Affleck, who did more than just touch the girls during class.

Jody wouldn't report fake news, but she would actively create real news, and soon, with her sassy performance, she drew Ben's attention.