[Chapter 25: MV Shoot, Carson's Frustration]
After Linton wrapped up his album recording, executives and market experts at Universal Music were left stunned by the quality of the album during an internal evaluation.
They unanimously assigned it an A+ rating, believing this album was bound to shake up the market. The price of the album was set, with projections estimating over 20 million copies sold worldwide. They decided to allocate the highest promotional resources for its launch.
It was no surprise that the executives at Universal were astonished. Typically, if an album has two high-quality songs, it's enough to guarantee sales, while three strong singles could lay the groundwork for a big hit. If there were five strong tracks, it would surely be a massive success.
Of course, the artist's name and the promotion also played critical roles in sales. But Linton's album? Every song was a hit! There were 13 songs on the album, and if released individually, each one had the potential to chart for the number one spot on the Billboard.
No other artist had ever done that. If any singer had so many high-quality tracks, they would base their singles on these, gather a few decent songs from other artists, and split them into three or more albums to maximize profit. Now, once Linton's album hit the market, it was bound to be a blockbuster.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Linton like a rare species; he was so talented and diverse, adding up to the potential profits he could bring to Universal. He was practically a cash cow, a walking printing press, a gift from heaven to the record label.
...
"Linton, why don't you come up with a name for this album?"
Typically, an album is named after the strongest single. But since Linton's album was filled with hits, the marketing team was at a loss for names and decided to consult Linton.
"This album, from its creation to recording, promotion, and now its final form, represents my growth. Let's call it Grow Up."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Daniel chimed in, "Growth is a great choice! This is just the story of a genius star's ascent, from an unknown student to a rapidly rising superstar through hard work and talent. Isn't that a perfect representation of the American Dream? Make sure the marketing department focuses on this theme!"
Daniel truly was a marketing genius; he quickly devised an excellent promotional strategy. Next, he tasked the production department to contact manufacturing plants for CD and vinyl production, with a first batch of 10 million copies.
The marketing team was to ensure that the album was prominently displayed across all channels, and they planned for an overseas simultaneous launch. A meeting was organized for the promotional personnel to discuss specific strategies, ensuring the album's release would be maximized to explode in the market.
---
After recording the songs, on the 28th, Linton met with Carson, Zack, and Anne for a meeting about the MV shoot.
They discussed the preparations, shooting plans, casting results, and what roles Linton needed to play in each song's video, along with the dance preparations required.
Linton had already reviewed the scripts for 10 songs' MVs and had made suggestions for adjustments. Zack had also sent the storyboard over for Linton's review long ago. Due to the constraints of the era, the other songs were generally following Zack's vision.
However, the song Sugar was to be crafted into a wedding MV classic. Remembering how Sugar became a wedding favorite in the past life, driving considerable traffic, and later collecting hefty licensing fees, Linton had Zack make adjustments following his creative ideas.
Carson, Zack, and Anne had laid solid groundwork, preparing various aspects, and Anne had nearly finished choreographing her dances, with all exterior footage already filmed.
After understanding the situation, Carson presented Linton with the selected main female leads for the seven other MVs, excluding the two that didn't require a female lead (Sugar and Legends Never Die), for Linton's review.
Linton had earlier given casting authority for all roles except for You're Beautiful to the trio, which made the casting competition quite fierce, bringing them several benefits. Even Mira had put in some effort, ultimately getting three of the seven MVs' leads from the WMA agency.
However, Linton felt reasonably satisfied after reviewing the candidates; the seven leads were all young beauties. Given that the MVs didn't require much acting skill -- just looks -- it was promising. Linton had initially hoped to spot a familiar name worth following up with for potential future collaborations, but seeing no names he recognized indicated that they had not been prominent in the past, so he dismissed it.
...
In the following days, Linton practiced dancing under Anne's guidance in the studio. The MVs featured quite a bit of his choreography, requiring him to master it quickly. The schedule was very tight for filming, but with his skills, dancing posed no challenge; even complicated moves were easy for him.
...
On October 1st, the filming officially kicked off at Universal's studio, starting with You're Beautiful. There was no need to elaborate on the shooting process; Naomi treasured the time spent collaborating with Linton, frequently monopolizing his downtime after filming each day.
The three days flew by as they worked hard during the day and partied at night.
After filming the MVs, Naomi left glowing, ready to tackle her next task.
...
Thanks to solid preparations and smooth cooperation among the team, the filming proceeded smoothly, finishing each song's MV within three days -- with some completed in just two.
However, Zack had it tough; he worked on filming during the day and editing with the video team at night, losing quite a bit of hair along the way. By October, the plan required completing all MV productions, which indicated the sheer workload and stress for Zack.
...
Naturally, during shoots, the seven female leads tried their best to showcase their charms to Linton, even overtly flirting, hoping to make a good impression for future collaborations. Even if future projects didn't materialize, being with someone as handsome and famous as Linton -- rumored to have great ability in bed -- seemed like a worthwhile venture.
Yet Linton remained indifferent; despite their beauty, he had no interest in nurturing a new relationship from scratch. Why cultivate what he could easily access? Seeing so many options already available, it felt unnecessary. Eventually, the girls had no choice but to leave disheartened.
In truth, one person on set felt more frustrated than they did. Every time a leading lady left, Carson slipped cash to Zack, who became thrilled and didn't even feel the fatigue from late nights. It turned out the two were betting on whether Linton would sleep with any of the MV leads. Last time, Carson had won; this time, however, he unexpectedly lost seven times in a row.
Finally, unable to hold back any longer, Carson asked Linton, "Are you dating someone? You don't seem to; you haven't made it public.
Could it be that they aren't beautiful? That wouldn't be right; we all think they're gorgeous. They're not any less than Cameron and Naomi!
Could it be you've changed your preferences and don't like women anymore? That's impossible; you're so strong and haven't shown any interest in men!"
Carson unleashed a barrage of questions, contradicting himself, revealing how frustrated he felt. During this moment, the entire crew listened keenly to hear how Linton would respond.
Yet Linton couldn't share the real reason; he simply said, "Who doesn't like beautiful women? But right now, work comes first. Now, let's get back to it."
*****
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