Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood
chapter-85

3rd January 2016

It was the start of the New year, and the whole of New York City was dyed in white. Not only the city but many parts of the world were covered with snow, making people wear warm clothes on the streets.

But despite the cold atmosphere, social media was still buzzing. Especially Aiden's fan group, which has grown to 2500 members in just a short time.

His victory in Indie Music awards and appearance on TV had given him more fans.

It had just started from a couple hundred but was now in thousands. It was just growing and growing.

Early in the year, the fan group was excitedly talking about Aiden's new project and what they could expect this year from him.

[Skyneves: Did you see the promotional poster for [Black Saints]? Ray Hardy looks so cool, and in the IFDB (Internet film database), it says that Aiden is in the movie.]

[Joe is sleepy: What are you all talking about? I didn't hear of a new movie.]

[Johnny boi: Yeah, it's confirmed because Aiden posted the movie poster too. It seems like he has more than a cameo in it.]

[Kalki: So, that's why he was in Chicago. It seems like a gangster drama, by the looks of it. I hope it's something nice, and we see Aiden at least punching people. Maybe some stabby stab action.]

[April on Roof: I don't want him to play someone who just dies in the end without doing anything. That would be sad. His last movie wasted his capabilities!]

[Chad Putin: He's a small-time actor, and they rarely get meaty roles. It seems like it's time to move towards Hollywood soon…]

[Jimmy Fallen: @Chad Putin: You scare me sometimes.]

[Growing up is hard: I hope he plays some kinda supporting cop to Ray Hardy. It suits him a lot.]

[Hollywood Insider: Aiden's role is better than his previous movie. #Know it all]

Like that, they discussed the latest poster of [Black Saints]. The poster was of Ray Hardy sitting in his car with a gun with shadows lingering over his car, indicating the saints.

The movie was about to release in two months, and promotions for the movie will begin for real in February.

Granite films weren't releasing it in February straight because it was valentine's month, and a lot of rom coms were going to release. Theatres were going to be filled with a lot of couples, and in that case, no one would go to watch a gangster drama no matter how good it is.

After talking about Aiden's next movie, the focus shifted to the photos he had posted just before the Indie Music Awards. Even Emily had posted some.

[Older Female leads are the best: Does anyone know what happened to Aiden's song with other contestants in X-Star?]

[Skyneves: There's no news of it for a time now. I'm pretty sure it's just because it was Christmas, and we will get an update soon.]

[Aiden's wife: I thought it would be a Christmas song, but I guess I was wrong.]

[Can Female Robots have sex: If they are doing a band, it was never going to be a Christmas song. Probably a full-blown rock single. As it's the dreaded month of singles next month, I'm pretty sure they will release it in Jan.]

[Cats are rulers: I'm just hoping some update comes soon. There would surely be a boost no matter what song it is, as Aiden won an award just a while ago.]

[My readers are breathtaking: Yeah, he has the momentum, but I think it's something very big or he won't get a whole band for it. Maybe he collaborated with Cyco media. I saw photos of him and Steven.]

[Skyneves: Whatever it is, we need to wait and watch. Let's just hope it's even more popular than his last song and we got a lot of surprises this year.]

***

As Aiden's fan group was talking about his new projects, at the same moment, Animeroll was having the last round of meetings to choose the title track for [Attack for Freedom].

Stephen Greg, the executive producer for the dubbing part of the anime, was presiding over the meeting while the employees listened.

"I hope you all had fun during the holidays, but now we need to work. The anime promotions will start soon, so we need to select the title track today, give it to the A&R department to polish and then release the track."

At his words, everyone nodded. Stephen gestured to his assistant, who quickly opened up the screen in the middle of the meeting room. Two tracks were displayed on it.

One was 'Fight' by the band Ryse, and the second was 'Revolution' by the band named Dreamers.

"We need to select one of these two. Both these songs have gone through a lot of rounds and have been selected, so I want all your opinions on them. Remember, we need to select one today."

As Stephen said that, people started whispering among them. They all have listened to both the tracks and felt like both of them were pretty good. ,c,om

But only one will go ahead.

"I think we should go ahead with Fight." A bespectacled guy with a serious look said, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

His colleagues knew that he was speaking so soon because he was eager to impress Stephen with a promotion.

"Why?" Stephen asked simply.

"They are very popular. Their fans will help a lot in promoting the anime if we choose them. Moreover, their performance in last month's Indie Music awards was talked about a lot on the internet."

In his opinion, one of the female employees quickly retorted.

"With that logic, we should go with Dreamers as Aiden Silvereye won the award last month. He was much more talked about than anyone else. Even major articles wrote about him."

The bespectacled guy's expression froze at those words. Hurriedly thinking of his words, he replied.

"You are missing the point that it's not Ryse vs Aiden but Dreamers. The band is made just for this song, so the entire focus won't be on Aiden."

"That depends on how we promote it. We could just say how we have selected Aiden for the song, but he gathered the whole band for it because he thought the song suited a band."

The female employee said, instantly attracting admiration. Her words made a lot of sense too, making even Stephen nod. But he felt like his employees were missing the point.

"We are not talking about the bands entirely. We are talking about the song, so focus on them."

Everyone nodded at those words. Stephen's assistant quickly added seeing the chance.

"I think 'Fight' is more like the original track and original fans who watched the subbed version would enjoy it a lot while 'Revolution' is more raw, fresh and sounds like a proper song that will make you feel pumped."

"Yeah, but the problem is both are pretty good and have good musicians behind them."

The female employee sighed.

If it was before, Ryse's song was more likely to be selected due to the fandom difference but Aiden was surely in the media's eyes for now.

Even Cameron or Emily were finalists in X-Star and owned a substantial amount of fans and followers. Jackson was a part of Cyco media, so they might even be able to use their PR if they go ahead with Dreamers.

All these points easily made Ryse and Dreamers pretty equal.

"I like 'Fight' more." Suddenly, an employee from the A&R team said, "We could use the fact that this is similar sounding to the original but I think the song itself is very melodious and shines in a lot of parts."

"That's true but the main factor in choosing the song for us can prove fatal."

"The fans will say we don't have innovation. There's a high chance the series will be successful anyway, but a good title track will really elevate the whole promotional campaign."

Like this, a lot of opinions were shared. A lot of employees argued with each other and even data and graphs were shared about what kind of songs were working in the market these days.

It was pretty easy to get due to social media.

Moreover, stuff like which song had a better soul and which suits the anime more. All sorts of opinions made rounds.

Finally, Stephen gave an opinion which made others stop talking among themselves.

"I'm glad you all have different opinions, but I want a song that does way better than the original Japanese title track. So, we need to think in that direction."

The original Japanese title track had gotten over 60 million views and was a song that was number one on various music charts in Japan. The Japanese band had even become top musicians there.

So, saying that Stephen wanted to exceed that was a very big deal. Almost an impossible task to do.

"Sir, that's a pretty impossible task. Don't you think so?" The bespectacled guy said.

"Nothing great will be done with that attitude. I don't want to hear you can't do this or that. We have two good songs. We all just need to select one and promote it as much as we can. I want the title track to be at the top of music charts!"

With those words, the entire meeting quickly changed in another direction, with a more serious aura taking place.

All the employees knew that no matter what, they needed to get this right.

...