After the team was set up, they wanted to start the work quickly, but there was still renovation and other things to do in the apartment to make it more like an office.
All that would easily take over a month. They would finally be able to work properly in their new office after this year was over.
Because of that, the operation shifted to a nearby cafe that was close to the apartment.
As Aiden had just given a big hit at the box office and had no other projects signed up, it gave them the perfect opportunity to make a good and diverse plan for him to move forward with.
All of them were pretty excited as Aiden didn't focus on just one thing. Singing and acting were already nice enough, but when Wade had told the team about Aiden's book winning a contest, their faces were something to be seen.
"It's already November, so I think it's safe to say that there won't be anything related to you releasing this year, apart from <Behind the scenes>. Even so, I think they will publish the book in January."
Wade said, and Sasha, who was sitting next to him, nodded. Lia, George and Jody were sitting adjacent to Aiden, and Tom was running late to the meeting due to something personal.
"Yeah, in that case, it's better to focus more on things like modelling and commercials."
"So, basically making money." Aiden chuckled. Actors would normally go for modelling because it was very easy to earn money by it. Same with the s.
Even if they weren't professional, people would have seen their faces and would recognise them.
A lot of fashion designers use celebrities to showcase their new clothes. Though, Aiden had no idea how he was going to walk a ramp.
"Kind of, yeah," Wade said. "It's a good step in making you a brand. Those give a lot of publicity to the actor too, especially with commercials. A lot of actors are associated with products because they promoted them."
Hearing that, Aiden nodded his head.
'I got a lot of money by doing endorsements for EXO. I even got my contract renewed for over 500k dollars.'
Aiden thought in his mind. Money was not a bad thing because money was the thing he needed the most if he wanted to take risks. It was also a good backup.
"What type of commercials anyway?" Aiden looked at Lia.
"We need to take care of your image when we go for them. We can't just go for any random product."
Lia said. In the industry, it was very important to maintain an image, and companies would also approach a celebrity thinking of what sort of image would suit their brand.
For example, an actor who is seen as a sex symbol would get commercials for condoms, and female celebs would get commercials for cosmetics or jewellery easily.
"That's why it's better to go for stuff that targets the youth. Shoes or sportswear are good enough. Even snacks or energy drinks. Perfumes too." Sasha added, and Aiden took all the information in silently.
"Well, I don't really mind going for commercials and modelling. Just make sure that the company or product I'm doing the commercial for isn't bad news."
Aiden stressed the last part of his sentence, and everyone around him nodded, knowing full well how important it was to check up on the company.
In the past, a few celebs had been called scammers because they promoted websites or products that had just cheated the money of common people. All this also adds to the narrative that rich people only care about making more money.
Aiden knew that it was true, but he didn't want to do the same. If he didn't even know the product well, how could he tell the public that it's a good product?
"Don't worry, we can take care of it."
Wade said, and the conversation moved ahead to other things. They talked more about the modelling work and how Wade had already received a few commercial offers from some brands.
Lia was going to do a background check on them later. After that, Wade mentioned the album that he and Aiden had talked about a few times before.
"So, it's confirmed that we are going to go for the album, right?"
Wade looked at Aiden. The whole album depended on Aiden, as he was going to be the composer of the majority of the songs. It was to promote more of his singer/songwriter image.
So, he needed to be in the right state of mind to create great songs.
"Yeah, I think I would be able to make good songs. 8-9 tracks aren't going to be hard." Aiden said, looking very confident and excited about it.
Having his own album was the next step in his music career, and he also felt like it was the right time for it.
"It's good if we could contact other record labels to get some collaboration for the songs. Fans will be excited if Aiden is working with other artists on songs." Jody said, then looked at Aiden and Wade. "You two have connections in record labels, right? Aiden, you worked with Grey before. How's your relationship?"
"My relationship is pretty fine with him. He texted me congratulations for the success of 'Lost in the Sky', so I'm pretty sure he would agree to a collaboration."
Wade also nodded and added, "I have contacts in Cyco media too. Actually, Aiden worked with Steven McDonald, the CEO of Cyco media on X-Star."
"Yeah, I don't think featuring other artists on the album would be a problem."
Two popular artists working together was a pretty big thing in the music industry, and it would normally happen if the artists liked each other enough to work together. It was a pretty good way to promote the album by getting other artists to collaborate on a few songs.
Some albums would even be filled with collaborations to attract other fan bases too.
"If we could get the production of the album finished in 4 months, then we could release it in March." George, the tour manager, said. "I think we should then target music festivals like Coachella. There are award shows happening at the same time."
"Will you be able to handle that?" Aiden looked at George, who smiled with confidence.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me."
As a tour manager, it was George's duty to make sure that any gig that Aiden was doing would be successful. It was pretty hard work, especially when Aiden would get his own concerts.
After talking about the album, there was a bit more talk about <Behind the scenes>, and then they moved on to a serious problem—Aiden's next acting project.
Everyone was already impressed by his songs and was expecting something similar, but in acting, there was a lot of scrutiny as to what he was going to pick as a project next.
Wade hadn't been able to impress Aiden with any of the projects he was bringing. So, they talked about the type of project that would suit Aiden.
He didn't want to go for another rom-com yet so as to not get seen as another rom-com actor. Wade had even contacted Granite films to talk about a possibility of a prequel of [Black Saints] with Kai August as the main character.
There were talks about it previously after the movie, and Kai had become so popular.
But Granite films weren't willing to go with the idea so soon because it hadn't even been a year to [Black Saints]. They wanted to wait a bit more and get a better story for the prequel.
In the end, they decided that they should wait for the right project.
'A project that could be a new experience for me.'
***
After Vikings publishing released the name of three books in contention for the top prize, they announced the day of the award ceremony and invited many people.
Although the award ceremony was still very small and would not even be broadcasted, a few journalists were going to be there but nothing fancy.
On the day of the ceremony, Aiden invited Uncle Sam and his cousin to the ceremony. His aunt had some sort of yoga class, so she was not attending.
"You look good."
"Not as good as you."
"Well, all of us are handsome in the family. You just got a little less than me. Not a big deal."
Uncle Sam chuckled, patting Aiden's shoulder with a smile on his face. It was the first time he would be seeing his nephew win an award.
Due to that, he was wearing a grey suit that looked great on him. Before coming here, he had even gone to a salon, so he looked exactly like the classy gangster boss in an 80s mafia flick.
"Stop it, dad. You always act narcissistically." Lisa, Aiden's cousin, said, shaking her head.
"It's not narcissistic if it's true."
As they bantered, Aiden took a look around. Currently, they were standing inside the hall where the award ceremony was taking place. A lot of people had already come, and there were even some of the authors here who he knew.
They were just talking among themselves. In the corner, Aiden could even see some reporters with cameras.
Fortunately, they had not seen him yet.
'It would have been good if Richard was here.'
Aiden thought in his mind. He had invited him, but Richard had rejected, saying he was busy with some other things. He hadn't pushed him, knowing his personality.
"Hey, Sam."
It was at that moment someone called Uncle Sam.
They all turned their heads to look at the way the voice had come from. Aiden saw an old man with dyed black hair and a cane walking toward them, followed by a brown-haired man with a smirk on his face.
Coincidentally, Aiden recognised him.
'Zac Anderson'.
...
