Peerless Perverted Actor Has a Celebrity Harem?!

"And then?"

"We link them where necessary. Scheduling. Promotion. Exclusivity. Coordination between divisions. Most importantly, neither side of NX gets to bury the other." She looked at him. "If you become a huge singer next year, Music doesn’t get to decide Acting is inconvenient and quietly end your screen career. If you become a major actor, Artist Management doesn’t get to keep postponing your releases because films pay faster."

That was exactly what Noah had warned him about.

Park’s expression became more serious.

Evelyn noticed. "Someone already mentioned that possibility?"

"Someone smart."

"Keep ’em around."

For what felt like the next hour, Park discovered that his two days of obsessive contract research had been the intellectual equivalent of pouring one tank of water into a desert and congratulating himself for solving drought.

Still, it helped.

He knew what a master was, he understood publishing, he knew why cross-collateralization was dangerous, understood that his writer’s share wasn’t the same thing as master ownership, and no longer looked like somebody had struck him with a chair whenever Evelyn said recoupment.

That meant she could move faster, explain deeper and occasionally ask what Park actually wanted rather than spending every five minutes defining vocabulary.

By the time they reached the end, his proposed NX contract looked considerably less like an opportunity and considerably more like the opening position in a very expensive argument.

Evelyn closed the folder.

"Now we need to decide what you’re actually hiring us to do."

Park blinked. "Isn’t this it?"

"This can be it." She rested her forearms lightly against the desk. "You can engage me for this matter only. We review the documents, prepare revisions, draft replacement language where needed, negotiate with NX’s Business Affairs team, attend meetings and take you through execution. We bill hourly against an initial advance deposit, and when the matter ends, so does the engagement unless you hire us again."

"Okay."

"Or you can retain AVC more broadly."

Now Park paid closer attention.

Evelyn explained that the firm had several ways of handling private clients:

Some wealthy clients simply opened matters whenever something happened and were billed normally. Others maintained an evergreen retainer, meaning an initial client deposit remained with the firm and was replenished by the client as legal work consumed it.

The largest clients used AVC on an ongoing principal-client arrangement, paying a standing retainer for priority access, routine counsel and coordination while substantial negotiations, litigation or major transactions were still billed separately according to agreed rates.

"So basically," Park said, "I pay you to always be my lawyers."

"In extremely simplified language, yes."

"And when something happens, I call you."

"You call me."

"Even if it isn’t entertainment?"

"I decide who inside this building should handle it."

Park sat back.

That was exactly what he wanted.

Evelyn continued. "Entertainment and Media would handle NX, film agreements, music, endorsements and related deals. Intellectual Property handles your trademarks, copyrights and catalog issues. Corporate becomes relevant when you begin forming companies. Private Client handles personal assets, trusts, confidentiality and estate planning. Tax handles the obvious. Privacy and Reputation becomes useful the first time somebody decides your private life belongs to the public. Litigation becomes useful when polite letters stop working."

Park glanced toward the windows.

Forty floors suddenly made more sense.

"And spoiled rich kids?" he asked our of curiosity, it was still funny.

Evelyn’s mouth twitched.

"Nightclubs, sports cars, leaked videos and terrible romantic decisions."

Park stared at her and started laughing.

"That’s actually a category?"

"Unofficially."

"I knew it."

"There is one more service you mentioned on the phone." Evelyn opened another folder from beside her desk. "Your personal manager."

Park straightened.

"AVC is establishing a small Private Talent Office this year. Not talent management in the agency sense. We aren’t interested in becoming NX Arc. We recruit, vet and place personal managers and private-office professionals for clients who want people whose first loyalty is unquestionably to them."

Park’s interest sharpened.

"Meaning if you choose one they cease working for AVC before beginning employment with you. Completely."

"No salary from you or commission to your firm?"

"No."

"And no calling you behind my back?"

Evelyn’s expression hardened slightly. "Absolutely not. Once placed, that person works for Nathaniel Park or whatever personal company you eventually establish. They cannot report your finances, relationships, decisions, schedules or private affairs back to this firm merely because they were recruited here. We retain only what we’re legally required to keep regarding the placement itself."

"What it if I fire them?"

"They may eventually apply to work here again or go elsewhere, but your confidentiality survives termination. Their NDA survives... their professional duties concerning privileged material survive where applicable. Firing somebody does not suddenly give them permission to sell your life to the highest gossip account."

Park liked the sound of that very much.

"The advantage," Evelyn continued, "is coordination. A manager coming through our placement office is trained to understand when something needs Legal before they sign, promise or announce anything. They know how to work with your lawyers without believing they are your lawyers. If NX sends an endorsement deal at six in the evening, your manager can spot that something is wrong, send it to us and continue handling your schedule instead of improvising contract law they do not even know about after watching three videos online."

Park coughed lightly... Evelyn looked at him.

"My research was excellent."

"I’m sure it was."

"Very deep."

"I can tell."

There was absolutely no respect in that sentence.

"And," Evelyn added, "if you’re serious about building an independent professional team, you’ll want a business manager or accountant fairly soon."

Park’s smile disappeared.

Accountant.

Fuck.

He had remembered the lawyer, the manager and the assistant but he had somehow completely forgotten that becoming rich professionally meant somebody needed to know where the money actually went.

Evelyn saw the realization arrive and smiled for the first time with something approaching open amusement.

"You forgot."

"I was busy becoming legally literate."

"Of course."

"I have many responsibilities."

"You haven’t even signed with your agency."

"Exactly and it’s already this exhausting."

She laughed and slid another document across the desk.

"Our Private Client group can help you select an independent accountant or manager as well. Same principle. They work for you, not us. Your accountant receives statements from NX, verifies commissions and royalties, tracks income and expenses, coordinates taxes with our tax lawyers and eventually handles the financial side of whatever companies you establish."

Park looked down at the document.

Lawyer, personal manager and accountant and finally NX.

For the first time, the career he kept imagining as cameras, music, beautiful women and his face on giant screens was beginning to reveal the less glamorous skeleton underneath it.

Apparently fame required an alarming number of adults with spreadsheets.

He looked back at Evelyn.

"If I wanted the biggest arrangement."

"Principal Client: Entertainment, music, private client, corporate, IP, privacy, all of it whenever it becomes relevant?"

"With you as my main lawyer?"

"I would remain your relationship partner. You don’t need to know which one of our two hundred entertainment lawyers handles a trademark dispute at nine on a Sunday morning. You tell me what happened. I make sure the correct person is involved."

"And manager placement and accountant?"

"Available."

Park nodded slowly.

Evelyn studied him. "For someone at the beginning of his career, it’s more legal infrastructure than you strictly need today. But if what you told me about NX’s interest in you is accurate and from what I have seen on that contract, and your intention really is acting, recording, songwriting, endorsements and eventually your own companies, you’re going to need most of it eventually. Establishing the structure before money and fame start moving quickly is usually much easier than fixing it afterward."

Park looked again at the NX contract sitting between them.

That was the whole reason he’d come here.

Do it once.

’Do it properly.’

Build something nobody in the Bennett house controlled.

He raised his eyes.

"How much are we talking?"

Evelyn smiled; Park became genuinely afraid of the beautiful woman sitting across from him.

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