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Chapter 63: Isodyne Energy
🕑 Added 2024-12-06 11:08:48 +0000 UTCDue to its low latitude and coastal location, Los Angeles is much warmer than Chicago.
As they enjoyed the mild ocean breeze, the convoy quickly arrived in Hollywood.
Although Pete and Brad had arranged accommodations in advance, it was still early and not yet mealtime, so Josh and his group decided to visit the two companies first.
In this era, Hollywood was already renowned, but it still lagged behind the grandeur of the future. The famous Walk of Fame, for example, didn’t yet exist—it wouldn’t be established until 1958. Josh saw this as an opportunity; if he proposed this idea, it was unlikely that the Hollywood city government would reject something so beneficial to its reputation.
The group first visited Rose Pictures, but they left shortly after arriving. As mentioned before, it was essentially a shell company, with little more than an office space to its name.
Brad, the host, looked somewhat embarrassed, though it wasn’t something he could have changed as a mere figurehead.
However, the company did have a large collection of contracts for young female talents. Surprisingly, these girls were all of exceptional quality, and their photos... well, they were quite “artistic.”
“Enjoying the view, aren’t you?” In the car, Margaret finally couldn’t hold back and pinched Josh several times as she watched him flipping through the pictures with interest.
“Heh, I’m just evaluating if there are any promising talents worth grooming!” Josh quickly explained with a sheepish grin.
Margaret rolled her eyes, clearly not buying it. If not for reading the two scripts Josh had written—which were indeed interesting—she wouldn’t have believed that someone with no background in the film industry could pull off anything remarkable.
Yes, Margaret’s trust in Josh stemmed mainly from the fact that he had prepared a few story outlines in advance. She found them quite engaging.
Of course, they were more like plot summaries than proper scripts, as Josh wasn’t skilled in screenwriting.
But he was good at writing stories!
In his previous life, Josh had dabbled in writing web novels during his free time at work. While they weren’t groundbreaking, he knew how to structure a compelling plot.
Even without computers, typewriters existed in this era, and creating a rough story outline wasn’t too time-consuming. He planned to hand these over to professional screenwriters for refinement later.
After all, filmmaking in this era was still relatively crude, with simplistic dialogue and less demanding performances. As long as the actors were competent and the story engaging, the film was likely to make money.
The group soon arrived at Siegel Pictures.
Compared to Rose Pictures, Siegel Pictures was in far better shape. While still small in scale, it had all the necessary departments and equipment.
However, as they made their way to the general manager’s office, they heard an argument erupting nearby.
“What’s going on?” Josh frowned at the noise.
“Oh, it’s a somewhat well-known actress. Ever since the former boss, Siegel, passed away, she’s been demanding to terminate her contract,” Pete explained after listening for a moment.
“Oh? This company has a celebrity? What’s her name?” Josh asked, intrigued.
“Whitney Frost,” Pete replied.
The name took Josh by surprise. Sharing a glance with Margaret, he realized they had met her briefly last year at a USO event—the same one where Captain America had appeared.
Neither of them expected Whitney Frost to be a contracted actress at Siegel Pictures.
“How long is her contract?” Josh asked.
“Not very long—about three years left,” Pete replied.
“Three years isn’t too long. Is she being mistreated here?” Josh inquired.
“Not at all. She’s essentially the company’s leading star, and her treatment isn’t inferior to that of other A-list actresses. It’s just that after Siegel’s death, the company lost some of its resources and support,” Pete explained.
“Well, there’s nothing to discuss then. Handle it according to the contract,” Josh said decisively.
Despite her fame, Josh saw her as just another asset of the company—a tool for generating profit. She wasn’t important enough to warrant special treatment.
However, Josh noticed a hint of unease on Pete’s face.
“What’s the problem?” Josh asked.
“Well, Mr. Kahn, the reason this woman dares to make such a fuss is that she’s recently gotten involved with a major business mogul—someone not easy to deal with,” Pete said cautiously.
“A business mogul? Who?” Josh frowned.
“Calvin Chadwick, the head of Isodyne Energy Group,” Pete whispered.
Unlike Whitney Frost, the name Calvin Chadwick didn’t ring many bells for Josh. While he was familiar with most Marvel movies, he hadn’t watched many of its spin-off series, like Agent Carter.
However, Josh was well aware of Isodyne Energy.
First, ever since communicating with Yuri—an expert in technology—Josh had included the energy sector in his future development plans. Naturally, he had researched the major players in the American energy industry. Isodyne Energy was one of the country’s leading companies, controlling power supplies in major cities like New York and Los Angeles.
Second, the company was involved in the Manhattan Project.
Of course, the Manhattan Project was highly classified.
But during his research, Josh discovered that many energy companies were engaged in a project in Tennessee known as the “Manhattan Engineering District.” As a time traveler, it wasn’t hard for him to connect the dots to the famous Manhattan Project.
No wonder Pete found this situation difficult.
If this actress had indeed attached herself to the owner of such a company, she’d effectively ascended to a new level of power.
