4 Ch-3
"Is everything alright?" I asked cautiously.
Steve sighed and put the book down but didn't say anything. I didn't ask again. Even if he knows that I am more mature than others, I am still a kid for him. So I waited patiently. If he was interested in sharing his story, I'll always lend him an ear, if not…
After a few minutes of silence, he said, "I can't write anything. All my ideas feel like crap when I put them on paper. I tried and tried, again and again, but I am stuck. I don't know what I can do. Currently, I am jobless and waiting for God knows what."
He sighed again, "Right now Kathy's doing everything for our household, I feel like an invalid."
"You're not!" My reply came out much harsher than I intended, but it did the job of shocking him.
I cleared my throat, "I mean it. You're a good person Steve. So what if your last work failed. You just have to get up and try again."
"It's not that easy," Steve argued, "I don't have the capital to make a movie and none of the production companies would spend any money on a failed director. Moreover, I don't think I am fit to be a director."
"You can always try something else." I tried to encourage him.
He shook his head helplessly, "I don't know anything other than movies."
I thought hard about his predicament when my eyes fell on the book I had just finished. An idea popped into my head and I thought about the other timeline.
Originally, the movie rights were purchased by someone else. I don't remember his name, but he paid more than a million to buy the rights of the first four books but it was after the books had already been a major hit in the market.
At this moment, that is not the case.
"If you don't want to be a director, you can always be a producer or adapt screenplays," I said with renewed confidence with a basic plan in mind for the future.
He gave me an indulging smile, "Look how pathetic I am. Crying about my woes to a child."
"Steve, you're not pathetic," I reiterated. "You didn't have to take in a random kid in your home but you did. Now I have an idea, read this book," Here I pointed towards the hardcover book, "then tell me if this book can be made into a movie. You are the expert after all. I strongly feel that this book will become very popular within a few months because it's that good."
Steve gave me a nod but I knew he wasn't seriously considering my words. Hopefully, he will understand the value of this IP in time.
I put the incident about Harry Potter out of my mind during the next few days to give Steve time to think about it. It was three days later that he approached me.
"The book is very good, you were right," He began.
I immediately perked up, "So will you make a movie? Oh please, oh please?"
Steve chuckled, "I have set up a meeting through Bloomsbury, that's the publisher and I am meeting the author today."
My eyes lit up at that, "So what's your plan? You wish to buy the rights of how many books?"
He raised an eyebrow at that, "Sometimes you are too smart for your own good. To answer your question, just the first book for now."
I pursed my lips and thought hard, "Why not the whole series? I mean Hogwarts has seven years of study, so there must be at least 7 books planned, right?"
Steve looked embarrassed, "To be honest, it is possible that the book won't get very popular. If that happens the price I pay may all get wasted with zero returns. I am being cautious here."
"Yes, but if the book becomes popular, which I promise it will, then you'll have to pay millions of pounds for the second book," I said emphatically.
He chuckled and ruffled my hair, "No one but top authors can get millions for their work."
"But I wanted you to have the whole series," I whined like the eight-year-old I was.
"I'll see what I can do," He promised like any indulging adult would.
(Break)
Steve Kloves looked across to the woman sitting in front of him. She was in her early 30s, blonde and very beautiful. She seemed the type of person who had it all if you didn't look carefully. Her dress was old and had seen much better days. Even the woman herself didn't seem very well groomed like most women would. Even Kathy was a much better-groomed woman despite her focussing on a simple life.
And that told Steve everything that he had to know about Joanne or Jo as she insisted on being called.
"I really love your book, Jo," Steve broached the main reason for their meeting after a few minutes of idle talk. "To be honest, my son liked it first and he recommended the book, and I fell in love with it."
"What's your favorite character?" Jo asked hesitantly.
"Hermione," Steve didn't even have to think about it. He loved writing female characters, and there was something about Hermione that enticed him greatly. "Her passion and ferocity is superb and I would love to see how you explore her over the following books."
"How are you so sure I'll write more books?" She asked, this time much more confidently.
"You won't?" Steve prodded.
Jo shrugged, "If the first book doesn't sell, why would I?"
"Then I can help you lower your burdens somewhat," Steve smiled at her. "Tell me, how much did Bloomsbury pay you as an advance?"
"£2,500."
Steve was surprised that they lowballed her with such a small amount, but he could definitely use it to his advantage.
"I'll offer you twenty-five thousand for adaptation rights to this book, along with the next six books in the series," Steve offered. In his opinion, even that was a very generous offer. Usually, authors make more money out of print sales than they do out of adaptation deals for a simple reason, book sales get a lot of traction when the film is announced and released.
Jo thought about the offer for a moment before shaking her head resolutely, "No deal."
Not one to give up so easily, Steve asked, "Why don't you term your demands then?"
"Not only are you offering me peanut shells," She said hotly. "I don't think you'll adapt this book well. No offense, but I don't want to make Harry Potter into some sort of American thing. This is my baby that I have been working on for years."
"None taken," Steve waved her off. "If it assuages your worries, let me tell you that my wife and son are British. And I promise to keep your world perfectly British. We can even include that in our contract if you'd like. As far as money goes, why don't you make a counteroffer?"
Jo was slightly relieved to hear about his offer to make the film adaptations British.
"Twenty-five thousand pounds for just the first book," Jo said.
"No deal," This time Steve pulled the plug. "I want to tell you, Jo, that I'm investing a significant portion of my savings in this, so I want to make it count. It's either seven books or nothing at all."
He would have accepted just the first book deal, but Troy had given Steve some much-needed insight about the adaptation. It was the first thing that Troy had ever asked of him, and Steve just had a feeling of sorts that this would turn out to be a great investment.
Jo thought about the offer and made her own counter, "Two hundred and fifty thousand for seven books."
Steve grinned. Now that she had agreed to at least sell the full series, all that remained was hashing out the amount and other details of the contract.
"That's too much," Steve shook his head, "Thirty thousand is more like it."
It would take some time, but he knew they would reach a final amount soon enough. Most probably they won't even agree to the terms in the first meeting and will have to come back for a second one later on.
(Break)
It took two whole weeks for Steve and Joanne Rowling to come to terms with the adaptation rights. From what he told me, Rowling was adamant about shooting the film in Britain and using a British cast for the major roles, thus even agreeing to sell the whole series in advance to make up for that.
Steve paid her £125,000 for complete adaptation rights of the seven books, be it stage, TV, or movies, including the merchandising. Rowling will get 5% of the net profits of any merchandise sold. If Steve is unable to release the first movie within the next 10 years then the rights automatically revert back to Rowling. After that, every 10 years, Steve will have to pay a renewal cost of £125,000 to keep the copyright with him.
Rowling agreed to a clause where she would publish at least one book every two years and the seventh book and final book within the next ten years, i.e. by 2007 or Steve will have the option to make future movies at his own creative freedom. Also, Rowling will end the main story in the seventh book.
There were tons of other clauses as well but the main task had been completed.
"You do realize that if the book doesn't do good, I'll be as good as bankrupt, right?" Steve quipped after giving me the basic details of the contract.
"You won't be. The book will do well." I stated confidently.
Kathy put down the Harry Potter book and said, "I must say, Troy, your choice in literature is good." Her smile was a little strained.
She didn't exactly approve of the idea of buying the rights to the whole series. She and Steve even had a fight about the same, from what I could gather. Hopefully, by next year, she will calm down about the issue when the sales of the book see a boom in the market.
"Troy, we must discuss something important with you," Steve said cautiously.
Hearing his tone, I gave him my full attention as he continued, "As you know, we are facing some financial problems."
"You want to send me to another foster home?" I asked dejectedly, "I understand if you do."
"No Troy. Never." Kathy immediately got up from her seat and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back.
"You're such a sweet boy, how can we ever abandon you? What Steve wanted to say was that, due to our financial problems, we will have to move back to Los Angeles, USA. Steve has a job offer to adapt a novel into a movie. An idea that we can thank you for." Kathy explained with a smile.
I smiled back. Yes, I can overreact a bit sometimes, but think from my perspective, it was a totally normal response.
"We wanted to discuss our options with you." Kathy continued, "Our first option is that Steve goes to L.A. alone and works on the movie, then comes back after its completion."
"That doesn't sound too bad." I quipped.
"The other option is for all of us to go to L.A." Steve took over the explanation and paused for a few moments, "Permanently."
"And how would that work out?" I asked curiously.
"We will adopt you, of course." Kathy answered quickly, "We have contacted Carla Armitage and she has agreed to sign custody documents. Of course, that's just a formality at this point because she knows that we can get that through the legal route. We have also talked with your assigned social worker about the issue and they also agreed to help out."
I took all that in for a few moments.
"You don't have to reply right now, you can take a few days. In fact, we will wait till the end of the school year in a few weeks before moving if you so decide," Steve said.
It wasn't really a hard decision to make. Los Angeles is the go-to place for Hollywood and as much as I like Britain, their movies cannot compare to their American counterparts. If I want to try my hand at showbiz, then the obvious choice must be to go to L.A.
But there was one more factor to consider.
Harry Potter.
I am not lying when I said that I would kill to play Harry. I am British, of the right age and features to match the character and Steve just bought the film rights!
"I have made up my mind, I will come with you to L.A.," I announced after some thought.
Steve and Kathy smiled in unison.
"But I have a few conditions." They paused at those words. Steve nodded at me to go on.
"First of all, you will teach me how to act in your free time," I pointed at Steve.
He thought it over then said, "We can definitely work something out."
"Second," I continued, "You will allow me to work in movies if there is a right role for me."
"Honey," Kathy said worriedly, "you are still very young. You don't have to rush into this thing. When you grow up, you can do anything you want. Right now, you should enjoy your childhood."
"That's the thing, I'm bored," I retorted, "The classes don't teach me anything new and if I really apply myself, I know I can finish even my high school within a couple of years. You know as well that doing so would be even worse because I won't join college at my current age. So what's the point of rushing my education? If I can have some other goals, say, acting, then that would be good for me I believe."
Steve and Kathy were keenly observing me, then in unison turned to each other and began a silent conversation. In the end, from I could see that Kathy gave a reluctant nod and Steve turned to me, "Anything else?"
I thought about it but couldn't think of anything else, "No, that's all." Then I deliberately looked Steve in his eyes and clearly enunciated, "Dad." Then to Kathy, "Mum."
Kathy's eyes teared up as she engulfed me in a tight hug, "Oh my sweet baby." Steve decided to join in and engulfed both Kathy and me in a family hug.
That moment in particular was the happiest I have been in this life in quite some time.
