Hollywood What If Chapter 553
Spy. What is a spy?
A spy is a person who secretly gathers information, typically about a government, organization, or individual, often for political, military, or economic purposes. Spies can work for governments, intelligence agencies, corporations, or private entities and may engage in activities such as espionage, surveillance, infiltration, or sabotage.
This time, Grey Pictures experienced the danger of a corporate spy.
Two days ago, Kazir and the executives of Grey Pictures had a meeting and approved the production of Modern Family. It was a TV show. So far, the project was still not in production, nothing was even planned.
However, for some reason, a company got the news that Grey Pictures wanted to produce another TV show! Even by information leak standards, this was too fast. Thankfully, the information they got was incomplete.
The news shocked the Big Six and even the major TV networks in the country.
The first two seasons of Game of Thrones grossed $1 billion in revenue. Even though each episode cost $8 million on average to film, the profit that Fox TV and Grey Pictures earned from Game of Thrones was astronomical.
This kind of money could only happen because Game of Thrones was popular. The average viewership per episode was 16 million. It meant that while Game of Thrones was being broadcast, around 16 million televisions were airing the show.
For Game of Thrones to become successful, they had to give Kazir some of the credit.
And now, people heard that Kazir wrote a script for a TV show. Can you imagine the reactions of the Big Six and major TV networks when they found out?
The leak sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Executives were curious to find out what kind of show Kazir Grey was working on. Was it another high-budget fantasy like Game of Thrones? An emotional drama? A groundbreaking new concept? As long as it could bring in more money, they wouldn't say no.
ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox TV, and even cable networks started bombarding Grey Pictures with questions. They were like a hungry pack of hyenas ready to devour a small bunny.
This situation seemed bad because Grey Pictures was caught off guard. It was just two days ago when they approved the project, yet many TV networks were already knocking on their door. How could they even react?
Stella Willow frowned as she reviewed the situation. She was uncomfortable with it. Being the CEO of Grey Pictures, she didn't like that rats were scrambling in her territory.
"This leak isn't just a coincidence," she told Kazir.
"Someone inside leaked the information." Kazir sighed, rubbing his forehead. Corporate spies were nothing new, but this situation gave them ideas on what not to do.
"Then we need to find out who."
Grey Pictures was officially hunting for a spy.
There were only a few people who knew about the project, most of them executives. However, they couldn't disregard the possibility that the executives shared the content of the meeting with their subordinates, hence the situation.
Kazir leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.
"We need to keep our next moves tight. No more leaks."
"I'll have IT check for any unusual emails from our employees. We'll also keep track of who discussed the project outside of the conference room," Stella added.
"Who benefits the most from leaking this? The TV Networks are obviously interested, but it had to be someone inside Grey Pictures who passed the information."
"If we don't find the spy soon, it could happen again." Stella folded her arms.
Grey Pictures had some information that they wanted to keep secret. No company would be happy sharing their company secrets.
They decided to conduct a quiet internal audit, keeping the investigation discreet. The executives and their subordinates felt suffocated, but they had to endure the situation. They didn't have a choice but to cooperate.
Even Stella Willow and Kazir Grey agreed to be investigated. Perhaps the two accidentally shared the information or something.
At the same time, they needed to handle the overwhelming interest from TV networks.
"Well, since they're all so eager, we might as well use this to our advantage... 20th Century Fox will probably hate me more, but with a situation like this, it's stupid if we don't take advantage of it," Kazir smirked.
Stella raised an eyebrow.
"You're thinking of starting a bidding war, aren't you?"
"Why not?" Kazir chuckled.
They did it a few years ago, and it was a success.
"But before we can start the bidding war, of course, we have to make the product first."
Modern Family should film at least three episodes before Grey Pictures could do the bidding war.
Grey Pictures didn't sign a contract with Fox TV regarding their next TV show, so it was fine. However, Fox TV and 20th Century Fox would probably be mad about it. Well, business is business.
"We focus on production first. That gives us time to find the spy while negotiating with the TV networks."
Finding the corporate spy could take a week or a month, or perhaps they would fail to find the spy at all. As for the TV networks, negotiations could only happen once Modern Family had been produced.
"We keep the project under tighter wraps and only involve a trusted team. No unnecessary leaks, no external contractors until we have enough episodes to show." Kazir nodded.
"We should also mislead the spy or spies. That way, we can see where the leaks come from."
Kazir nodded... He actually hadn't thought of that.
Over the next few weeks, Grey Pictures moved carefully. Thankfully, all of their movies had been released this year. Only Game of Thrones Season 3 hadn't. Grey Pictures made sure that Game of Thrones would be protected.
Meanwhile, the people responsible for the investigation quietly monitored email logs and office conversations. They were determined to catch the corporate spy.