Post by silentpartner on Nov 4, 2018 14:43:53 GMT -5
The camera switches on and the scene is that of a boardroom that has a colorful cast of characters sitting around a long dark mahogany table. The rest of the room appears to be mostly plain, with the exception of a fake tree nestled in the corner, a dry erase board hanging on the wall directly behind the CEO seat, and a flat screen monitor mounted in the corner opposite of the tree. On the monitor Valor Pro Wrestling action is cycling through, but the volume is on mute, and the people gathered don't seem to be paying it much mind.
On the left side of the table sits the Flipping The Script hosts, the Othello Brothers. Laurence appears a bit nervous, stroking his chin and darting his eyes at the other individuals sitting across from him. Kenneth is casually leaned back in his seat, appearing cool, calm, and collected, but with a bit of distaste in his expression at being summoned.
Also on their side of the table sits Emily Burlingame, who has her lap top open and appears to be working on her next story for the VPW website. She is mildly interested in what is going on around her, but every once in awhile she dips her head back to her screen and feverishly types a few more lines.
On the right side of the table are three other individuals that have not been seen on VPW television before, but play intricate rolls within the set, design, and over all success of the promotion thus far.
The man sitting just to the left of the CEO seat is Dennis Gumble, the Executive Producer for Blitz, and the man who makes sure that all the camera angles catch the action, and that all of the segments get picked up for editing before being submitted to the Othello Brothers. He shifts in his seat, uncertain as to why he was called here, but anticipating an announcement for the upcoming super show event, 7 Pillars.
Sitting beside Gumble is lead booker, and former tough man wrestler, Dugan Callahan. His gruff exterior and grizzled expression tell the tale of a man who had made war in many arenas across the world, but when his ticket was punched, found a place in the wrestling world where his varied experiences could lend themselves to the next generation of talent. He's nursing a drink that he brought from his office, a brown liquid on the rocks that Gumble finds himself perturbed by.
And beside him is Jamie Burke, a well manicured young lady who handles the Marketing department at Valor Pro. She is mostly in charge of making sure that graphics get pushed at the right time to the right networks to ensure that there will be a crowd in the arenas when the shows arrive. She also handles much of the day to day look of the website, and helps Gumble with set designs and banners for the live shows. She seems excited to be there, as this is her first job since graduating from university with a double major; Marketing and Graphic Design.
Last but not least is the regal woman occupying the CEO chair, the General Manager of Valor Pro Wrestling, Vanessa Byrne. She looks out over the other six with a level gaze, and the fingers of her left hand make an audible tap against the table as they cycle from index to pinky. The other hand rests comfortably on the arm of her chair, before reaching up to touch her throat as she clears her voice.
"I think it's obvious why we're here. The largest event in our companies short history is upon us, and we have a murder take place at our go home show." Her gaze falls on Dennis Gumble, and her eyes narrow. "But even worse, this murder was caught on tape, and then submitted as part of the show to the Othello Brothers."
Gumble sank into his chair a bit, and gulped hard before speaking. "Mrs. Byrne, I can assure you that disciplinary actions have already been handled. This video package was never meant to make it to air, but it got mixed into the stream sent to Flipping The Script somehow."
"Do you not realize how this looks, Dennis? Its bad enough that someone was murdered at one of our shows, but how it was presented makes us look like a bunch of callous fools! No one could be bothered to come to the woman's rescue? The camera man didn't think that maybe he should notify security, or the police, that a homicide was taking place in our backstage area?"
"I...I'm sorry. But even so, a lot of this could have been avoided if these two hadn't aired the damn thing on their show!"
Kenneth suddenly snaps forward from his casual stance and brings a fist down on the table, pointing with the other hand across at Gumble. "Don't you try and place the blame for this tragedy on us! We debated long and hard about airing that footage, but my brother convinced me that the public had a right to know, and that maybe someone would recognize the assailant."
Dennis rolls his eyes. "Oh don't give me that shit. You two aren't even real brothers! You saw the chance to exploit the situation and get more subscriptions on your Youtube channel!"
"ENOUGH!"
Vanessa Byrne is livid as she flashes her eyes around the room. No one meets her gaze save for Dugan Callahan, who snickers at the rest of them while taking a sip of his beverage. She takes a deep breath before settling back into her seat, allowing the grizzled vet's reaction to help her gain control of herself again. She flashes a wry smile to the man before turning back to the group.
Smoother, calmer, she responds. "Regardless of whose at fault, there are consequences when we have a botch of this magnitude."
Turning to the Othello's, "Youtube has demonetized and shut down your channel because of the footage."
Laurance groans and rests his head on the desk, as Kenneth's face goes red. "I knew this would happen! God damn it!"
She nods in understanding at the reaction, before holding up her hand to silence anymore protests from the hosts.
"That being said, there is good news on the horizon despite this setback. I got off the phone with our employer, Keystone Financial, and after running interference over the matter, I was able to secure your jobs as the announce team for all future Valor Pro Wrestling shows. Furthermore, a deal has been struck with Fite TV to not only stream the super shows, starting with 7 Pillars, but also access to their subscription service so that we can continue with Blitz."
Laurence sits up finally, and he and Ken look at one another quizzically before clapping each other on the back in excitement. The rest of the room applauds as well, with the exception of Callahan, who lifts his glass to Vanessa in a mark of respect. She internally smiles at this victory, and nods in Callahan's direction in receipt before holding her hands up to get everyone's attention back on track.
"This deal with Fite TV doesn't come without its hiccups. This is very much an opportunity for us, but they feel they are taking a chance, especially after this snafu with Royce. So they have asked for some incentive."
The room falls silent, and everyone looks to the other nervously. It's Emily Burlingame who leans forward, piping up for the first time to ask, "What do you mean by incentive?"
Vanessa sighs, and turns to Gumble, and with her, everyone else also stares. Suddenly under the hot seat, he begins to fidget, and nervously looks around.
Vanessa seems sincere but firm when she says, "Dennis, I'm sorry. Fite TV want their own Executive Producer on the show, and in light of this whole situation, Keystone Financial feels its best to terminate our relationship."
Gumble's eyes go wide, and he leans forward in disbelief. "You're firing me? What the fuck, Vanessa? I've been here since the beginning!"
"I Know, Dennis." She says cooly, placing her hand on top of his. "That's why this is so difficult. This is the decision that they've made, and I stand behind it."
Dennis sneers, jerking his hand away from hers, and getting to his feet. "Whatever, you ice bitch. I should have known that I couldn't count on you for shit. The only thing you've ever card about was yourself."
It was Dugan Callahan's turn to stand now, drink still in hand, and he places a firm hand on Gumble's shoulder and talks in an even, but dangerous tone. "Son, it's best you not talk to the lady like that. Just collect your things, and be on your way."
Dennis freezes for a moment, Callahan's grip like a vice, but emotions kick back in and override preservation as her yanks free and stumbles back towards the door. His eyes have become misted, and a frog appears in his throat as he hurls his next insults. "Fuck you, old man. Fuck all of you. I'll show this company what they lost when I go get on with a bigger, better company than this place."
"Sure," Callahan replies, pointing towards the door. "But until then, would you kindly get the hell out of here."
Gumble stares at all of them in utter disdain before adjusting his tie, choking back his dispair, and turning on his heels and exits. The door forcefully slams shut behind him, and Callahan shrugs, taking his seat and a sip of his drink all at the same time. He looks up at Vanessa who gives him an appreciative nod, and he returns it with one of his own.
A meek voice pipes up after the turmoil, breaking the silence, and posing a good question. "Mrs. Byrne, the marketing team needs to know how the Gauntlet Match is going to be laid out before we can make any of the promotional pieces for the show. There is still a matter of the four participants who qualified for random entries?"
Everyone turns to Jamie Burke who sheepishly smiles in response. Callahan grunts and nods in her direction for affirmations sake, and plucks out his pen and a note pad. He jots down four numbers, rips the pieces so that they are now separate, and then flips them over to where the number side is now hidden. He shuffles the pieces of paper, and then looks up to Byrne who signals he should proceed.
"So, we'll go in order of when they qualified, so...." He picks up one of the pieces, and flips it over. "Joel Hawkfield goes in at number four."
He picks up another piece, and turning it over says, "Roxi Johnson is number two."
Once more, "Brodie is number five."
And finally, "Which means that Zachariah Krahe is number three."
"And there you have it," Vanessa Byrne says, allowing a smile to tug at the edges of her mouth. "This is going to be a huge event for us, one of many more to come if we can just keep on the path. No more road blocks. I hope we've all learned from this mistake, because moving forward it will be all of us on the chopping block, and I will not allow that to happen. Fite TV's producer will be introducing himself at 7 Pillars, and we need to be prepared as first impressions are key. Othello's I want a script of all commentary that can be planned for the event. No untoward jokes, thank you. Callahan, I need a format of the show and match breakdowns. I don't expect you to know who will win, but I'd like to have your expert guess. Emily, keep doing what you're doing on the site, but be prepared for new graphics to come your way for the event, plus a restructure of staff information. Jamie, lets have that poster no later than this evening if that is possible. I want to be able to kick off the ad campaign in Italy by Tuesday."
She pauses to take a breath, and looks out over the table at the eager faces ready to create the hottest wrestling product available in the world. She smiles, reassured that everything would work out as it should, and waves her hand in dismissal. "Everyone knows what their job is for the next two weeks, so I suggest we get to it. I want reports on my desk by Monday morning. Good day, everyone."
With that, the camera feed is suddenly cut. Fade to black.
On the left side of the table sits the Flipping The Script hosts, the Othello Brothers. Laurence appears a bit nervous, stroking his chin and darting his eyes at the other individuals sitting across from him. Kenneth is casually leaned back in his seat, appearing cool, calm, and collected, but with a bit of distaste in his expression at being summoned.
Also on their side of the table sits Emily Burlingame, who has her lap top open and appears to be working on her next story for the VPW website. She is mildly interested in what is going on around her, but every once in awhile she dips her head back to her screen and feverishly types a few more lines.
On the right side of the table are three other individuals that have not been seen on VPW television before, but play intricate rolls within the set, design, and over all success of the promotion thus far.
The man sitting just to the left of the CEO seat is Dennis Gumble, the Executive Producer for Blitz, and the man who makes sure that all the camera angles catch the action, and that all of the segments get picked up for editing before being submitted to the Othello Brothers. He shifts in his seat, uncertain as to why he was called here, but anticipating an announcement for the upcoming super show event, 7 Pillars.
Sitting beside Gumble is lead booker, and former tough man wrestler, Dugan Callahan. His gruff exterior and grizzled expression tell the tale of a man who had made war in many arenas across the world, but when his ticket was punched, found a place in the wrestling world where his varied experiences could lend themselves to the next generation of talent. He's nursing a drink that he brought from his office, a brown liquid on the rocks that Gumble finds himself perturbed by.
And beside him is Jamie Burke, a well manicured young lady who handles the Marketing department at Valor Pro. She is mostly in charge of making sure that graphics get pushed at the right time to the right networks to ensure that there will be a crowd in the arenas when the shows arrive. She also handles much of the day to day look of the website, and helps Gumble with set designs and banners for the live shows. She seems excited to be there, as this is her first job since graduating from university with a double major; Marketing and Graphic Design.
Last but not least is the regal woman occupying the CEO chair, the General Manager of Valor Pro Wrestling, Vanessa Byrne. She looks out over the other six with a level gaze, and the fingers of her left hand make an audible tap against the table as they cycle from index to pinky. The other hand rests comfortably on the arm of her chair, before reaching up to touch her throat as she clears her voice.
"I think it's obvious why we're here. The largest event in our companies short history is upon us, and we have a murder take place at our go home show." Her gaze falls on Dennis Gumble, and her eyes narrow. "But even worse, this murder was caught on tape, and then submitted as part of the show to the Othello Brothers."
Gumble sank into his chair a bit, and gulped hard before speaking. "Mrs. Byrne, I can assure you that disciplinary actions have already been handled. This video package was never meant to make it to air, but it got mixed into the stream sent to Flipping The Script somehow."
"Do you not realize how this looks, Dennis? Its bad enough that someone was murdered at one of our shows, but how it was presented makes us look like a bunch of callous fools! No one could be bothered to come to the woman's rescue? The camera man didn't think that maybe he should notify security, or the police, that a homicide was taking place in our backstage area?"
"I...I'm sorry. But even so, a lot of this could have been avoided if these two hadn't aired the damn thing on their show!"
Kenneth suddenly snaps forward from his casual stance and brings a fist down on the table, pointing with the other hand across at Gumble. "Don't you try and place the blame for this tragedy on us! We debated long and hard about airing that footage, but my brother convinced me that the public had a right to know, and that maybe someone would recognize the assailant."
Dennis rolls his eyes. "Oh don't give me that shit. You two aren't even real brothers! You saw the chance to exploit the situation and get more subscriptions on your Youtube channel!"
"ENOUGH!"
Vanessa Byrne is livid as she flashes her eyes around the room. No one meets her gaze save for Dugan Callahan, who snickers at the rest of them while taking a sip of his beverage. She takes a deep breath before settling back into her seat, allowing the grizzled vet's reaction to help her gain control of herself again. She flashes a wry smile to the man before turning back to the group.
Smoother, calmer, she responds. "Regardless of whose at fault, there are consequences when we have a botch of this magnitude."
Turning to the Othello's, "Youtube has demonetized and shut down your channel because of the footage."
Laurance groans and rests his head on the desk, as Kenneth's face goes red. "I knew this would happen! God damn it!"
She nods in understanding at the reaction, before holding up her hand to silence anymore protests from the hosts.
"That being said, there is good news on the horizon despite this setback. I got off the phone with our employer, Keystone Financial, and after running interference over the matter, I was able to secure your jobs as the announce team for all future Valor Pro Wrestling shows. Furthermore, a deal has been struck with Fite TV to not only stream the super shows, starting with 7 Pillars, but also access to their subscription service so that we can continue with Blitz."
Laurence sits up finally, and he and Ken look at one another quizzically before clapping each other on the back in excitement. The rest of the room applauds as well, with the exception of Callahan, who lifts his glass to Vanessa in a mark of respect. She internally smiles at this victory, and nods in Callahan's direction in receipt before holding her hands up to get everyone's attention back on track.
"This deal with Fite TV doesn't come without its hiccups. This is very much an opportunity for us, but they feel they are taking a chance, especially after this snafu with Royce. So they have asked for some incentive."
The room falls silent, and everyone looks to the other nervously. It's Emily Burlingame who leans forward, piping up for the first time to ask, "What do you mean by incentive?"
Vanessa sighs, and turns to Gumble, and with her, everyone else also stares. Suddenly under the hot seat, he begins to fidget, and nervously looks around.
Vanessa seems sincere but firm when she says, "Dennis, I'm sorry. Fite TV want their own Executive Producer on the show, and in light of this whole situation, Keystone Financial feels its best to terminate our relationship."
Gumble's eyes go wide, and he leans forward in disbelief. "You're firing me? What the fuck, Vanessa? I've been here since the beginning!"
"I Know, Dennis." She says cooly, placing her hand on top of his. "That's why this is so difficult. This is the decision that they've made, and I stand behind it."
Dennis sneers, jerking his hand away from hers, and getting to his feet. "Whatever, you ice bitch. I should have known that I couldn't count on you for shit. The only thing you've ever card about was yourself."
It was Dugan Callahan's turn to stand now, drink still in hand, and he places a firm hand on Gumble's shoulder and talks in an even, but dangerous tone. "Son, it's best you not talk to the lady like that. Just collect your things, and be on your way."
Dennis freezes for a moment, Callahan's grip like a vice, but emotions kick back in and override preservation as her yanks free and stumbles back towards the door. His eyes have become misted, and a frog appears in his throat as he hurls his next insults. "Fuck you, old man. Fuck all of you. I'll show this company what they lost when I go get on with a bigger, better company than this place."
"Sure," Callahan replies, pointing towards the door. "But until then, would you kindly get the hell out of here."
Gumble stares at all of them in utter disdain before adjusting his tie, choking back his dispair, and turning on his heels and exits. The door forcefully slams shut behind him, and Callahan shrugs, taking his seat and a sip of his drink all at the same time. He looks up at Vanessa who gives him an appreciative nod, and he returns it with one of his own.
A meek voice pipes up after the turmoil, breaking the silence, and posing a good question. "Mrs. Byrne, the marketing team needs to know how the Gauntlet Match is going to be laid out before we can make any of the promotional pieces for the show. There is still a matter of the four participants who qualified for random entries?"
Everyone turns to Jamie Burke who sheepishly smiles in response. Callahan grunts and nods in her direction for affirmations sake, and plucks out his pen and a note pad. He jots down four numbers, rips the pieces so that they are now separate, and then flips them over to where the number side is now hidden. He shuffles the pieces of paper, and then looks up to Byrne who signals he should proceed.
"So, we'll go in order of when they qualified, so...." He picks up one of the pieces, and flips it over. "Joel Hawkfield goes in at number four."
He picks up another piece, and turning it over says, "Roxi Johnson is number two."
Once more, "Brodie is number five."
And finally, "Which means that Zachariah Krahe is number three."
"And there you have it," Vanessa Byrne says, allowing a smile to tug at the edges of her mouth. "This is going to be a huge event for us, one of many more to come if we can just keep on the path. No more road blocks. I hope we've all learned from this mistake, because moving forward it will be all of us on the chopping block, and I will not allow that to happen. Fite TV's producer will be introducing himself at 7 Pillars, and we need to be prepared as first impressions are key. Othello's I want a script of all commentary that can be planned for the event. No untoward jokes, thank you. Callahan, I need a format of the show and match breakdowns. I don't expect you to know who will win, but I'd like to have your expert guess. Emily, keep doing what you're doing on the site, but be prepared for new graphics to come your way for the event, plus a restructure of staff information. Jamie, lets have that poster no later than this evening if that is possible. I want to be able to kick off the ad campaign in Italy by Tuesday."
She pauses to take a breath, and looks out over the table at the eager faces ready to create the hottest wrestling product available in the world. She smiles, reassured that everything would work out as it should, and waves her hand in dismissal. "Everyone knows what their job is for the next two weeks, so I suggest we get to it. I want reports on my desk by Monday morning. Good day, everyone."
With that, the camera feed is suddenly cut. Fade to black.