Arnon Mil was juggling many projects, but among the most critical was ving Al Pao to e on board and allow the colboration of two promi actors. One of them was Johnny Depp, and the other was the man he was visiting. They had sent the script to Pao’s agent, along with a modest moary gift of a few thousand dolrs, possibly some favors, which seemed to touch the agent’s heart. It didn’t take long for this to have an effect—the agent reehe script over the others that were being sidered.

  But this was Hollywood.

  A juicy payched a meeting were key steps, and if they could get the famous actor, seg a stable cast would be much easier. The filming locations, mostly in New York, Chicago, and Miami, were nearly plete and readily avaible from the produ panies. For this reason, Arnon Mil hadn’t had time to sit down and talk. He had retly met a young writer who cimed to have a great script, which Arnon ignored, unaware that Billy was in the lobby for the script and that the author, Charles Michael "Chuck" Pahniuk, was losing fideer fag numerous rejes. The panies had offered a maximum of 10,000, but the his work aside, leaving him with restrained frustration that soon turned into disappoi and a touch of fury toward the industry.

  Arnon Mil arrived at Al Pao’s house, parked his car on the curb, and waited at the door for 10 minutes until Pae down, his bck hair tousled and a cigarette in hand. He invited Arnon inside, dressed casually in an open pink shirt. Arnon remained calm—his main strategy was to let people ask their questions.

  -The script has a touch of a movie I just worked on, o, - ented Pao.

  Arnon smiled, knowing that Pao's agent uood his way of thinking perfectly.

  -I 't deny there are simirities, but there’s a key difference. In this, you’re not the sharp, quick-witted guy you were before. Instead, you're more the shoot-first-ask-questioype. But age has dulled that edge, ged that impulsive nature. This time, we explore the boween two people—a seasoned mentor and someone who sees you as their master. I’d say you're pying a washed-up gangster, with a lot on his mind.- Arnon took a sip of water. - What's fasating here is the human side, the sensitive, vulnerable elements. It’s not just about bullets arayals; this mafia follows a code, and moral dilemmas e into py. -

  The versation covered many points, especially around the character's role. Arnon, having spent time studying the script, provided several well-founded opinions, particurly his favorite—about the fate of men who end up dying. He shared a real-life case study with Pao, detailing the guilt and other plex emotions that are hard to grasp when life hangs in the bance.

  -Who will be my co-stars? - asked the veteran actor.

  -We have a few options, but Johnny Depp is a strong favorite. He has an excellent perspective on how to portray his role. You could meet with him, or whoever is chosen—we work around your schedule. - Arnon replied.

  -Thanks for the insight. You've given me a lot to think about. I'll talk to Hall and carefully sider how to approach this role.- - Pamented, closing the deal.

  -I’ll travel soon, but feel free to discuss details with Dano or Mark Johnson. We’re w together on this through Lux Films, Baltimore Pictures, and Mark Johnson Produs. - Arnon cluded with a handshake, seg a crucial point for moving the project forward.

  ***

  Billy was anizing everything, but his involvement in Gattabsp;was still pending—his participation in a few ses was just a matter of y. The most important thing now was bang all the matters ing his panies, which demanded his attention.

  For instance, he held a 78% stake in Apple, and his businesses were moving at a breakneck pace. The cash flow from Warner couldn’t have e at a better time—a tough blow for the board and two co-presidents who were now under his financial trol, forced to follow orders. Being a CEO requires a deeper vision than merely managiings and stig to a set schedule.

  Steve Jobs secured his share in the pany, and they made signifit produ cuts, sshing at least 45 products. Now, the pany was left with just six: headphones, puters, Matosh, ptops, recorders, and walkie-talkies. To Steve, it seemed like a plete waste of time when it came to product decisions.

  -I’ve made the necessary adjustments, and we o let go of this number of employees. - Gil Amelio remarked, surprising the room. The redu of 500 employees wasn’t expected initially, but under Billy’s proposal, it became easier to offer employees the choice to either take a six-month sary cut or receive a generous severance package.

  Some opted for trao Billy’s other panies, like the one responsible for web development. The Lux Animation project was still up in the air, along with the development of Messenger—a private chat service that required more staff. aming panies under Billy’s umbrel, such as Blizzard, also needed more people for administrative tasks and site maintenance.

  -The item on the agenda is the decision to cut either the recorders or the walkie-talkies. - ented Gil Amelio.

  The board voted as expected, eliminating some obsolete models. The step was to present the motion to the general shareholders' meeting, leading to the pany’s delisting from the stock market.

  -Billy’s proposals are as follows... - Anne began, standing in for Billy. - Let’s improve the processors, and build puters that handle faster information processing—graphidering, putation, and memory. We o implement USB to repce diskettes. The pany is already beginning to take different approaches, and the Universal Serial Bus is likely the most important teology in the ing years. If we adjust our puters year by year to meet these demands, that would be fantastic. -

  -That’s quite a challenge.- muttered the head of the teology department.

  -He wants it by year, and that’s why you get paid. - Anne growled. Her fierce personality fasated Steve for two reasons—it was exactly what was needed, someone who could push.

  -Better processors, chips... for urpose? - Steve Jobs inquired, as part of a pre-arranged versation.

  -Development of lications, and Mac-specific applications.- Anne replied, seeiation. - We’ll hahat. Just make sure you build a powerful system. One more thing: the puter s has to ge. It’s cumbersome to work with the current design. I want it to look like this. -

  She handed over a series of sketches—a rge s, a mock-up of an iBook, portable puters, and miniatures, with ideas on battery life, design, and funality.

  -These are some designs we’d like to sider. We want a sleek, ft, and regur shape—something different from the typical boxy design.- Anne remarked.

  Demand after demand, Coll Bernard had a headache and was uo expieicalities to them. They just wanted results. Anne, however, was tent with half measures, leaving the rest to the experts. Steve's eyes gleamed—he couldn’t be the bad guy... not yet!

  ...