A few days later, Liam figured Monster Files had finished airing, so he drove back to the TV station.
The moment he stepped through the door, James hurried over.
“Liam, your show’s ratings are through the roof. Major TV networks are already looking to buy the broadcast rights.”
It was actually that popular?
To be honest, this was beyond what Liam had expected.
He had assumed the show’s influence would be limited to the Boston area.
Then James noticed the cow cat perched on Liam’s shoulder.
“How do you keep picking up more animal friends? Never mind, that’s not important. Come inside. We need to talk.”
…
Inside the station director’s office, which also doubled as an editing room and storage room, James sent everyone else away so he could speak with Liam alone.
“To be honest, the ratings didn’t surprise me. What did surprise me was how quickly those major networks reacted.”
He placed five or six letters in front of Liam.
When Liam opened them, he found that every one contained a broadcast contract.
“They probably saw how incredibly realistic the special effects are and realized the show has a lot of potential, so they want to lock down the rights before anyone else does.”
Liam picked up one of the contracts and looked it over before asking the expert.
“What do you think of these offers?”
“They’re very generous. Most are offering good industry rates. Five thousand dollars per episode for three years. The catch is that they all want exclusive regional broadcast rights.”
Five thousand dollars per episode, and there were several contracts covering different regions.
If Liam agreed now, he could instantly make well over a hundred thousand dollars.
It was an extremely tempting offer, especially since Liam desperately needed money.
Watson’s appetite was growing by the day, and so was Liam’s.
On top of that, he still needed to buy all kinds of equipment.
But accepting would go against Liam’s original purpose.
Making money had never been his main goal.
Spreading the show as widely as possible and gathering more clues were what truly mattered.
“Is there another way to get the show in front of more people? One that doesn’t involve signing exclusive contracts?”
James clearly hadn’t expected him to turn down that much money.
He leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.
“You’ve got your priorities straight. I know of two options. The first is to hand the show over to a distributor for nationwide release. The price would be about the same, but they’d take a commission, and the process would be much slower since they’d have to negotiate with each individual television station.”
“The second option is to let public television stations broadcast it.
They have a standardized purchase rate, and it isn’t very high.
That was exactly what Liam wanted.
His eyes immediately lit up.
As someone from the twenty-first century, he knew that two of the most important factors in spreading media were free access and broad coverage.
James really did deserve his reputation as someone who had spent years in the broadcasting industry.
His advice was practical and thorough.
Liam immediately chose the second option.
James gave him a surprised look, not expecting such a quick decision.
“To be honest, I thought you’d take the exclusive contracts and go for the money.”
Liam smiled.
“The truth needs to reach more people.”
Then he changed the subject.
“James, is there any way to increase our income while also making me better known?”
James patted him on the shoulder.
“I’ve been waiting for you to ask that. You’ve got a little name recognition now, so hurry up and make me another show.”
“You can keep producing the old one, but it’s hard to work advertisements into it. Think of a new program where ads fit naturally, preferably one that attracts advertisers with plenty of money.”
Advertisers with plenty of money?
That would obviously mean companies selling products with huge markups.
Liam immediately thought of luxury goods, but those didn’t fit the tone of his shows at all.
Then he remembered all the outdoor equipment he had bought over the past few days for exploring the forest.
Even buying that stuff secondhand had hurt his wallet.
An idea immediately came to him.
“How about an outdoor-themed show aimed at kids? We could do a wilderness adventure summer camp.”
“That’s a good idea, but what about safety?”
Liam nodded.
He knew the children’s safety was important.
“I know the director of Freetown Forest Park pretty well. We can work with him. As long as we put the park’s name in the opening credits, I’m sure he’ll be happy to provide the location.”
“And I have Watson. He’s a brown bear. If we spread his scent around the areas where the kids will be staying, no large predator will dare come near.”
Only then did James nod in satisfaction.
“Go ahead and do it. Once you finish filming, leave the editing and distribution to me.”
…
After working out the summer camp plan with James, Liam went to Freetown Forest Park to discuss the partnership.
Goldman looked over the proposal with some hesitation.
“The plan is good, and the park can absolutely cooperate with you. There’s just one small problem.” Find the original chapter at g.com.
“What problem?”
Goldman explained, “It’s not really that serious. More than ten years ago, we used to hold summer camps here all the time. Then one year, there was a fatal incident. Everyone at the camp died. After that, we stopped holding events like that here.”
Instead of being discouraged by the news, Liam became even more excited.
“That’s perfect. Leave all the safety issues to me. You know what I’m capable of. Just find a few people to handle the cooking and cleaning.”
Hearing that, Goldman remembered what Liam had done not long ago and immediately relaxed.
He had a point.
After all, the incident back then had happened because conflicts between the students escalated until they started killing one another.
With someone as ruthless as Liam around now, students were hardly a concern.
Even if a psychopathic killer showed up, they would only add some excitement to the program.
With that settled in his mind, Goldman relaxed and moved straight on to business.
“No problem. I’ll provide a guide as well. Including labor and the cost of using the grounds, how about five thousand per episode?”
“I don’t need a guide, and I’ll set up the site myself. Three thousand per episode.”
“Deal. But I want to borrow your bear cub to film a promotional video.”
“No problem. You can have me shoot the promo too.”
“Absolutely not. Everything you film comes out kind of creepy.”
…
With all the plans settled, Liam returned to the cave in high spirits.
He found the spot where he had fought the Skinwalker and expertly set up the camera.
Once everything was ready, he turned to Lily, who was playing with Watson nearby.
“Can you make that phantom from before, the one that looked like a Thunderbird?”
“No problem, little one. But you saw it yourself. The illusion looks a little insubstantial up close.”
“That’s exactly what I want. If it looked too realistic, it wouldn’t be as interesting. Besides, this is promotional material for a children’s event, so the overall tone should be friendlier and more wholesome. This is what I want you to transform into. Take a look and see if you can manage it.”
Liam handed Lily a photograph of the Skinwalker.
“Wow, he’s really ugly. But I can do it.”