Rebranding

Chapter Two

 

Clayton Barnes pressed the elevator’s up button three times before checking his watch again. He rolled his eyes to heaven and tried to will the elevator doors to open.

 

“Come on,” he mumbled under his breath. He reached out and pushed the button three more times. 

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“That doesn’t make the elevator come any faster.” 

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Clay looked at the well-dressed woman standing to his left and gave her a half-hearted smile. 

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“I know, but it makes me feel better… micro-aggression release.” 

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Before he could say anything else, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Clay motioned for the lady to enter the elevator first. He noticed her designer clothes as she stepped in and swiped a key card before pressing the button for the executive level. She was obviously someone with clout at the network.

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Clay was suddenly very self-conscious. 

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He reached out and pressed the sixth floor where his executive producer’s office was located. He stood a little straighter and tried to act more professional in front of this woman who obviously had influence. When the doors opened on his floor, he gave a polite nod and smiled at her as he got off the elevator. 

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She answered with an amused smirk and slight chuckle. It was obvious she had sized him up in the few minutes that they were together. When the elevator doors closed, he let go of the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and looked back toward the sky. 

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“Why?” he asked of no one in particular. He shook his head and turned to go to his producer’s office. “God, I hope this day doesn’t get any worse.” 

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Clay opened the door to the office and stopped dead in his tracks halfway through the door.

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“Oh hell,” he said. 

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Sitting around the waiting area was everyone from the main crew of his TV show, Night Hunts. 

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“Were you all called in for this meeting with Ava too?”

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Everyone gave Clay a sad look as they nodded yes in unison. 

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“Well, shit,” said Clay. “This can’t be good.”

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His crew all gave him uneasy looks as they nodded their agreement with his assessment. 

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Ashley Cole, Ava’s assistant, looked up and smiled at Clay. 

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“Please have a seat, Mr. Barnes. Ms. Moreno is on a video conference with the managing partners that is running late. She will be with you all as soon as possible.”

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Clay finally stepped into the room and turned to shut the door. He had a sudden urge to run back out and leave his crew behind to deal with whatever this meeting was about today. He begrudgingly fought the urge and walked over to take a seat next to his tech specialist Jax. His given name was Jack Marx, but in all the years they had known each other Clay had never heard anyone call him Jack. 

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“Can I get you a cappuccino, tea, sparkling water?” asked Ashley.

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“No. I’m good, thanks,” answered Clay. The other guys had obviously turned down her offer as well. Everyone was too on edge to drink anything… at least anything that didn’t have a kick to it. 

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Steven Carter, the team’s production assistant and sometimes unintentional comic relief, leaned in toward Clay and spoke in a low tone so as not to draw Ashley’s attention. 

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“Hey, Clay. Do you have any idea what this meeting is about? I mean, I know they just got the ratings numbers, but no one is saying how our show did.”

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Clay just shrugged.

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“Your guess is as good as mine. I was just told to be here, no explanation why.” Clay leaned over toward Jax. Under his breath he added, “Like that kind of summons doesn’t send a chill through you.” 

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Jax nodded in agreement.

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The guys fell into an uncomfortable silence. There was a water feature on the wall across from Ashley’s desk that made calming sounds as the water spilled down over several ledges into a small pool at the base of the wall before being pumped up to the top of the wall to fall through the feature again. 

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Clay sat there staring at the water as it ran through its perpetual motions. His thoughts started to churn along with the water as all the trouble they had been having with the show came rushing to mind. 

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He knew from the comments he had seen online, a lot of people were complaining about the show’s name, Night Hunts. It seems a rather large number of viewers had tuned in expecting to see an actual hunting show taking place at night. They were quite confused and annoyed to find themselves watching a show about ghost hunting. 

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Clay understood their frustration. He had fought for a different name when they first got the contract with Next Level Production Collective. He always thought that any group that would name themselves something so pretentious as Next Level Production Collective should not be allowed to name TV shows. The first time Clay had seen that name on the proposal email he thought it had to be a prank one of his buddies was pulling. He was wrong about the name and a lot of other things. 

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When Ava Moreno first approached Clay to take their live streaming social media show, Ghost Recon, and turn it into a professionally produced reality show, he jumped at the opportunity without much thought and dragged his best friends Mathew Volks and Jax with him. While he was still happy he took the deal, he was becoming less so as more changes were made to their show. 

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Their original Ghost Recon episodes were mostly filmed on their phones. The quality was bad, but they loved doing it and even more important, it was something they loved doing together. It fed something in them and that came through even in the grainy videos. 

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But ever since they signed on with Ava and let her professionally produce their show, they found themselves arguing more and more during investigations. Between low ratings, infighting, and so many viewer complaints, Clay was sure they were all about to be cancelled. 

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Jax started bouncing his leg and chewing on his nails. Something he always did when he was nervous. 

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Clay reached out and put his hand on his buddy’s leg to stop the neurotic bouncing, “Deep breaths, man. I know it’s nerve-wracking, but you know we are going to be okay no matter which way this goes.”

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Jax rubbed his legs and nodded, “I know, Clay. I just hate the waiting. I wish she would hurry up and tell us what’s going to happen with the show already.”

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Just then the phone on Ashley’s desk chimed. She quickly picked it up. After a few quick, polite “Yes, ma’ams” Ashley hung up and left her desk to come over to where the men were sitting. They were all focused on her every movement like pointers watching prey… or perhaps more accurately, like condemned men watching a priest come in to give them last rites. It really depended on how things went in the next few minutes. 

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“If you gentlemen will follow me,” Ashley smiled before she turned to walk down the hall to Ava’s office. The men all fell in single file and silently followed. Ashley stopped to open the double doors to Ava’s office, then stepped aside to let them all pass. 

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“Just have a seat anywhere,” she said as they passed by her. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything? Tea, soda, water, a cappuccino perhaps?”

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The men all mumbled their thanks as they passed but no one was in the mood for anything until they found out the fate of their show. Then they would go out together and either celebrate or drown their sorrows in something stronger than espresso and milk foam. 

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Just as the men filed in the phone on Ava’s desk rang again. She looked at the phone and grimaced.

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"Sorry, guys. It’s Roger calling again. Just sit. I hope this will only take a minute."

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“Hello, Roger. Yes, Roger. I understand. The guys are all here with me now and we are going to have that conversation as soon as I get off here with you.”

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Clay gave Jax a “well, it was nice while it lasted” look as the guys all waited to hear bad news. 

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“I understand. I will do that right now.” 

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Ava placed her elbow on her desk as she rested her forehead on her free hand. She started out looking relaxed but eventually pulled her fingers into a fist as she kept repeating, “Yes, Roger. I understand. Yes, Roger. Okay. Okay, Roger.”

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Clay could hear the frustration building up in her voice even as she tried her best to remain calm and composed. He knew she had a lot riding on this show too. Ava had been an assistant producer with a few big-name production companies over the years. She was promised many times that she was going to get to produce her own shows "at some point in the future", but the promises were never kept. 

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When Next Level Production Collective was formed by a group of nouveau riche tech bros, Ava took a chance and made the move to the startup in hopes of finally making her mark as an executive producer. She had no way of knowing the guys behind the company had just created it as a write-off engine and a guaranteed Hollywood party pass for themselves. 

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It was not long after they hired her, a middle-aged, black female, that she began to suspect they did it for the optics, not for her talent. But Ava was determined that no matter how she got there, she was going to use her position for all it was worth, for as long as possible. 

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The first two projects they gave her were a clear message that this company was not going to be the big breakout opportunity she had hoped. Her first project was a gluten-free cooking show called The Happy Gut Challenge. It never even made it through the first season. And rightly so, it was every bit as bland as it sounded. 

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Then she was given Night Hunts. She felt this was a show she could actually do something with. But Roger, the Next Level partner she worked for directly, seemed determined to make this project tank too, starting with his insistence on the name Night Hunts. 

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She and Clay had more than a few heart-to-hearts discussing the direction of the show. Ava eventually confided in him that most of the things he hated about their show, she also hated. Unfortunately, they were all decisions that had been sent down from above and she was doing her best to get them some leeway. 

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From the look on Ava’s face as she talked to Roger, Clay could tell she was as tired of all of the obstacles the corporate overlords were throwing in their way as he was. 

Ava said “Yes, Roger” a few more times, then finally hung up the phone. She covered her face with her hands as she took in a deep breath. She let it out slowly before dragging her hands down her face and looked around the room at the guys. 

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She took another deep breath and let it out as she adjusted herself in her chair and sat up straighter while dropping her hands to the desk with conviction. 

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“Okay, I will not keep you in suspense, your show is not cancelled.”

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There was a collective sigh of relief around the room as the guys all visibly relaxed. With the tension broken, the guys all began to fidget and mutter words of relief to each other as they worked out some of their pent-up energy.  

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“Don’t get too happy just yet, guys,” warned Ava. “We have to make a lot of changes if we want to keep this show going. Roger is giving us until midseason to get the ratings up, but he has more changes he is insisting on. I think some of the changes you will be okay with and some… you definitely won’t.”

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Jax was the first to speak up. “I think we will be able to live with just about anything if it keeps the show going.”

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“Just about being the key words there,” added Clay as he gave Ava a knowing look. 

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“I was able to reason with him on most of the changes. The plan is to have everything in place for your next location shoot, but for that to happen it means I have to work fast. We are going to do a total rebrand and play up your military background. One of the major things I bargained for and got for us is a name change.”

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Clay sat back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. This morning he had been sure that his show was going to get cancelled and he would be heading back home to Colorado. Now, here he was, not only was his show not cancelled, but he was getting something he had been asking for since day one. He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He felt the emotional weight of the day pulling at his energy and it wasn’t even noon yet. 

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“You know I have a lot of ideas for names…”

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Ava held up her hand to cut Clay off.

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“I have to stop you, Clay. I hate to say this, but Roger has already chosen the name. I don’t know how you are going to feel about this but he wants us to use S.P.E.C.T.R., it stands for Scientific Paranormal Evidence Collection, Theory, and Research.”

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Clay gave her a look like he just took a test drink from a milk carton that had already turned. 

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“What does that even have to do with our show?” Clay threw his hands up as he asked his question to no one in particular. 

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Ava played with the pencil on her desk. She didn’t look up to meet Clay’s gaze as she spoke. 

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“Well, that is part of the rebrand.” She paused before looking up to see all the men looking at her as if they were waiting for her to ruin their day again. “Roger seems to think we need some controversy to make the show more interesting.”

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Clay leaned forward and gave Ava a cautious look. 

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“What do you mean, controversy?”

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Ava motioned to the men sitting around the room as she explained. “You guys are all true believers. You go into your investigations expecting to find paranormal activity and you never question if it’s real or not. If you experience something unusual you automatically attribute it to paranormal activity without question.”

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Clay looked at Jax and Matt, giving them an obvious “well, duh” look. 

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“Of course we go in expecting to find activity. If we didn’t expect there to be any activity at these places, we wouldn’t have a reason to investigate them.”

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Ava reached out and patted the air as if she could get Clay to relax with that simple motion. 

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“Look, I get it. The reason I picked you guys for this show was because you are obviously so into the ghost hunting and you really believe there is something to find. But Roger wants us to add more scientific fact finding to go with your “I felt a cold spot” kind of evidence. What will it hurt to have a scientist on board who can use equipment to show just how cold the air is in that particular spot actually and prove there is no naturally occurring reason for it to be there. I would think you would see this as a good thing.” 

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Clay sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes at her in answer. 

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“Come on, guys,” said Matt. “If it’s between them canning the show or bringing some stodgy old professor on the crew to follow us around looking at electronic equipment just to show the cold spot we felt was actually unaturally cold, what harm could it do?” 

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“It barely feels like our show now. I don’t know if I am willing to give up more control,” said Clay.

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“Well, if you really feel that way, Roger also suggested that I should just recast with an all female crew,” Ava waited for that reality to sink in. 

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“Are you serious?” asked Clay as he jumped from his chair.

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Ava shrugged. “There are a lot of all guy or mostly guy ghost hunting groups. Roger thinks an all-female group would stand out more,” said Ava as she stared pointedly at Clay. “But I talked him into giving us a chance to turn things around.” 

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Clay started pacing the room. “This was supposed to just be about us three, being a team again, checking out haunted places. It was us trying to prove that we don’t stop existing when the body dies. It was supposed to be fun and interesting.” Clay paused while he dropped back in his chair. “It was supposed to be our next adventure, but with these changes, I doubt we will ever have the show we wanted when we signed on.” 

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Ava got up from her chair and walked around to perch on the edge of her desk in front of Clay’s chair. 

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“Look, Clay. I get it. This is not what you wanted for your show. Hell, it’s not what I wanted for your show. But if we want to keep it going for now, this is what we have to do. It’s my hope that if we can make it a few years, we will get the chance to make more changes later and get it closer to the show we both want out there.”

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Clay just nodded. He knew he didn’t really have a choice unless he was willing to just walk away from it all, and he was not ready to do that. Not yet anyway. 

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“Is that it?” asked Clay. 

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Ava made a face that told the guys there was still more. 

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Jax was the first to ask. “What else do they want from us?”

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Ava squeezed her eyes shut so as not to see the looks she was certain she was about to get. 

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“We are bringing in a stylist to work on a new look for all of you.”

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The guys all protested in unison. 

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“Oh come on, Ava,” said Clay. 

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“Nope, nope, there is nothing wrong with my jersey and hoodie collections. They are timeless,” said Jax.

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“I don’t want to give up my flannels, some of these locations get cold, even minus the cold spots,” said Matt.

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“If we get to keep the clothes, I’m fine with it,” said Steven.

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The other men all shot him a dirty look. 

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Steven just shrugged. “What? I could use some new clothes.” 

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Ava broke in. 

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“Oh, it’s not just clothes. It’s a whole new look, a complete makeover.”

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Steven seemed to be liking the idea even more, much to the annoyance of everyone else. 

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“I don’t want anyone coming in and telling me how to be a better version of myself for the show,” said Clay. 

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Ava laughed nervously. 

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“Well then, you obviously do not want to be successful in the entertainment industry. If you want to just be yourself you can do that in Colorado. The door is right there.” Ava gestured to her door, then turned and went back around to sit at her desk. She folded her hands on the desktop and looked Clay straight in the eyes as she spoke. 

“But if you still want to try and turn this show around and make it a success, it is going to take some sacrifices on the part of all of you. But I give you my word, I will do everything I possibly can to make sure your show is a success and eventually bring it around to what we want this to be. Not Roger’s vision, our vision. So do you want to work with me or do you want to throw in the towel?"

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Ava paused for a moment to let the situation sink in for everyone.

 

"Just be sure to choose wisely, because I am not going to put up with bellyaching about all the changes every day. I have enough to deal with trying to fight Roger to keep him from making things worse for us all. I don’t need this stress from both sides. We either do this together or we don’t. What’s it going to be?”

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Ava looked at Clay and patiently waited for his reply. He took a moment to look around the room at his friends. Jax and Matt both gave him a less than thrilled look as they nodded yes. He could tell they were not happy with the changes either, but they weren’t ready to call it quits just yet. He felt the same way. 

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Before he answered, Clay looked at Steven for his answer too. While Steven was not a part of their original group, he had become like a little brother to the crew. He could be a bit of a pain in the neck at times, but now it would seem weird not to have him around. Clay felt he earned more than his spot on the team and should get a vote too. 

Steven looked around the room in shock for a moment like he didn’t know what to do, but he finally answered. 

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“Wow, me? Uh, yeah! Of course I still want to do this. This is the best job I’ve ever had.”  

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Clay couldn’t help but smirk at the kid. They gave him all the grunt work and he still thinks this is the best job he’s ever had. For just a split second Clay wondered what kind of crappy jobs this kid must have done in comparison. 

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Clay looked back at Ava. 

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“I guess we’re in.”

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“Great. We need to get to work right now. I am going to have Ashley take you down to four where we have your stylists waiting to meet with you all. I have some calls to make to see if I can find us a scientist who wants to go ghost hunting,” Ava rolled her eyes then reached out to wake up her computer. She pulled up her contact list and got to work. 

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“When you are done with the stylists come back here and we’ll order lunch and get to work on the other changes.”

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Ava picked up her phone and buzzed for Ashley. She didn’t see the guys mouthing to each other, asking what other changes she was talking about. Before they could ask, Ashley came in and asked them all to follow her again. The crew stood up and followed her out without question. There would be plenty of time for all of that later. Right now they were more worried about what the stylists had in mind for their new look. 

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Clay had an image of Ghostbuster style coveralls flashing through his mind and it gave him a shiver. He said a little prayer for anything but that. If he had only known what was in store for him, he might have prayed for the coveralls instead. 

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By the end of the day, the guys were all exhausted. Their show was still in production, but everything was going to be different now. With their new name, S.P.E.C.T.R., came a new team member, a new wardrobe, and, for Clay at least, a new, manufactured persona. It seems Roger, the tech bro overseeing their division of Next Level, thinks some of the controversy the show needs includes him becoming a well-publicized serial dater on social media, even if not in real life. 

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Starting right away, they were going to arrange for him to be seen out and about with a lot of new upcoming starlets in the other shows being produced by Next Level Production Collective. Apparently, the partners all felt that a few well-publicized hook-ups and break-ups on social media could give all the shows a good bump in the ratings. With Clay being the unofficial team leader, he was the lucky target. 

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Their next location shoot would not be for several weeks. Clay hoped he could put up with all the nonsense long enough to get back to the good stuff, ghost hunting with his best friends… and Steven. 

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Part of him wondered if they shouldn’t just walk away now and go back to their live streaming show. At least that would always be an option if things got too crazy.