Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

September 2005, London

Jawed Karim looked around the marvelous set of the biggest movie franchise ever. It was quite an eerie location, to be honest. Fake trees had been erected everywhere, along with a very realistic-looking forest floor. No one would even suspect that this was not a real forest but a set inside the Leavesden Studios.

Jawed couldn't believe that his drunken email to the biggest teenage star in the world would result in him and his friends getting an offer to fly in a private jet and witness the shooting of the most anticipated movie of next year.

"Why did you have to bring us here of all places?" Chad Hurley, Jawed's friend and business partner, asked. "Troy Armitage gave us carte blanche to do whatever we want in London, on his dime, and here we are visiting a movie set of all things?"

"Ask Steve," Jawed pointed toward their third partner in crime, Steve Chen. "He's the fan. I'm just a casual admirer."

Steve shrugged. "I didn't force you to come here, Chad. You chose that on your own."

As if they'd let Steve come and meet Troy all alone. Steve was many things, including one of the best web designers, but he was not a very shrewd businessman. Meeting a self-made multimillionaire like Troy was not something that Chen could do alone without being eaten alive. Especially when they had business to attend with said boy.

Before they could continue their conversation, a woman walked up to them carrying a board that read, 'Quiet on the set!' Getting the hint, the three friends went silent and watched the scene that the cast and crew were busy setting up.

"Action!" A short, round man shouted, and immediately, everyone around them quieted down—except for the three actors in the shot.

"How much further is it?" the oldest of the three said in frustration as they walked forward through the trees.

"Not very far," the girl who plays Hermione replied. "Had to be somewhere students won't find it accidentally." Her voice trembled slightly, showing she was putting on a brave face but was scared of the woman behind her. Umbridge's wand was trained on both Harry and Hermione as she escorted them through the forest.

Troy as Harry grabbed Hermione's hand while walking and squeezed lightly to reassure her. It seemed to work, as Hermione steadied herself almost immediately. A few steps ahead of Umbridge, Troy bent over and whispered, "What are you doing? You know that Acromantulas are nearby, right?"

"I'm improvising," Hermione whispered back before the trio reached a clearing.

"Well," Umbridge asked impatiently, "where is this weapon?" She started circling the two teenagers while keeping her wand fixed on them. "There isn't one, is there? You were trying to trick me."

Troy and Hermione exchanged nervous looks as the secret was finally out of the bag.

"You know," Umbridge whispered, "I really hate children. You truly are the most untidy creatures." She tilted her head in exasperation and continued in her sickly sweet voice, dripping with disdain. "Lord knows I tried to help you—to instill discipline, decorum, and respect for authority. I have tried my very best to have some order."

Her voice trembled as she pointed at herself. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!" Her voice broke immediately as she shouted the words. "I can't take it anymore!"

Anyone would be in awe of the sudden change in emotion from the actress, but then again, she seemed to be an experienced performer.

"But I must. Sometimes, the ends do justify the means," the woman said as she stepped closer to the two terrified teens with every word. "I will do what must be done to get that order." She pointed her wand at Troy. "Cru..."

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past Umbridge's shoulder. She stopped mid-chant and turned, only to come face to face with a group of men. Calling them men wouldn't be entirely accurate, given their current costume. Each was heavily made up with prosthetics to appear beast-like. Their torsos were shirtless and painted gray, while below the waist, they had the bodies of horses, complete with four legs, tails, and fur. Anyone could see and tell that the centaurs weren't real, but in the world of CGI, such things are usually corrected in post-production to make then seem 100% genuine.

"Who are you!?" the lead centaur yelled. "What are you doing here on our land!?"

The old woman didn't take kindly to being openly defied, so she chose to hide behind Troy of all people before continuing her tirade. "You have no right to interfere here, centaur. This is a Ministry of Magic matter. I am Madam Umbridge, the senior undersecretary to the minister and the current headmistress of Hogwarts. This land is not yours it was generously given to you by—"

"So you're with the Ministry, huh?" he asked dismissively.

"Yes, and as a half-breed, you have no right to interfere in—"

"Half-breed!?" the head centaur repeated furiously.

Umbridge seemed to sense her error and tried to make amends. "Creatures of near-human intelligence…" That was as far as she got before another arrow was fired in her direction. This time, she was ready and used her wand to conjure an invisible shield.

"Stop this nonsense!" she shouted, emboldened by the reminder that she still held a wand. "I must have order. Incarcerous!" she cast at the lead centaur, who was immediately bound in tight ropes from head to toe. He fell to the ground, writhing violently.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do. The other centaurs took it as a declaration of war by the Ministry lackey. They charged at her, deftly dodging her remaining spells. Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione dropped to the forest floor, shielding themselves as the centaurs captured Umbridge.

"Potter!" she yelled. "Please! Tell them I mean no harm."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry, ever the sassy one, shot back as the older woman was whisked away. "But I must not tell lies."

The vile woman kept shouting curses and insults but to no avail.

Harry picked up Umbridge's fallen wand from the ground and pointed it at the still-writhing centaur. "Finite Incantatem!"

Immediately, the ropes fell away, and the centaur rose to his feet. He gave the teens a considering look before shaking his head and galloping off in the same direction as his brethren, who had taken Umbridge.

"Cut!" the director yelled for what felt like the umpteenth time. "Perfect, guys! That was exactly what I needed." He turned to the older actress, who was being helped to her feet by a few crew members. "Imelda, I couldn't praise you enough. No offense to Troy and Emma, but she just blew you two out of the water."

Troy chuckled good-naturedly. "None taken. She is the best."

The older actress, now identified as Imelda Staunton, inclined her head slightly. "Thank you, Rian, Troy. I just hope people won't kill me when this movie is released."

Emma, the last of the trio of major actors, chimed in. "That's only because you're so good at playing such a despicable character. I don't think I could ever do what you just did."

Imelda inclined her head again in thanks to Emma.

"All right, everyone," the director yelled, addressing the entire crew. "Let's wrap up for the day."

As soon as the words "wrap up" echoed across the set, the quiet atmosphere disappeared, replaced by a flurry of activity. The actors began leaving for their changing rooms, while the crew started packing up equipment.

"That was fun," Chad noted idly to Jawed. "Surprisingly, much better than I was expecting it to be."

Jawed nodded in agreement. "True. I didn't realize how much goes on behind the scenes of a big movie like this. It was a lot of fun to see it."

Meanwhile, their third partner and a certified Potterhead, Steve Chen, stood quietly.

Jawed poked him lightly in the side. "You okay, Steve?"

"They cut out Grawp," he said in realization. "I was so pumped to see him in the movie. But now I can't."

Chad turned toward Jawed and mouthed, 'Who's Grawp?'

Jawed could only shrug. He'd seen the first four movies but wasn't enough of a fan to read the books. He knew the books were far more detailed, so it made sense that the filmmakers had to cut some things to fit everything into one movie.

Before they could continue their conversation, a man in his late twenties and a teenager walked up to them. The younger man, dressed in simple clothes, round golden glasses, and sporting a fake scar on his forehead, needed no introduction. Jawed recognized the older man as Tobias, Troy's assistant—the same one who had arranged the private jet that flew them to London.

"Troy," Tobias turned to his employer, "these are Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, the three founders of YouTube." Then, he turned toward the trio. "Gentlemen, you already know Troy."

"Of course." Chad stepped forward to shake Troy's hand. "I've seen all your movies, starting with [Sex Education] and leading up to your latest one, [Brick]. I have to say, you're one of the best actors in the world, hands down."

"Thank you," Troy said, beaming at the praise.

Inwardly, Jawed was rolling his eyes at his friend's behavior. Chad had always been the over-preparer. Ever since Tobias replied to their email about meeting Troy, Chad had scoured Troy's filmography and dug up everything ever said about him online or in the news to get to know the young actor better.

"Be honest with me," Troy continued with an easy grin. "Did you watch my entire filmography just for this meeting?"

"No!" Chad lied effortlessly. "I was in undergrad when I watched [The Sixth Sense]. The rest over the years."

"Sure," Troy said, his tone making it clear he wasn't fully convinced.

"Why did you cut out Grawp from the movie?" Steve asked, steering the topic back to [Harry Potter]. "I wanted to see him so badly in the film."

Troy looked at the Taiwanese man and replied, "I didn't. As much as it may seem like it, I don't write the screenplay myself. But to answer your question—have you seen the size of the fifth book? If we included everything, the film would be five hours long."

Steve frowned slightly but nodded after a moment. "True."

Jawed decided to intervene before the conversation derailed further. "Thank you so much for letting us visit the set, Troy. It was amazing."

"Glad you think so," Troy said with a nod. "I'd love to continue this chat, but I'm a little tired." He turned to Tobias. "Offer these gentlemen a grand tour of the other sets as well if they're interested, and then let's meet for a formal discussion tomorrow morning at my home over breakfast. Sounds good?"

"That would be perfect," Chad said on behalf of the group.

"See you tomorrow, then." With that, Troy turned and walked off toward his dressing room.

(Break)

The Next Day, Kloves Residence, London

"How much would you sell your company to me for?" I asked bluntly, leaving the three young entrepreneurs stunned.

"I'm sorry?" Jawed asked, unsure he'd heard correctly.

"I'm serious," I said. "I love your website and see its potential. So I'm asking again: how much money would you like to transfer ownership to me? I'm not trying to kick you out of the company—the three of you can continue working on it if you want. You'll need to sign non-compete agreements, but that's standard. So, tell me your price."

Chad, the most outgoing of the three, spoke up. "We don't want to sell our company just yet. We've barely scratched the surface of what we can do with it. Whatever you offer, I'm sure we could get a better deal from serious investors."

"How about a $50 million payout," I countered, leaving Chad wide-eyed, "for you three to divide however you like? In addition, I'll take only a 70% stake in YouTube. I'll also inject another $50 million into the company so we can hire top-tier developers and scale up with more servers to host videos. And, of course, I'll promote it like crazy—just like I did with Crocs." I pointed at my feet, which were clad in a pair of the comfy slippers.

Crocs had been the best business decision of my young life—a decision that anyone would consider brilliant given the limited knowledge we had of the company's prospects. As predicted, in just the first half of 2005, their revenue had already surpassed half a billion dollars, netting me 20% of its capital as per my agreement with them. If we were to go public right now, I'd likely be hundreds of millions richer—possibly even half a billion.

But I knew that going public now would be a mistake. The stock market was volatile, and the upcoming 2008 financial crisis would only make it worse. It was smarter to wait until after the dust settled, letting the market stabilize before taking that step.

YouTube, on the other hand, was a completely different kind of company. Unlike Crocs, which dealt in consumable products, YouTube was a digital service platform that would take years—likely a decade or more—to become profitable. As an individual, I couldn't keep funding it indefinitely without seeing any returns, so I knew selling it would eventually be inevitable. But not yet. The platform needed time to grow, and I was in a position to give it that.

"This is a one-time offer," I said, breaking the silence in the room. "I'm extending it because I have a gut feeling about your company. If you walk away from the deal now, the next time we revisit this, there will be valuers, lawyers, and a host of middlemen involved—people I'm sure we'd all rather avoid."

The three friends exchanged silent looks, their expressions shifting as they deliberated. After a few moments, Chad broke the quiet.

"I'm sorry, Troy," he said with a shake of his head. "While your offer is more than generous, we cannot—"

"Wait," Jawed interrupted, cutting Chad off mid-sentence. He turned to me, his face thoughtful. "We'll need time to think this through. Can we give you an answer in two days?"

I raised an eyebrow, studying him for a moment before nodding. "Sure. Just remember—don't think of this as giving away 70% of your company. I'll make sure that the 30% you collectively own will be worth far more than 100% of the company's current value in just a few years."

With that, the conversation ended. The trio left the room, leaving only me, Dad, and Tobias behind. My two partners had, as usual, opted to remain silent on my business decisions until now.

"Are you sure that was a wise move?" Tobias asked after a pause.

"Yes," I replied confidently. "Do you still feel the need to question my decisions?" I glanced down pointedly at my feet, where my trusty pair of Crocs rested.

"It only takes one misstep to lose everything," Dad reminded me, his tone serious. "I can't deny that all your decisions so far have been phenomenal, but we can't ignore the fact that $100 million is a lot of money."

"It'll be fine," I reassured him with a faint smile. "You worry too much."

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