Tina is about to decline Deena, but sees her boss walk into the room and decides not to. “Fine…” She then points to the row of chairs sitting against the wall. “Sit over there, don’t say a word….”

Dena smiles as she stands up and walks away.

Tina turns and looks at Dena. “And turn your damn ringer off…” she hisses.

“On it, boss….” Dena says as she sits down.

Tina turns back around and adjusts her blazer.

At the head of the table, the studio chairman, Aaron, clicks the remote. The screen shifts to a previsualization clip, a military base exploding in slow motion while a rugged action hero carries an unconscious woman over his shoulder.

“Big fourth-act sequence,” Aaron says. “We estimate the explosion simulation alone runs about eight million once we factor in pyro, safety crews, digital extensions, and cleanup.”

A few executives nod approvingly.

“Total production budget lands around one-fifty,” another executive adds. “With tax incentives, we might bring that down to one-thirty-five.”

Tina leans forward. “Can I jump in here?” she says.

The room quiets.

Aaron gestures politely. “Go ahead, Tina.”

Tina folds her hands. “I’m going to be the dissenting vote on this.”

A couple of men shift in their chairs.

“Of course you are…” one man mumbles.

Tina shoots the man a hard look as she continues. “I don’t think Alphaville should greenlight this movie in its current form.”

Silence hangs in the room.

One executive raises an eyebrow. “Because?”

Tina taps the screen remote, pulling up the concept art again. “This movie is a 1996 action template,” she says calmly. “Lone guy. Massive explosions. Helicopters. Woman gets kidnapped in Act Two. Guy blows up half a city to save her in Act Three.” She gestures toward the screen. “That formula worked when audiences were buying tickets to watch Arnold and Stallone level entire skylines.”

A few men chuckle.

“But that market changed twenty years ago,” Tina says.

Another executive leans back in his chair. “Top Gun did a billion dollars.”

Tina nods. “Top Gun worked because it updated the formula. It wasn’t pretending the last thirty years of storytelling didn’t happen.” She turns her tablet around so the others can see a chart. “Our audience data shows that action films driven purely by spectacle without strong character arcs drop off hard after opening weekend. Especially in the thirty-five and under demo.”