Chapter 769: Chapter 176 Good Idea
“An appointnt?” Adrian looked up and finally rembered after a while, “Oh, yes, you said yesterday you wanted to introduce soone to … but you didn’t say it was now?”
“Indeed it wasn’t, but if I hadn’t co to see you ahead of ti, I definitely wouldn’t have seen you at the hotel’s cafe at ten o’clock.” Weinstein spread his hands sowhat helplessly.
“Okay, it’s my fault,” Adrian conceded with good grace, “so, just wait a mont for , I need so ti to get dressed and…”
He pointed to the bedroom, the unsaid words hanging in the air. Weinstein shrugged and made a “please don’t be late” gesture before leaving.
“Hey, sweetheart, I really have to say sorry…” Adrian walked into the bedroom, but was cut off before he could finish, “Yes, I know, you have things to do; I heard.”
Zoe, already dressed and sitting on a chair, said nonchalantly, her mouth slightly twisted in dissatisfaction but still looking adorable, then she exaggeratedly sighed, “Typical, that’s n for you, as soon as they get a woman into bed, those sweet nothings quickly vanish.”
“Oh, Zoe, it really saddens to hear you say that; it truly breaks my heart.” Adrian exaggeratedly sighed as well, then squatted down in front of her, took her hands in his, “Alright, sweetheart, I just have a small date, it won’t take too long. You can wait for here, or head to the ski slopes first. I’ll be there soon, I promise.”
With that, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips, “You’re one of the sweetest, most adorable girls I’ve ever t; how could I bear to neglect you.”
“But, my mom told never to trust a playboy’s words. I made a mistake yesterday, I can’t make another today,” Zoe said seriously.
“Alright, it seems I should find a way to prove my sincerity,” Adrian scratched his head, glanced at the ti nearby with a mischievous grin, “Luckily, we still have so ti.”
Zoe looked puzzled, but as soon as Adrian reached out to undo her blouse buttons, she quickly figured it out and knocked his hand away, “Stop it, you jerk, wasn’t last night enough?”
Though she said this, she laughed giddily, her cheeks blushing coquettishly, so Adrian quickly stripped her top off. But Zoe wasn’t going to let him win so easily and giggled as she played a ga of hide and seek around the bedroom; however, none of her tricks worked against the experienced Adrian. As she tried to crawl across the bed, he suddenly pounced, pinning her down, and in the midst of her screams, he had her pants off in no ti, exposing her pale, shapely buttocks.
“Adrian, you’re cheating…” Zoe cried out, annoyed, but before she could finish, her mouth was covered.
Under Adrian’s teasing, the two heatedly kissed.
Adrian ca down to the hotel’s cafe looking energetic. Weinstein was already there, seemingly having waited for quite so ti, but checking the ti, he wasn’t late.
“Where is the person you’re introducing, Harvey?” Adrian asked in a light tone after instructing the waiter.
“He hasn’t arrived yet,” Weinstein admitted sheepishly, having gone out of his way to remind Adrian, and now Adrian had co down while his friend still hadn’t arrived, “But he should be here soon, just a few more minutes… Hey, there he is.”
Imdiately, Weinstein stood up, waved his hand at the door, and raised his voice, “Mike, this way.”
Following his gaze, an overweight middle-aged man approached, his face plump, to say the least, what one might call a typical “jovial” face in forr tis, adorned with black-frad glasses and a circle of stubble beard. His upper body had a wide swing as he walked; he must be quite confident or even arrogant.
“Sorry, Harvey, I thought we were eting at Hayden Cafe on Solam Street. I am terribly sorry,” the middle-aged man apologized as he approached.
“No problem, Ed and I had just sat down,” Weinstein shook his hand and began introducing them, “Ed, this is Michael Moore, a renowned docuntary filmmaker and independent producer. Mike, this is Adrian Cowell, the famous Miracle Director and… philanthropist.”
Michael Moore? Adrian quickly narrowed his eyes, his mories of a past life and experiences of this one promptly reminding him of this portly individual. While shaking hands, he threw a glance at Weinstein.
Weinstein chuckled silently and sowhat sheepishly, aware that for corporate magnates, this guy was a nuisance. Yet why was he introducing him?
“I’ll get straight to the point, Mr. Cowell,” after small talk and a tacit inquiry of his intentions, Michael Moore laid everything on the table, “Recently, Harvey and I discussed an idea, a new docuntary concept. Harvey fully supports . But this docuntary will touch on many details that the governnt would prefer the public didn’t know, particularly regarding the disaster the year before last. Hence, the production may face many obstacles, and funding will be limited. Then Harvey suggested you might be interested.”
He went on talking without noticing Weinstein making a facepalm gesture.
“Information about 9/11?” Adrian raised an eyebrow; as expected, he gave Weinstein another look, who stealthily smirked back.
“Yes, after the disaster happened, many people despised Laden, and Bush retaliated against Afghanistan imdiately. But few know that the Bush family and the Laden family had very close interactions,” Moore beca sowhat heated as he spoke, “I’m sorry I can’t procure more evidence right now, but I’m certain that the 9/11 incident isn’t as straightforward as imagined. There’s a lot of complexity, shocking revelations that need to be shown to the public, to inform them of what they’ve endured. It’s a citizen’s duty!”
How to put it…? Adrian shook his head inwardly in disagreent, maintaining a polite smile on his face, however.
“Mr. Moore, I must remind you that Junior Bush is a democratically elected president. If he were responsible for such actions, neither Congress nor the people would let him off. After all, you can’t wrap fire with paper,” he said calmly.
Moore seed taken aback, probably not expecting Adrian to grasp his implications so quickly, his expression shifting slightly as he detected the subtle refusal in his tone.
“You’re mistaken, Mr. Cowell,” he emphasized his tone, “The fire is not wrapped in paper but in a sealed container; no one will know what’s inside unless it is opened. What I’m doing is opening it for the public, for everyone entitled to know the truth!”
“Evidence, Mr. Moore. You need Concrete evidence to prove that there indeed is such a container and that it indeed contains a fire, not just baseless speculations. A jury won’t convict soone just because ‘because no one else could have done it,'” Adrian spread his hands.
Michael Moore’s brows furrowed, his eyes behind the glasses fixed on Adrian. After a while, he finally stood up.
“I knew it; can’t count on the conscience of the wealthy,” Moore bluntly stated, then patted Weinstein on the shoulder, “I’m sorry, Harvey, for wasting your goodwill. Not everyone keeps their eyes on the ground after their social status rises. You’re a good man, but not everyone is.”
With that, he strode out, Weinstein standing and calling after him several tis to no avail.
Adrian shook his head in disapproval again, very visibly this ti. This guy was too self-righteous, convinced he held the truth and thus hardly open to opposition or views contrary to his own, especially when those opinions ca from a wealthy person, a tycoon—they were undoubtedly wrong.
However, he didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards him—of course, no favorable feelings either. From the perspective of a director and producer, Michael Moore was a competent, even exceptional docuntary director. To say nothing else, the film he produced last year about the gun issue, “Bowling for Columbine,” had earned him much praise upon release. By intertwining interview clips from the Oklahoma bombing and the Columbine High School massacre with news reports, speeches, and many shooting incidents in a montage, it delivered a strong shock effect, which probably also fueled his ambition, targeting then the 9/11 event.
In Adrian’s view, at best, Michael Moore was like a “clear stream”: according to his past life’s terminology, his existence was ant to find faults, to make a na for himself by pinpointing governnt mistakes. Because such activities were quite straightforward, and as long as one managed the boundaries well, there wasn’t much need to worry. No entity is perfect, and if one wanted to, flaws could always be found, with the governnt always being a subject of criticism, especially considering that the President of the United States already played the role of a target.
Identifying problems was easy, solving them was what truly mattered, but for the “clear streams,” this was neither their forte nor their concern; they just needed to point out the faults. Of course, so would propose solutions, but these were mostly brainstord and would likely worsen the situation if implented. Of course, the “clear streams” would never admit this; they would argue that the problem was that the solutions weren’t properly executed.
Besides, although Michael Moore’s docuntaries raised very sharp questions, it wasn’t necessarily fair. Docuntaries were made by people, and people always have their stances and desires. Taking the still conceptual “Fahrenheit 9/11,” revealing the relationship between the Bush and Laden families was fine, suspecting issues with the fall of the World Trade Center was also fine, but blaming it on the United States governnt…
As ntioned earlier, this possibility existed but was extrely slim, slim enough to be negligible because if it were proved, the foundational principles of Arica might be shaken. Yet, the docuntary almost specifically portrayed the governnt as orchestrating this catastrophe, yet all evidence, such as the gold vault beneath the World Trade Center or the military’s plans to defend it, was equivocal.
If it were Adrian, if he truly wanted to do sothing for the victims and for this country, he would definitively bla governnt negligence. Undoubtedly, the governnt had received prior intelligence, but due to various reasons, like intervening in the Middle East or targeting the Euro, it had allowed the terrorists’ activities, resulting in a massive disaster.
As long as these things were proved, the governnt would unavoidably be skinned, and Bush could potentially beco the fourth impeached president. Yet Moore insisted on propagating this conspiracy theory. If today’s eting hadn’t given Adrian a direct impression of him, he might even suspect Moore was a CIA or FBI undercover agent.
Of course, Adrian understood this attitude; either complete idealists die early or they change after being battered by society. However, Moore ultimately contributed positively; at least he allowed the public to view certain issues from another angle, and regardless of whether his statents were true, he indeed dared to speak them.
“Damn, how could it turn out like this?” Weinstein lanted as he slumped back into his seat.
“So, you seem to have a good relationship with Michael Moore,” Adrian asked without any change in expression.
“Yes, back in ’99 Miramax helped him distribute a film,” Weinstein explained, then sighed deeply.
“Okay, Harvey, don’t tell you supported making the 9/11 docuntary because you had a change of heart,” Adrian remarked bluntly, not mincing words.
“Why couldn’t I have a change of heart?” Weinstein imdiately retorted, but then he raised his hands in surrender, “Alright, I just thought the subject was very valuable, especially after Michael outlined his ideas to . It might be a bit rough, but it’s bound to cause a sensation once produced.”
At this point, he winked, “It also gives us a chance to show the President a thing or two.”
Though by the end of 2000, due to acquiring AT&T Broadband and getting involved with the Bush family, helping Junior Bush in his final presidential run, his relation had slowly faded and even cooled. Claude and The Godfather leaned a bit towards the Democratic Party, and compared to this, the White House definitely preferred the closer governnt ties with News Corporation, so this situation was unavoidable.
Weinstein knew this since when Adrian had previously asked for his PR help, he was given full authority, allowed to mobilize resources fully, and although he was not privy to certain secrets, he was aware of the nuances in the relationship with the Bush family. This was why Weinstein made that comnt; he too supported the Democratic Party and could use this excuse to pull Adrian in—of course, this was not his only reason.
“Is that so?” Adrian responded with a non-committal smile, “Not just that, Harvey, this is also a great opportunity to enhance Miramax’s reputation, doing sothing other movie companies wouldn’t dare, and anwhile, we can endorse you guys.”
Weinstein chuckled twice, not embarrassed in the least by his motives being uncovered.
“You’ve posed a difficult problem for , Harvey,” Adrian sat up straight, “you should realize how much trouble this is.”
“I just hope that AC dia can give so support on the distribution, that’s all,” Weinstein explained.
“That’s precisely the problem,” Adrian tapped lightly on the table, “after all, we are a large corporation and, even appearing neutral, we have to consider the governnt’s reaction, especially after 9/11.”
Weinstein remained silent, and Adrian knew he couldn’t persuade him that way. Expanding Miramax and strengthening it had always been a dream of the brothers. If they could successfully release Moore’s docuntary, it would definitely create a sensation, sothing other major film companies couldn’t achieve.
In the past, the reason Weinstein brothers fell out with Eisner and left Miramax was precisely because they released “Fahrenheit 9/11” on their own, so it was nearly impossible for him to give up.
However, if this path was blocked, there were other ways to explore.
“Would you like to hear my advice?” Adrian asked leisurely after a mont.
“Of course,” Weinstein’s eyes lit up. Without the backing of a powerful group like AC dia, Miramax couldn’t withstand the huge pressure of distributing alone, so even a slim chance to get Adrian’s support was worth pursuing for him.
“It’s simple, you can continue to invest in Mr. Moore’s docuntary, and it can be made very delicately. If it goes over budget, I can also help,” Adrian said with a sly smile, “Then, take this docuntary to next year’s Cannes Film Festival.”
Weinstein was initially startled, then slowly grinned.
“I like this idea!” A sly smile appeared on his face, matching Adrian’s.
With the French’s usual disposition, they would definitely not miss any opportunity to embarrass the United States governnt, so Mr. Moore had a good chance of winning a Pal d’Or, and with the huge acclaim from the docuntary, it would then be much easier to distribute in the United States—indeed, that’s exactly what happened with “Fahrenheit 9/11” in the past.
“However, I must clarify one thing,” Adrian suddenly held up a finger and shook it, “from start to finish, I know nothing about this!”
“Hmm?” Weinstein, who had not caught on, was stunned again.
“So, when Miramax releases this docuntary, AC dia will criticize you and plans to punish your presumption, and also, Claude has developed certain conflicts with you brothers,” Adrian stated slowly, word by word.
With that said, how could Weinstein not understand his aning? Yet…
“That’s unfair, Ed!” he complained with a pained expression, his plump face all wrinkled up.
“The world is inherently unfair, Harvey,” Adrian laughed out loud. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welco you to visit Qidian to vote and support. Your encouragent is my biggest motivation.)
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