"Such a touching speech, my dear." Adrian whispered holding her hand as Gwyneth returned to her seat, "Your father would be proud of you in Heaven."
"Thank you, Ed, I love you." The woman, still teary-eyed yet calm, looked at him with grateful eyes.
"Yes, I love you too." Adrian smiled softly and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
To Gwyneth’s surprise, she widened her eyes. This was a public event, and it was the Oscar ceremony no less! Blanchett, seated nearby, pursed her lips jealously and kicked him lightly on the shin. Adrian didn’t mind; it was a re reward for Gwyneth’s speech, which to others was a tribute to her father, but to Adrian, it signified her farewell to her father.
After all, he was the CEO of ABC, and the cara would not turn to him at such a mont, especially with the Best Actor award currently being presented. Besides, such a kiss was within the realms of normalcy.
"The most important mont is about to co; let’s focus our attention back on the stage," Adrian said, patting both Gwyneth and Blanchett’s thighs gently.
Next naturally ca the Best Director award, as crucial as the Best Picture and evoking both joy and sorrow annually. Adrian was intrigued, not because he had a nomination—though he did receive one, he hadn’t campaigned significantly, knowing he wouldn’t win. The Film Academy’s conservatism should neither be overestimated nor underestimated; winning Best Director neither suited his plans nor his interests.
But, he wasn’t aiming to win himself; he had soone else in mind for the award, having invested considerable public relations resources towards this end. Despite this, winning remained uncertain, making this one of Adrian’s most precarious gambles on the Oscars, a potential historical making.
"My God, I never imagined history would be made by my hands!" Robert Zeckis exclaid, mouth agape. It took him several seconds to recover before he loudly announced, "This is an unprecedented mont, ’Lost in Translation,’ Sofia Coppola!"
Contrary to expectations, the auditorium fell silent. Everyone, including Sofia herself, stared blankly at the stage, as if they didn’t know who Sofia Coppola was. But the next second, exclamations erupted everywhere. The room exploded like oil upon a water droplet, marking the first ever Best Director win by a woman at the Oscars—and such a young one at that!
Sofia’s eyes widened, her hand covering her mouth in disbelief, seemingly looking around for soone to confirm whether she was dreaming. The other nominees, except Adrian, displayed unmistakable shock and dissatisfaction. It was outrageous to them that the Film Academy would prefer handing the Best Director to a woman rather than them.
Martin Scorsese felt the biggest blow; he sat frozen, a smile stiff on his face. As Zeckis spoke about "history being made by my hands," he had been ready to stand, only to face such an outco. He had been suprely confident, never before having felt such an advantage.
Considering the other nominees: Sofia was young and a woman, automatically making her an unlikely choice; Adrian, known for his fantastical films, wasn’t a typical choice for Best Director, despite being dubbed the ’Miracle Director’—and let’s not forget another part of ’The Lord of the Rings’ was due next year; as for Rob Marshall and Stephen Daldry, they lacked substantial credentials, and neither ’Chicago’ nor ’The Hours’ matched ’Arican Beauty’s acclaim, making a repeat of Sam ndes’s surprise win unlikely.
Scorsese, however, with a repertoire to rival Francis Coppola, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg from the 1980s Hollywood, had nurous remarkable films and deserved an Oscar statuette long ago. He was utterly confident against this backdrop, never expecting that the least likely contender, another once-peer’s daughter, would win.
Seated, Adrian sighed quietly. It had happened—turns out Old Coppola had invested in his daughter more than Adrian had anticipated. Alone, Adrian could not have elevated Sofia to the Best Director throne; she was a woman, and persuading the conservative Film Academy was challenging, so he initially conspired with Old Coppola.
Of course, he didn’t co forward directly, but let his subordinates lobby Old Coppola. However, the old man, having started filmmaking in the 1960s, easily saw through the manipulation behind the scenes, despite his limited fondness for Adrian—probably a common sentint among the older generation in Hollywood, especially among those with daughters in the entertainnt industry, whether actors or directors.
But if he could secure the public relations support of AC dia, Sofia had a fighting chance. Prior to this, Old Coppola hesitated when faced with his daughter’s request. It’s not easy for a female director to make a na for herself, let alone win Best Director. Jane Campion, who directed "The Piano Lesson" in ’93, was the closest a woman had co to this honor, but unfortunately, she had the tough luck of contending with Spielberg, who was riding high on the success of "Schindler’s List."
Yet with strong support, coupled with his accumulated connections, creating a miracle wasn’t out of the question. He greatly disliked Adrian, who had tempted his daughter, yet he had to admit, Adrian played a significant role in Sofia’s achievents, helping her rise from the shadows of failure and shine in a different light.
Thus, as the lobbying intensified, he finally made up his mind.
"...I really didn’t think I would stand here again tonight, and at such a historic mont, oh, God, I’ve already given my speech earlier," Sofia said excitedly, her voice cracking with emotion several tis, overwheld by the surprise, almost too much to bear.
"I... I... I..." She struggled several tis to speak, fortunately receiving supportive applause from the audience.
"...I think I won’t thank everyone individually," Sofia eventually regained her composure, "besides the academy, which presented this award, and my collaborators, the two people I most want... most want to thank are my father, without whom I wouldn’t be here today... and then Adrian, thank you for your guidance and advice... This is the happiest night of my life, one I will always rember."
It was just as well she didn’t say sothing like "I want to thank the two most important n in my life" or "I will always rember everything you’ve done for ." This let Adrian breathe a sigh of relief, though it still sparked quite a bit of discussion, but at least it was less headache-inducing.
Indeed, he deserved Sofia’s gratitude. She had won Best Director thanks to various factors, such as Adrian and Old Coppola uniting their resources and connections for her PR—although AC dia’s main PR focus was on Gwyneth, compared to Nicole or Monica before, this made it sowhat easier to offer so support to Sofia.
Then there was a bit of luck—Adrian learned through his channels that the Best Director award had caused quite a debate within the academy, which was striving to modernize and keep up with trends. Hence, by their typical behavior, the final vote count was surely very close.
But the most critical point was that Adrian had already broken the records for the youngest Best Director nominee and winner at the Oscars! If not for Adrian, John Singleton, nominated for Best Director at 24, would have remained the youngest nominee, and Norman Taurog, who won the Oscar for Best Director at 32, the youngest winner.
Now, Sofia was about the sa age as Norman Taurog back then, even a few days younger. Without Adrian, no matter how much the Film Academy changed, they wouldn’t have let a woman break this record. Yes, that was discrimination—subtle yet very real, and impossible to challenge.
So, if Adrian hadn’t pushed the records for winning Best Director to a practically insurmountable level and also held the record for being the youngest nominee, no amount of PR effort on Sofia’s behalf would have sufficed.
This edition of the Oscars concluded with such surprises, the very first Best Director for a woman being enough to astonish, not to ntion the many topics of discussion. In comparison, "Chicago" winning Best Picture seed almost secondary.
However, though the award ceremony was over, the party was just getting started. Adrian hardly ever missed an award ceremony, and naturally wouldn’t miss the Vanity Fair party. Plus, the party wasn’t the ceremony; people who hadn’t attended the ceremony could still join, although not everyone who had been at the ceremony would attend the party, like Scorsese, who found the night too saddening.
Zhang Yimou also didn’t attend, despite Adrian’s invitation. Carrying hopes yet winning no awards, and being unaccustod to Arican party culture, he politely declined.
"I’m a bit tired and would like to go back and rest," he said to Adrian after the ceremony, turning down the invitation.
"But this doesn’t an he admitted defeat, he soon rallied:" I’m currently in the planning stages of a new martial arts production. The first draft is already finished, and so concepts have already been fleshed out. Mr. Cowell, if you’re interested, why not co to China to have a look? We would all welco your guidance."
A new martial arts production? Adrian raised his eyebrows slightly. It must be that immortal little sister movie. From what he vaguely rembered, although the film received more criticism than praise dostically in China, it had managed a decent box office in North Arica, thanks mostly to Zhang Yimou’s excellent use of color and cara work.
"Alright, I happen to have plans to head to East Asia..." Adrian nodded. He indeed had such plans since Facebook was currently operating well, and was about to surpass 100 million users.
Although other similar websites had quickly erged, creating a site like Facebook wasn’t difficult, and Adrian wasn’t too concerned. He’d checked them out and they were fine, resembling the Myspace that was once on par with Facebook in its previous life, where people could freely create accounts as they wished.
This was no threat at all since Facebook’s biggest feature was ensuring that the person users talked to on the other end of the network was a real person, not soone’s... alternate account.
In short, there wouldn’t be situations like, "Poster, you’re too naive to think there are so many people replying to your thread? It’s actually all . Otherwise, I’d change my ID and show you the sa words." Competing with Facebook for authenticity and loyalty, having the first-mover advantage, and supported by major dia groups, wasn’t an easy feat.
So Adrian thought he could start promoting in China under a different guise, ideally still partnering with Huayi, if they were willing, and go directly under RENN. Besides, he had other matters to attend to, like giving Scorsese so compensation tonight for his misery, and simultaneously keeping the pace within his control, not letting it affect his bigger plans.
But then he rembered sothing: "Right, I heard that China has been sowhat unsafe recently."
Zhang Yimou was startled, took a few minutes to react, then firmly denied: "There are a few special cases, but it’s all normal."
Adrian wanted to say more based on the news from his friends, but then thought better of it. Saying more might not be well-received, so he decided to let it go, though it ant his trip might be delayed to later in the year.
The party was as lively as ever with all sorts of celebrities making it incredibly dazzling. Naturally, the most attention went to the freshly-minted Best Director—a first-ti female Oscar winner and so young. Anyone who witnessed this mont would take pride in it later.
"I don’t even know what to say to you, Ed, you really are a..." After handling many people, Sofia sighed when she was alone with Adrian.
"A what?" Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"You know what I’m going to say, asshole, genius, playboy..." Sofia gestured, a complex expression flashing across her eyes, then shook her head: "Really wanted to punch Nicola. Thinking of his look before and that smirking face, I swear, if he hadn’t slipped away fast, just one more word, and I’d have shown him."
"Alright, Sofia, alright," Adrian grabbed her hand, then gently patted the back of her hand, "I know what you’re thinking, don’t worry about it, do what you want."
Sofia paused, her long soft hair styled specially, wearing a fine shoulder moss green dress with wavy patterns, giving her an alternative, tough charm.
"I’m scared," she whispered softly.
"Why," Adrian smiled, "do I look like a monster who eats people?"
"If only," Sofia sighed, "I’m scared of you, Ed. If you decide not to let soone go, that person won’t stand a chance. You always have a way with won, making them... willingly..."
She gave a wry smile, looking at him frankly.
"If I were to ask you to stay with ," Adrian caressed her cheek, "what would your answer be?"
"I don’t know, Ed, I think many won don’t know," she honestly replied.
"So you see," Adrian grinned, "go ahead and do what you want."
Sofia looked at him for a long ti, suddenly smiled, then stood up, sat on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. The kiss wasn’t passionate but was lingering and warm, intertwining for a long ti before they finally parted.
"I know I’m not exactly your type, and I know what you like about , but still, I’m glad to have t you," Sofia’s fingers traced his lips, "thank you for the gift, Ed, I will never forget you, goodbye."
She got up to leave, but after a few steps, she turned around and flipped her hair, speaking in a very casual tone: "By the way, if I ever need you for physical stuff again, don’t turn down."
"Mmm... happy to oblige," Adrian laughed and raised his hands. Well, that wasn’t so bad.
Despite being in a corner, Adrian and Sofia’s intimacy didn’t go unnoticed, but no one minded, much like how afterwards he continuously flirted with the Miracle Girls; everything seed normal in the eyes of others. They might have been envious, but there were generally no hard feelings, for anyone who could consecutively win Best Actress Oscars five years in a row certainly deserved their admiration.
However, although Adrian was pleased, he also felt troubled. After all, it wasn’t just the Miracle Girls here—Scarlett, Anne, Kirsten, and others took turns to talk with him. Kate and Sarah weren’t as forward, but, to be fair, he had to seek them out. Previously, he always avoided having all the won in the sa public place, but now it seed he might need to adjust that.
Like tonight, because of the unspoken rule, each awards ceremony had different, untried combinations of won, so it was unfortunate that Zetajones, who won Best Supporting Actress, and Gwyneth who won Best Actress, couldn’t moan together under him.
Moreover, as he flirted with Gwyneth about post-party plans, Nicole’s voice interjected, "You’re supposed to be with tonight." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote and recomnd at qidian, your support is my greatest motivation.)
Reviews
All reviews (0)