Chapter 781: Chapter 188 April Trivia
Adrian often ca to ABC, mostly because of Charlize. From the beginning, he had never hidden their intimate relationship, after all, Charlize was no longer a celebrity. But today, he was here for business reasons. Although many new programs usually launched in September, it was not a fixed schedule, as new shows also often premiered around March or April.
Several TV shows with good ratings were ending, necessitating the introduction of new ones, such as “Dr. House”, which started preparation after eting Hugh Laurie at Rachel Harwood’s party; or “Battlestar Galactica”, aid at penetrating the Chinese market, starring Gao Yuanyuan; as well as a new sci-fi concept inspired by “Hyper Heroes” that sprang to the mind of J.J. Abrams, the producer of “Alias” — “Lost!”
Although Adrian had known early on that Abrams, who had produced “Alias”, was also behind “Lost”, he hadn’t expected that this sci-fi show would erge in this manner. God knows, “Hyper Heroes” and “Lost” were completely different types of sci-fi, how did Abrams make the connection?
However, besides “Dr. House”, both sci-fi shows would have to wait until the latter half of the year, due to their high production investnts thus long preparation tis. He didn’t plan to air “Lost” on ABC, offering it to CBS seed like a good idea. Yes, “Lost” was incredibly popular when it ca out, commanding top advertising rates, and it was also very costly to produce; relying solely on licensing fees wouldn’t be as profitable as advertising revenue.
But what of that? With Adrian staunchly behind ABC, the network didn’t lack that bit of profit. Instead of adding a modest shine to its own brilliant halo, it made sense to treat it as a favor to CBS. Sharing now was essential, much like handing “Hyper Heroes” over to NBC for broadcast, could yield considerable benefits in cooperation with AC dia.
For this reason, other than drama shows, many reality TV shows were also in preparation, such as “Hell’s Kitchen”, conceived after his trip to Beijing and ntioning “A Bite of China” to Gao Yuanyuan. This was another promising reality show, inviting a temperantal yet skilled chef to train a group of novices, promising intrigue. Though its ratings might not compete with the hottest reality shows, they were quite stable.
Speaking of which, he had to ntion Charlize; it was proven that talented, eager learners, once given a chance, could shine brightly. Whether it was Lin Xilei, Ivanka, or Charlize, it was the case. Apart from initially stabilizing Charlize’s position with “Arican Idol”, several of ABC’s popular reality shows were from her planning, like the recently revealed and highly deceptive “How to Marry a Millionaire”.
If Adrian had offered guidance and encouragent for this program, the next one in preparation from start to finish was all Charlize’s planning without him hearing any wind of it.
“It’s actually quite simple,” Charlize explained, “dancers have the skill, and celebrities have the popularity. When they co together, when dancers teach celebrities to dance on cara and let the public judge, a fantastic chemical reaction is bound to happen. Following this idea, we conducted market research. Random samples showed 70 to 80 percent of people were very interested, so we began to further perfect…”
This was nothing other than “Dancing with the Stars”, the only hit reality show ABC had in the past life, and now it had been planned out anew by Charlize. Was this luck, or was it God’s will?
“Very impressive,” Adrian praised after listening, “I’ve always said, you would definitely make your own mark, and this is simply fantastic.”
“While you say that… can you take your hand out from under my skirt?” Charlize gritted her teeth in the planning departnt manager’s office, sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck, “In ten minutes, I need to lead a planning departnt eting, do you want to tell them you just had in the office?”
“That’s your problem, dear,” Adrian chuckled in response, quickening the movent of his fingers for a few monts.
Charlize had to take a few deep breaths to control her reaction, but Adrian, ever so familiar with her, did not give her the chance and imdiately kissed her elegant neck.
“Damn it, I knew it. Co on, you bastard!” Charlize hissed, standing up, turning around, and then straddling him.
Each ti Adrian ca to ABC, such incidents were not uncommon, as he put it: who could bla you for becoming more beautiful, more elegant, more tempting.
Of course, Charlize ruthlessly stripped away his “hypocritical” façade every ti, “You just find this exciting, you just think it’s a way to conquer , oh, right, and throw in a bit of uniform seduction.”
Yet, no matter how much she fought, pushed back, or mocked, she was always cooperative—in the end, he got his way, didn’t he?
“You’re truly remarkable, my dear,” Adrian, who had co up from behind and embraced the dressed Charlize, kissed her on the back of her neck. “Everyone says so, including Dis the CEO. He even wanted to offer you the vice president position, but you turned it down. Why?”
“It’s too soon.” Charlize turned around, as always poised and stunning. “I’ve only been the departnt head for just over two years. Despite doing reasonably well, moving up to vice president abruptly would cause dissatisfaction among many, and the employees would gossip.”
“Do you care about others’ opinions?” Adrian raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
“When holding a different position, it’s crucial to consider other’s feelings. ABC isn’t an IT company; it isn’t that youthful. Necessary qualifications can’t be overlooked,” Charlize spoke candidly, “Rather than take a risk with a promotion, I’d rather focus on making the planning departnt effective, cultivating enough reputation and manpower isn’t too late.”
“Alright, it’s all up to you.” Adrian smiled and raised his hands, very pleased with Charlize’s attitude.
“Then, I’m off to a eting, make yourself at ho.” Charlize said as she walked out, but after a few steps, turned back and tentatively asked with a hesitant tone, “Are you sure I don’t look like I just…”
“No no no, my dear, not at all.” Adrian instantly burst into hearty laughter.
In fact, Charlize taking the position of vice president at ABC wasn’t anything montous as long as Adrian continued to support her as he always had. Besides, her foundation wasn’t here. She was well-suited to office culture and handled interpersonal relations deftly, clearly capable. However, her concerns were not without rit; it was sensible to play it safe, and since she was doing so well, Adrian didn’t need to ddle excessively.
Pretty much like that, the reality shows were naturally all aired on ABC. In a few years, network TV dramas would start falling behind cable stations, but reality shows would continue to pull in decent ratings. Having several high-quality reality shows was enough to maintain ABC’s edge.
Ti unwittingly slipped into April, and Adrian began to find himself with so leisure ti again. The controversies about the Oscars gradually settled down; no amount of complaining about Scorsese would make the Film Academy revoke the Best Director award from Sofia and hand it to him. Company-wise, Claude was in charge of operations, and with movie projects like “La Vie en Rose” having wrapped up post-production edits that didn’t need his constant presence in the studio, and both “The Matrix Revolutions” and “The Lord of the Rings 2” almost complete, it was set to premiere by the end of the year.
He had planned to visit East Asia, but after April, the United States issued a severe warning, advising against unnecessary travel to Guangdong or Hong Kong, so he had to postpone to the second half of the year. anwhile, Gao Yuanyuan, after collecting so information through channels here, was very worried, calling ho every few days to check on her parents’ safety.
Since he couldn’t go, he decided to spend more ti with his won and daughter. Lily, the troubleso little imp, goes without saying; Deva and Juliet were starting to head in that direction too, but fortunately, they were sowhat better than their sister. Mary and Eleanor were still distinctive, one liked gnawing randomly, and the other tugged indiscriminately.
As for Patricia, who was born not long ago, the little one seed a bit dim-witted, spending her days mostly gaping around; when tired, she slept, and upon waking, continued her surveying. She didn’t cry often, except in her father’s arms.
“Alright, I’ll take her then.” When Patricia once again started crying in her father’s arms while her mother was out, Zetajones laughed as she took her over, and after a bit of soothing, the little one soon fell asleep.
“She really is very adorable.” After placing Patricia into her crib, Zetajones gazed at her little face for a while longer before gently sighing those words.
Even though she imdiately left the room with Adrian and handed the little fellow over to the nanny, her expression of reluctance to part was very clear.
“Yes, very cute,” Adrian observed, but did not continue speaking.
After a mont of silence, upon reaching the living room, Zetajones finally spoke up again, “Thank you, Ed, although… I’m still very… happy, very joyful.”
“As long as you’re happy, I like to see your smile; it’s what I should do,” Adrian said with a slight smile, then added, “After all, it’s our contract.”
Zetajones’s smile stiffened slightly, she turned her head away to take a deep breath before turning back and saying, “Speaking of which… you’ve already fulfilled our contract, so… if I leave…”
“Who said I’ve already fulfilled it?” Adrian smiled aningfully, “Four North Arican blockbusters and one Best Supporting Actress, right? We’re still missing one blockbuster in North Arica that’s grossed over a hundred million.”
The lady was startled, probably not expecting him to say that, and beca sowhat stamred, “But… but…”
“The 007 series has nothing to do with , and as for The X-n, you’re just one of the supporting roles,” Adrian said leisurely.
Stunned for a long while, Zetajones finally reacted. She rolled her eyes, wanting to say sothing, but didn’t know what to say. He was clearly telling her that this blockbuster movie debt would always linger. Even if he accidentally arranged one later, he would have enough excuses not to count it, the damned jerk!
However, even though Zetajones called him that in her mind, she inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief and retracted her gaze after staring at him for a long while.
“Then…” she bit her lip, seemingly making up her mind, “Give a child.”
“No problem, if that’s your will,” Adrian chuckled lightly, his smile bearing an indescribable cunning.
She eventually made the choice he wanted to see, not to say that Adrian was infallible, but he simply drew a frawork and tried his best to pull the other person into it, naturally predicting every move. This was the case in his career, and also with won, though his career still required the involvent of Claude, his uncle, and The Godfather, managing won was completely orchestrated by him alone.
“Then…” Zetajones imdiately reached out and grabbed him, her charming eyes naturally flowing.
“Juliet is going to be back soon,” Adrian was sowhat surprised by her promptness.
“It doesn’t matter, we still have at least 20 minutes, otherwise tonight her mouth will steal another opportunity,” Zetajones said, raising her eyebrows.
Adrian couldn’t help laughing, but still did not agree, “Don’t rush, Kate, it’s not the right ti yet.”
“What mischievous idea do you have now?” Zetajones squinted her eyes.
“A very naughty idea, care to try it?” Adrian looked at her with a mischievous smile.
This made Zetajones sowhat wary. Since he spoke like that, it probably wasn’t anything good. Though he wouldn’t harm her, he’d definitely give her a hard ti. But since she had already said that before, it didn’t matter how bad it was.
“No problem,” she replied.
It wasn’t just Zetajones who felt this way. Gwyneth, who originally planned on starting a family after winning an Oscar, also postponed that plan because Adrian had “a naughty idea that needed her participation”. As for what it was, no need to elaborate further. Many ideas during the award ceremony couldn’t materialize for various reasons and needed to be compensated. However, it was still a bit cold, so it’d be better to wait.
After this episode, Adrian went to London again, having promised Little Emma to attend her birthday party. Initially, he planned to bring Small Emma along, but “Bridge to Terabithia” unfortunately started filming, and they couldn’t just let the lead actress take a leave so soon after starting. Thus, he had to give up on that idea.
Little Emma was still very happy. Even though her little follower didn’t co, and there was no one to bully, having Adrian there was enough. So, although she had been distancing herself from him for quite a while, upon blowing out the candles on her cake, she couldn’t help but hug Adrian in front of everyone and kissed him on the cheek.
Honestly, watching her face transition from youthful naivety to a hint of maturity, Adrian was filled with emotion, though he didn’t show it outwardly. He was familiar with Little Emma’s precocious ntality.
Now that he was in London, naturally, a visit to Yufei was due. It was almost becoming a routine that three of them hung out together. Besides, he had to accompany Keira, who missed the Oscars due to a cold, around the city. Especially given that besides Depp winning Best Actor, “Pirates of the Caribbean” had several technical nominations. Had “Chicago” not had a better chance at winning, Weinstein would definitely have used “The Lord of the Rings” fantasy trend to push for an Oscar nomination for “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Thus, Keira was supposed to be at the award ceremony.
“Actually, I don’t really regret it. I watched the live broadcast; it wasn’t anything remarkable, plus there was no red carpet to walk on.” She didn’t seem to care much, and actually seed happier that Adrian ca to visit her.
Thinking about it, in her previous life she was soone who could unabashedly say the Oscars were a “dog show”. But now, presumably, she wouldn’t, as Adrian had sowhat reford her personality. She also diverted her obstinacy elsewhere. It’s okay to say such things occasionally—others would just laugh it off—but if said too often, it becos annoying, and then you might be nominated for a lifeti.
There were many other scattered events in April. For example, Britney was launching a new single, Christina and Avril also had their own albums to prepare, and Christina’s music docuntary was due to be released. Moreover, following the success of her second album last year, Avril’s world tour also officially launched, prompting Britney to consider holding another one. Her popularity remained high due to constant exposure, and her studies at university were undisturbed.
As for Terry, well, he was studying hard and growing rapidly in height, yet he was restless. Whenever he got the chance, he’d run around the record company.
Although he was polite to Britney and others in public, how he saw them in private was another matter. At least Adrian had seen him chat amiably with Christina for a few monts in person before snorting and showing a “that’s not so impressive” expression once he turned away. Relatively speaking, he had a better impression of Avril.
No rush, let him continue like this for now. He had said before, if he showed promise now, the release of his album could be advanced. Just observe for a little longer.
Besides, April might be a slow month for movies, but there were still several notable releases. For example, “Scooby-Doo”, a live-action movie starring Jessica and Love with another Jessica in a supporting role and produced by Sarah, premiered at the end of the month.
Being a cody that blended live action and animation with a budget over 50 million, it certainly served as a gimmick, but that also was its blind side. In the eyes of critics and so of the public, it equated to a simple and foolish plot, so the reviews and reputation weren’t too high. Even so, the distributors spent a lot on marketing, and naturally, the premiere was well attended. The end of April still had so competitive edge. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote and support it on qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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