Adriaan often came to ABC. Of course, most of the time, it was for Charlize. From the beginning, he did not shy away from his intimate relationship with her. After all, Charlize was not a celebrity. But today, he was here for business. Although most of the new shows were broadcast in September every year, it was not completely fixed. Many times, there were also new shows released in March and April.
At present, several TV series with good ratings were about to end, so it was necessary to add a few new TV series. For example, after meeting Hugh Laurie at Rachel Harwood's party, they immediately began preparing "House"; or with Gao Yuanyuan playing an important role in "Battlestar Galactica", which was prepared to enter the Chinese market; or the producer of "Double Faced", J.J. Abrams, who was suddenly inspired to create a new sci-fi series after seeing the popularity of "Heroes" — "Lost"!
Although Adriaan knew early on that Abrams, who was in charge of producing Double Faced, also produced the sci-fi show Lost, he did not expect the show to appear in this way. God as his witness, Heroes and Lost were two completely different types of sci-fi TV series. How did Abrams make the connection?
However, except for House, the other two sci-fi shows would not be broadcasted until the second half of the year. Because of the large production investment, the preparation time was also relatively long. Moreover, he did not intend to let ABC broadcast Lost. It should be a good idea to let CBS broadcast it. Yes, the sci-fi show Lost was quite popular when it came out. The prices offered by the advertisers were also among the highest, and the production costs were also quite high. If they only relied on the copyright fees, they would definitely not earn as much as the advertising fees.
But so what? With Adriaan's support, ABC now did not lack that bit of profit. Instead of digesting it themselves and adding some light to that dazzling halo, it was better to sell it to CBS. Anyway, what they needed now was to share it. Just like letting NBC broadcast Heroes, working with AC Media would bring them a lot of benefits.
For this reason, in addition to the TV series, there were also many reality shows to start preparing. For example, when he mentioned A Bite of China to Gao Yuanyuan during his trip to the mainland last year, he thought of Hell's Kitchen. It was also a good reality show, inviting a bad-tempered but very skilled chef to train a group of rookies. It was very interesting. The ratings might not be comparable to those popular reality shows, but it was still very good and stable.
Speaking of this, Charlize had to be mentioned. It had been proven that those who were talented and good at learning could shine brightly as long as they were given the opportunity. Whether it was Lin Xilei, Ivanka, or Charlize, they were all the same. In addition to American Idol, which was to help Charlize solidify his position, ABC's current reality shows with good ratings were all planned by her. For example, Who Wants to Millionaire, which had just been revealed.
If this show had Adriaan's guidance and encouragement, then the one that was about to be prepared was planned from beginning to end by Charlize. He did not receive any information in advance.
"It's actually very simple. The dancer has skills, and the celebrity has popularity. When they are together, when the dancer teaches the celebrity how to dance in front of the camera and let the public judge, it will definitely produce a wonderful chemical effect. After I came up with this idea, I asked someone to conduct a market survey. A random sample showed that 70% to 80% of the people were very interested, so we began to further improve it … "When it came to this, Charlize expressed.
Wasn't this "Dancing with the Stars"? In his previous life, ABC's only reality show was actually planned by Charlize and his people. He really did not know whether to say it was luck or God's will.
"Very good." Adriaan praised after listening, "I told you, you will definitely make your own achievements. That's really great."
"When you say this … Can you take your hand out of my skirt?" In the office of the director of the planning department, Charlize, who was sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck, gritted her teeth and said, "In ten minutes, I will be hosting a meeting of the planning department. Do you want to tell them that you just f * cked me in the office?"
"That's your business, dear." Adriaan replied with a smile, and the movements of his fingers suddenly accelerated for a few minutes.
Charlize had to take two deep breaths to control his reaction, but how could Adriaan, who was already familiar with her, give her this opportunity? He immediately kissed her elegant goose neck.
"Damn, I knew it. Come on, you bastard!" Charlize hissed, stood up, turned around, and then rode on Adriaan.
Every time Adriaan came to ABC, there was no lack of such things. In his words: "Who asked you to become more and more beautiful, more and more elegant, and more and more seductive?"
Of course, Charlize mercilessly stripped off his "hypocritical" appearance every time. "You just think it's exciting, you just think that you've conquered me. Oh, right, you also casually added the temptation of the uniform."
However, even though he said that, she was very cooperative every time. That's right, whether it was struggling, pushing, or mocking, she was very cooperative. In the end, he got what he wanted, didn't he?
"You're really good, dear." Adriaan, who was hugging Charlize from behind, kissed the back of her neck. "Everyone said so, including the CEO, Dice. He even wanted you to be the vice president, but you turned him down. Why?"
"It's too fast." After tidying up, Charlize turned around, as capable and elegant as ever. "I've only been the head of the department for more than two years. Although I've done a good job, suddenly being promoted to the position of vice president will make a lot of people privately dissatisfied, and the employees will also gossip."
"You care about what others think?" Adriaan raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"Our positions are different. When it's time to consider other people's feelings, we must consider them. ABC is not an IT company, and it's not that young. You must have the necessary qualifications, "Charlize said calmly." Instead of risking a promotion, it's better to think about how to run the planning department well. It's not too late to cultivate enough reputation and manpower. "
"Well, it's up to you." Adriaan smiled and waved his hands, very satisfied with Charlize's attitude.
"Then, I'm going to the meeting. Make yourself at home." As Charlize spoke, he walked out, but after a few steps, he turned back and asked in a hesitant tone, "Are you sure I look like … I don't look like I just …"
"No, no, no, my dear, not at all." Adriaan suddenly laughed.
In fact, it was not a big deal for Charlize to be promoted to the position of vice president of ABC. As long as Adriaan supported her as always, she didn't need to worry. Besides, her foundation was not here. Charlize was very adapted to the office culture and did a good job in interpersonal relationships. He was fully capable. However, her worries were not unfounded. It was also a good way to move steadily and surely. Moreover, she did such a good job that Adriaan didn't need to interfere too much.
Just like that, the reality shows were naturally broadcast on ABC. In a few years, the TV series on public channels would begin to be unable to compete with the cable channels, but reality shows always had good ratings. Having some high-quality reality shows was enough to maintain ABC's advantage.
Time slipped into April, and Adriaan began to become idle again. The debate about the Oscars began to die down. No matter how much he felt for Scorsese, he couldn't let the Film School hand over the Best Director Award that had already been given to Sophia to Scorsese. Claude was responsible for the company's operations. As for the film, the post-production of "Life as a Rose" had already been completed. For the time being, he didn't need to stay in the studio to keep an eye on it. As for "The Matrix 3" and "The Lord of the Rings 3", which were scheduled to be released at the end of this year, were almost completed.
Originally, he had plans to go to East Asia, but after April, the United States issued a serious warning in China that unless it was necessary, he should not visit Guangdong or Hong Kong, so he had to change it to the second half of the year. As for Gao Yuanyuan, after collecting some information through the channels here, she called home every two or three days to confirm that her parents were safe. She was very worried.
Since he couldn't go, he would spend more time with his women and daughters. Not to mention the troublemaker Lily, Deva and Juliet also began to develop in this direction, but at least they were better than their sister. Mary and Eleanor still had their own characteristics, one liked to gnaw on things, and the other liked to talk nonsense.
As for the newborn Patricia, the little girl looked a little dull. Her biggest hobby was to open her eyes and look around. When she was tired, she would sleep, and when she woke up, she would continue to look around. She didn't cry much, except when she was in her father's arms.
"Okay, let me do it." When Papa once again cried in his father's arms and his mother wasn't around, Zetajones smiled and took her. After coaxing her for a while, the little fellow immediately fell asleep.
"She's really very cute." After putting Papa in the baby's cradle, Zeta-Jones stared at her little face for a while before sighing softly.
Although she immediately left the room with Adriaan and handed the little girl to the nanny, the reluctance on her face was very obvious.
"Yes, very cute." Adriaan looked at her and agreed, but he didn't continue.
After a moment of silence, when they were in the living room, Zeta-Jones spoke again with his eyes downcast, "Thank you, Eide, although … I'm still … very happy, very happy."
"As long as you're happy. I like to see your smile, this is what I should do." Adriaan smiled and then added, "Besides, this is our contract."
Zeta-Jones' smile was slightly stiff. He turned his head and took a deep breath before turning back to say, "Speaking of which … you've fulfilled our contract, then … if I leave …"
"Who said I've fulfilled it?" Adriaan smiled meaningfully, "Four films with a North American box office of more than 100 million, one Best Supporting Actress, right? We still lack a North American box office of more than 100 million. "
The girl was stunned. She probably didn't expect him to say this. She suddenly stuttered a little, "But … but …"
"The 007 series has nothing to do with me. As for 'X-Men', you're just one of the supporting characters." Adriaan said calmly.
After a while, Zeta-Jones finally reacted. She rolled her eyes and wanted to speak, but she didn't know what to say. He was clearly telling her that the North American box office of more than 100 million would always be owed. Even if he accidentally arranged for one in the future, he would have enough excuses to exclude it from the list. Damn bastard!
However, although Zeta-Jones said this in her heart, she inexplicably felt relieved. She stared at him for a long time before withdrawing her gaze.
"Then …" She bit her lip and seemed to have made up her mind, "Give me a child."
"No problem, if that's what you want." Adriaan chuckled. There was an indescribable slyness in his smile.
In the end, she still made the choice he wanted to see. This wasn't to say that Adriaan was meticulous. He just drew a frame and tried his best to pull her into the frame. Naturally, he could predict her every move. It was the same for his career and his women. It was just that he still needed Claude, his uncle, and his godfather's help to achieve his career. On the other hand, his women were completely arranged by him.
"Then …" Zeta-Jones immediately reached out to grab him, and the seductive look in the corner of her eyes flowed naturally.
"Julie will be back soon." Adriaan was slightly surprised by her actions.
"It doesn't matter. We have at least 20 minutes. Otherwise, her mouth will take away another opportunity tonight," Zeta-Jones said, raising his eyebrows.
Adriaan couldn't help but laugh, but he still didn't agree. "Don't worry, Kate. It's not the time yet."
"What bad idea do you have now?" Zeta-Jones narrowed his eyes.
"A very, very bad idea. Are you willing to try?" Adriaan looked at her with a smirk.
This somewhat alerted Zeta-Jones. Since he said that, it probably wasn't a good thing. Even if he didn't harm her, he would definitely torture her. However, since he had already said that, it didn't matter how bad it was.
"No problem," she replied.
It wasn't just Zeta-Jones. Gwyneth, who originally planned to start making babies after winning the Oscar, felt the same way. Adriaan used the excuse that "he had a bad idea that needed her participation" to postpone the matter. As for what it was, there was no need to say more. There were many ideas that couldn't be implemented at the award ceremony due to various reasons. How could he not make up for it? It was just that the temperature was still a little low, so he had to wait.
After this episode, Adriaan went to London again. He promised little Emma that he would attend her birthday party. He had originally planned to bring little Emma along, but unfortunately, "Bridge of Paradise" had started filming. He couldn't ask the female lead to take a leave right after filming began, right? So he had to give up on the idea.
Little Emma was still very happy. Although her little sidekick wasn't there and no one could bully her, Adriaan was enough. So even though she kept her distance from him for a long time, after blowing out the candles on the cake, she couldn't help but hug Adriaan in front of everyone and give him a big kiss on the cheek.
To be honest, watching her face turn from immature to immature, and then start showing signs of maturity, Adriaan was also full of emotions. However, he didn't show it on his face. He had experienced little Emma's early maturity before.
Since he was in London, he naturally had to go to Liu Yifei's place. A threesome was basically becoming the norm. Apart from that, he had to accompany Kyla, who was bedridden with the flu and couldn't attend the Oscars. Apart from Dep's Best Actor Award, "Pirates of the Caribbean" had also been nominated for several technical categories. If it wasn't for the fact that "Chicago" had a higher chance of winning, Weinstein would definitely have used "Lord of the Rings" to create a fantasy movie craze to get "Pirates of the Caribbean" a Best Movie nomination. Kyla should have been able to attend the award ceremony.
"Actually, I'm not that sorry. After watching the live broadcast, it doesn't seem like a big deal. Besides, there's no red carpet to walk on." She didn't seem to mind. Instead, she was happier that Adriaan came to see her.
Come to think of it, in her previous life, she was someone who would say that the Oscars were for dogs. But now, she probably wouldn't do that anymore. Adriaan had more or less taught her character, and she had also used her stubbornness in other areas. It was fine to say something like that once in a while, and people would just laugh it off. But if she said it too much and made people sick of it, then she would be nominated for life.
There were still a lot of things to do in April. For example, Britney was going to release a new single, Christina was going to release a single instead of an album, and her music documentary was going to be released. Avril's second album released last year sold well, and her world tour was also officially launched. Britney wanted to do it again. Because she maintained her exposure, her popularity was always maintained at a high level, and her university studies didn't affect that.
As for Taylor, well, she was studying very hard and was constantly growing. She was growing very fast, but at the same time, she was very restless. Whenever she had the chance, she would run around the record company.
Although she was polite to Britney and the others, it was a different matter when they met in private. At least, Adriaan had seen her smile and say a few words to Christina in front of her, then turn around and snort with a look that said, "It's nothing special." Comparatively speaking, he had a better impression of Avril.
There's no hurry. Let her continue like this for now. Back then, he had said that if she performed well, he could release the album earlier and observe her for a while longer.
Other than that, although April was the off-season for movies, there were still many movies released. For example, the live-action version of Scooby-Doo, starring Jessica and Lov, with another Jessica playing a supporting role and Sarah as the producer, was released at the end of the month.
As a comedy that combined live-action and animation with more than 50 million dollars of investment, it was certainly a gimmick, but it was also a weakness. In the eyes of critics and some people, this was equivalent to a stupid plot, so the word of mouth and reviews wouldn't be too high. Even so, the distributor still spent a lot of money on promotion, and naturally, there was no shortage of premieres. The end of April was still a little competitive.
