King of Hollywood-Chapter 274 - 2 Millionaire
Chapter 274: Chapter 2 “Millionaire
Chapter 274 -2 “Millionaire
By the time he boarded the plane, it was already the afternoon of the next day. Although Adrian had started making arrangements after receiving the call, the movie was extremely important, so there were a ton of things to handle. It had almost taken a full day to sort everything out. If Charli hadn’t been there, it might have taken double the time.
“To be honest, I should thank you, Charli. Without you by my side, I don’t know how chaotic my life would be,” Adrian said, feelingly, as he turned his gaze away from the clouds outside the window.
However, what came next was his itinerary.
“I’ve rearranged it according to your request. If there’s no problem, then let’s go with this,” Charli said in a singsong voice, but her exquisite face was expressionless, which made it quite incongruous.
“Oh, that just confirms what I said.” Adrian stretched out his hand, wrapped his arms around Charli’s waist, and pulled her into his lap. The lady shrieked as she ended up sitting on his thigh, thus easily breaking his maneuver.
“This is on a plane, Ed,” Charli said, half complaining, half annoyed.
“I know it’s a plane, and I also know that besides us, the only ones inside the cockpit are the pilots, my dear,” Adrian replied with a grin, his hands starting to wander.
“Don’t call me dear!”
“Okay, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me sweetheart either!”
“No problem, baby.”
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“Don’t call me—damn it! Are you even listening to me!” Charli struggled trying to stand up, but Adrian wouldn’t let go, just watching her with a playful smile.
“What, you want to do it here?” Charli, unable to maintain her calm any longer, said in frustration. Her unrestrained words made her instantly regret it, as Adrian with a growl, unzipped her jeans.
“You jerk!” In a panic, she elbowed him hard on his body. Charli finally escaped from Adrian’s embrace and moved to the other side of the plane, then stared at him with a mix of anger and complexity.
“I’m serious, Charli. There’s no better secretary assistant than you,” Adrian said, smiling warmly at her.
“Then give me a raise,” Charli demanded without mincing her words, “I also took on a new job as a nanny.”
“No problem. How about a 30% raise?” Adrian agreed readily, leaving the lady dumbstruck. Just a month ago, he had raised her salary by 50%, and it had been raised four times in a little over a year. In the field of secretary assistants, Charli was already earning an unusually high salary.
“I’m not joking, Charli. You really are outstanding. Not to mention your work performance all this time, the project I’m going back to discuss also relied on you to complete it, right?” Adrian said, lifting the itinerary in his hand and shaking it. Then he sat down in front of her, took her hands in his, and looked earnestly at her: “I don’t want you to leave. I want to use whatever methods I can to keep you by my side.”
“I’m sorry, I need to go to the restroom.” After a few seconds of silence, Charlize stood up and walked to the back of the cabin.
Watching her back, a slight smile appeared on Adrian’s lips, then he shrugged his shoulders and diverted his attention to other things, such as the airplane. Because of urgent need, the rented airplane was an older model that could be bumpy in strong turbulence, but the interior of the cabin was still quite nice.
Perhaps it’s time to consider buying a private jet? Adrian thought. But he immediately shook his head, not yet ready. TBS had been successfully acquired under their umbrella, but he immediately gave Claude two new targets: Marvel Comics and the HBO network. Acquiring TBS hadn’t used much of their capital, which could now be utilized for this purpose.
There’s no need to discuss Marvel Comics; as the 21st century moved forward with mature CG technology, their superheroes dominated most of the screen, earning massive profits. Adrian could see no reason not to acquire it. Look at Warner, which acquired DC Comics in the late ’60s; Superman and Batman had brought them so many benefits. Knowing the potential, why wait to act until Marvel Comics shares begin to soar?
As for HBO, unlike other networks that rely on advertising, HBO operates on a subscription model, making it the largest pay cable network in the United States and one of the few focusing on original dramas. Their productions always ensured quality; Band of Brothers was one of their productions. Similarly, HBO had not yet produced those classic series, making it an opportune time to buy.
Consequently, considering Adrian’s desire not to live a life burdened with debt—owing to influences from a previous life—a private jet was not expensive, but maintenance was where the money was spent, so after some consideration, he abandoned the idea. However, it wouldn’t be too long, as 1995 was just around the corner, the shares of Cisco and Microsoft that he held were continuously increasing, and those two from Stanford had already begun collecting web addresses. Adrian had subtly hinted at a thing or two; by this time next year, his net worth would continue to expand.
Well, back to the present matters. Adrian reached for the folder next to the slate on his schedule and brought it in front of him to flip open. Claude had spent about a month adjusting and restructuring TBS; it was time for himself to provide something substantial. In fact, Claude had called exactly for him to keep his promise, as Adrian had boldly claimed that developing TBS would be a piece of cake.
“Simply put, the most attractive aspect of this show is that anyone can participate and keep overcoming challenges until they finally win a lucrative reward,” Adrian said in the conference room of AC Media, sitting beside Claude with his hands crossed and resting on the table as he watched TBS’s executives flip through the folders in front of him.
TBS’s headquarters was in Atlanta, but this time Claude specifically asked the executives to come to Los Angeles for a meeting since he was tied up with work. Of course, Adrian knew that this was merely a prelude to relocating TBS to Los Angeles, which was their main base.
“Let’s hear your thoughts, gentlemen and ladies,” Adrian said.
“Anyone can register to participate, so it can attract a lot of attention right from the start,” one of the executives immediately said, his contemplative expression indicating he was in favor of the concept.
“Indeed, and the process isn’t too difficult—it gives a feeling that if I were in that position, I could do it too,” another female executive spoke, “the more people participate, the more viewers we’ll attract.”
“The viewers will naturally put themselves in the shoes of the participants and tend to support someone they find appealing. If that person ends up winning, it might even draw viewers to participate, thus creating a snowball effect.”
“And although the reward seems generous, if it really achieves high ratings, it pales in comparison to the advertising revenue.”
With the first two executives setting the stage, the others also began to discuss enthusiastically, making the conference room much livelier. As for Adrian, he exchanged a smile with Claude and slowly sipped the purified water in front of him.
“Mr. Adrian, I have a question regarding…” a middle-aged man raised his hand to ask at that moment, but Adrian cut him off: “I think you might be misunderstanding something, Mr. Baker, I’m just responsible for providing the concept and some basic related information. You’ll have to flesh out the specifics yourselves.”
The middle-aged man’s face turned red and he sheepishly withdrew his hand, clearly just remembering that the person providing the concept was AC Media’s chairman, their boss.
“Of course, I don’t mean to criticize anything, Mr. Baker,” Adrian continued, “What I’m saying is, a successful Variety show doesn’t just depend on a brilliant idea; it requires everyone’s efforts and coordination. I hope you can come together and turn this “Millionaire” concept into a perfect program!”
Yes, the concept Adrian provided was essentially that TV show where by answering several questions the participant navigates through challenges to win a million. ABC had barely maintained its presence into the 2000s by importing this show from the United Kingdom, showing just how popular it was when it aired. However, precisely because of this, the ABC executives, blinded by greed, began to maximize the profits from “Millionaire”, leading to the show’s demise in just two or three years. Adrian, fully aware of this, wouldn’t make the same mistakes. Although the show wouldn’t have a very long lifespan, he still had many more concepts in his mind.
Applause erupted in the meeting room, a sincere or merely accommodating response to Adrian’s previous remarks, but at least now they all believed the show was valuable.
“I have to admit, Ed, your concept is brilliant, fully exploiting human weaknesses,” Turner, who had also attended the meeting but hadn’t spoken, said to Adrian after the meeting was over.
“It’s not fully, just a bit, everyone likes a bargain, right? Especially ordinary people,” Adrian shrugged, “as long as they see a chance to win a prize, they will flock to it, the same logic as buying a lottery ticket, only more intense, more exciting, and more entertaining.”
“Anyway, it’s an excellent concept—simple though it seems, no one before you had the same thing; you really are a genius, Ed,” Turner said, patting his shoulder.
The UK TV station wouldn’t produce this program until next year, so the concept was indeed unique.
“This really is a great idea, Ed. Ted isn’t someone who easily praises others, I can’t wait to see how it turns out,” Claude half-joked after Turner had left, his performance today much more subdued than Ted’s and those executives’; being Adrian’s close friend, he knew it all too well.
“Actually, I have plenty of these ideas,” Adrian shrugged indifferently, “it’s just about lowering the entry barriers, increasing the rewards for the winners, the specifics might vary, but the essence is the same.”
“But the key is knowing how to operate, such as passing a round by answering questions; and what kind of reward is appropriate, like a million dollars prize. Those are the critical points that determine whether a show is popular or not,” Claude said leisurely.
“Don’t be so greedy, Claude, I’ll bring it out when it’s time,” Adrian knew what he meant and chuckled, shaking his head, “Let’s focus on producing ‘Millionaire’ first, make a name for ourselves, and then we can talk.”
As for whether it would inspire other broadcasting companies’ planning departments, leading to many shows appearing ahead of time? No need to worry about that; a quick recall shows that many popular programs were mostly imported from European countries. It’s not that these people lack inspiration; there are decent variety shows in the US, but broadcasting companies largely prioritize profit, seldom taking risks. Even in Europe, most of these shows were produced by independent TV stations.
“Alright, let’s talk about something other than variety shows now,” Adrian said, glancing at the empty meeting room, swiftly changing the subject, “Remember the plan we discussed before?”
“Of course,” Claude smiled slightly, “You’ve got ideas about talk shows now?”
“Cut it out, Claude, I’m seriously discussing this with you,” Adrian rolled his eyes.
He never had good ideas about talk shows; successful talk shows demand a lot from the host. TBS’s current signed hosts could manage shows like ‘Millionaire’ or ordinary talk shows, but making a talk show stand out was quite challenging. Adrian initially had a vague idea but quickly lost it, and after several unsuccessful attempts to recall, he temporarily gave up, believing that it would eventually come back to him.
“Alright, alright, so you’ve already got ideas for TV dramas?” Claude spread his hands.
“Yes, I have, I just returned to Los Angeles and there are a few films to prepare, just in time to finalize the TV drama as well,” Adrian nodded, “It’s a somewhat special teen idol drama, the target audience might be slightly narrow, but it fits TBS’s current situation. Also, the lead actors might be rather young.”
“Oh—might be a bit young—” Claude elongated his words, his expression a mix of mockery and amusement.
==============================
“Goodbye, Mom!” Sarah called out loudly, waving to her mom at the door before climbing into Adrian’s car.
After shyly glancing at Adrian, she restrained her emotions and sat quietly in the passenger seat without saying a word. Adrian gave a slight smile, waved at Roselan through the car window, and then started the car and drove away.
They arrived at Bossworth Film Company without speaking and pulled into a corner of the parking lot. Just as Adrian was about to speak, Sarah had already thrown herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him on the lips. Faced with the girl’s sudden assault, Adrian was initially taken aback but soon began to enjoy her passionate and fervid kisses.
Finally, the two separated. Sarah breathed lightly, her cheeks flushed, and looked into Adrian’s eyes with a dazed expression.
“I love you, Ed,” she said softly, her voice alluringly tender.
“I love you too, baby,” Adrian replied seriously, looking at the shy yet bewitching Sarah with an adoring gaze, while internally remarking that a girl in love could indeed make a man feel most passionate.
“I haven’t seen you for over two weeks,” the girl said with a hint of complaint, her eyes unabashedly filled with longing.
Since their intimate encounter in the log cabin at the Forest Park, Sarah, tasting the fruits of adulthood for the first time, had become increasingly infatuated with Adrian. She maintained a prim and beautiful demeanor in front of many people, but when alone with him, she transformed completely—seductive, wild, a bit wanton, yet just to the extent that made her irresistible to Adrian.
“I’m sorry,” he kissed her lips softly, “I hope you liked the birthday present I sent you.”
Due to certain issues, Sarah couldn’t visit Adrian in Alabama like Monica and Julia, and Adrian couldn’t attend her birthday party, so after filming for “Forrest Gump” began, the two had separated and only reunited now, over two weeks later. The birthday present had also been sent by Adrian through someone else.
“I like it, I like it very much, Ed. I’ve never liked anything so much,” Sarah said tenderly.
Adrian’s gift was a necklace made of stone beads, composed of several transparent, white stones that were strikingly beautiful. To others, it might just be a simple stone necklace, but to Sarah, it had a special meaning.
“It’s a pity it was bought from a store,” Adrian sighed, “when I have time later, I’ll go to the creek in Forest Park and carefully search, then I’ll make a bracelet for you by hand…”
Before he could finish speaking, Sarah’s lips sealed his again, followed by another passionate embrace.
“Alright, Sarah, let’s stop here for now,” Adrian said, holding her as he breathed a bit hastily, “We have other things planned for today, remember? I mentioned that I would arrange a TV show for you.”
“I know, Ed, but…” Sarah, still straddling Adrian and wrapping her arms around his neck, whispered breathlessly in his ear, “I want you.”
“Here? Now?” Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Sarah’s cheeks grew even redder, seemingly glistening with a wet glow. She seemed hesitant, but after a few seconds decided, then said in an excited tone: “I want you to fuck me!” (To be continued, for more details, please visit www.qidian.com, read more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
