"Eric, I hear that The Others has entered the main compet.i.tion of the Venice Film Festival. Is that true?" Michael Eisner asked suddenly while waiting for the lift.

Eric nodded and replied:"Yes. But this is, after all, a horror movie and there is little hope of winning a prize. It was sent to Venice just for the purpose of making it better known and this is helpful for its distribution in Europe. "

"However, I think that it is quite likely to win a prize, as long as the promotion gets right," said Michael Eisner. Then the lift opened and the two walked in.

"Right promotion?" Eric asked in confusion when pressing the lift b.u.t.ton.

"Yes," answered Michael Eisner. "The Others is a horror film, but I believe it can present deeper meaning, such as the mankind's longing for life and fear of death, and a mother's deep love for her two children. Most importantly, the movie was set in a time after the Second World War ended. Then you can promote the film in the name of fighting against war. The aim is to show that war has done great harm to the mankind. It is because war has cast a lasting shadow on the heroine Grace that she has gone so far as to suffocate her two children madly. Now Europe is in turmoil and a slight move can lead to another conflict. In this case, if The Others presents the anti-war theme in promotion, and exerts a good influence as expected, then it will surely win a prize since the jury of the Venice Film Festival needs to show its stance. After all, films and politics are always linked with each other."

"Experience truly counts," Eric thought to himself. He had been troubled by the fact that horror films were not favored by the judges of the film festival and had not tried to break a new path. "Thanks for your great advice, Mr. Eisner. I will soon ask others to deal with the promotion."

If The Others just entered the compet.i.tion without winning a prize, the impression on the movie fans would be less deep. Likewise, all paid great attention to Oscar-winning films while little attention was attracted to those Oscar-nominated movies that might be as outstanding as the winners.

The lift sent the two to the underground parking lot and they walked towards Michael Eisner's car. Waiting there were his a.s.sistant and driver.

Michael got into the car but did not leave immediately. Instead, he beckoned Eric to get in as well.

After Eric sat by his side, Michael Eisner asked:"Eric, how about cooperating with Disney next year?"

Eric was distracted for a moment. He had thought that Michael Eisner was going to talk about the two films shown today. Unexpectedly, Michael started to talk about the schedule of next year.

"Mr. Eisner, I am sorry that I cannot give you an immediate reply. Now I have been working smoothly with Fox." Eric shook his head slightly and answered.

Michael Eisner could see that Eric did not tell the truth. Interests were always prioritized in their cooperation. If personal feelings were involved in the work, interests would be influenced and the relations.h.i.+p would break up eventually. Michael knew through his contact with Eric that Eric was by no means an emotional person.

"You don't need to reply immediately, Eric. You can take your time in thinking about my proposal. As for the two films shown today, Disney's profit division and offer will fully show our sincerity for cooperation." Michael said and then stopped for a moment before continuing:"I hear that Firefly will acquire the New Line Cinema to establish its own distribution channel. But I need to point out that Robert Shea will not do a good job in managing your company. I have met him several times and I feel that he is a control freak with no matching abilities. Moreover, he is not rational enough and his management seems too subjective."

Watching the Bentley leaving slowly, Eric thought about Michael Eisner's words. Recalling something about the New Line Cinema, he felt that Michael Eisner's comments were based on the facts.

In the previous life, Robert Shea was so carried away at the success of The Lord of the Rings that he went his own way by putting on show The Golden Compa.s.s willfully, only to find himself making a big loss. Worse still, the New Line Cinema lost its independence and was merged into the parent company of Warner Brothers. Eric was not worried about that, though. If the acquisition of the New Line Cinema was successful, he would let Robert Shea take responsibility for film distribution only. He himself would manage film production and Robert Shea had no right to interfere.

Eric saw off the representatives of other big film companies and one-to-one exchanges were unavoidable. No matter how the senior managers tried to persuade Eric, he did not make many promises to them. Amy Pascal was the last to leave and then at the party were all Eric's own people. They included the other players of The Others and Steel Magnolias who did not attend the show, and some people having a close relations.h.i.+p with Firefly. The little girl Drew was sure to appear on such occasions. She was a party animal by nature and used to frequent nightclubs. After staying with Eric, she managed to get out of the bad habit but could not restrain herself from going to all kinds of parties.

Eric caught Drew in the crowd and the girl was dressed in a carmine dinner jacket. He knocked on her brain and warned her against drinking alcohol before walking towards Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender.

"Eric, good evening," the two greeted Eric as he was approaching.

Eric smiled at them and asked:"How are you preparing for Reservoir Dogs?"

Quentin replied in an excited tone:"All goes on well. Mr. Hansen has greatly facilitated our work and we have selected half of the cast. In this case, we can start shooting in September. "

"Okay, then come with me and meet 'Mr. Blonde'," Eric pointed in a certain direction and led the way.

"Eric," Virginia could not help moving forward when seeing Eric approaching. But she immediately stopped. Even though everyone knew her close relations.h.i.+p with Eric, a polite distance was needed in public.

Eric sensed Virginia's carefulness but directly came forward, gave a hug and kissed her on the cheeks. Not until the girl refused shyly did Eric let go of her and turn to the tall man beside her.

"Nice to meet you, Michael," Eric reached out to Michael Madsen.

"Nice to meet you, Eric," Michael Madsen sounded a little cold since he did not like Eric very much. His reaction left Virginia in a worry. If Eric was not standing by, she would surely give her brother a hard pinch. Luckily, Eric did not mind Michael's coldness and still introduced him to Quentin and Lawrence enthusiastically.

"This is Michael Madsen. I believe he will play the role of Mr. Blonde quite well in Reservoir Dogs. Michael, the two are Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender. For specific matters, you can talk with each other in private. "

Quentin and Lawrence knew that they could not refuse the person recommended by Eric. Thus, they greeted Michael warmly. Now they needed to establish a good relations.h.i.+p with him so that conflicts would be avoided in later shooting.

After the three started talking, Eric left with Virginia.

"Virginia, I hear that you have been asked to play in several films?" Eric took a gla.s.s of wine from the server and then sat on the sofa at the corner.

Then Virginia sat down by Eric and answered:"Yes, Kapoor made the recommendation. I feel that some scripts are favorable but have not made up my mind yet. I had intended to ask about your opinions first. "

Eric shook his hand in disapproval and said:"Reject them all and at least wait until The Others is put on show. Even if you agree to play in another film, it will not be shown until the end of this year. If it is not well received, then the remuneration will not be high and your reputation established by The Others will be negatively influenced."

"Okay, I will follow your advice," the girl nodded submissively. "Eric, Michael's att.i.tude is not that good. I hope that you will not take it to heart. "

"Of course not," Eric smiled. "If someone steals away my sister, I will not treat him nicely, either."

"Haha..." The girl smiled and tried to explain for the man by her side:"You did not steal me away."

"Virginia, it is true and I have exactly stolen you away. You belong to me already. "

"Fine," the girl blushed slightly and lowered her head gently. "Eric, will you go to my place tonight? You have not been there for a long time."

"No problem," Eric smiled mischievously. "How about leaving now?"

The girl shook her head immediately and said:"Eric, you'd better go and meet other people. Don't stay by my side all the time."

"There is no need to hurry. I have just seen off a group of people. Now I feel tired and want to take a rest."

On the other side, Elizabeth was holding a gla.s.s of red wine and chatting with Julia. She found that Julia was a little absent-minded and kept on looking in a certain direction secretly. Elizabeth looked there and found the idle figure leaning against the sofa. By his side was a woman wearing a black evening dress. It was no other than the heroine of The Others.

"Julia, do you like him?" Elizabeth asked gently by Julia's ear.

"Oh, it...It is not him," Julia hurried to deny the claim when she realized that Elizabeth was referring to Eric. After a short panic, however, she began to admit in a low voice:"Actually, I myself don't even understand my feelings towards him. He is a complicated person." Maybe Julia had been trying to restrain her feelings for a long time and Elizabeth had won her favor in a short time. In this case, Julia somehow regarded Elizabeth as a reliable friend and eventually told the truth.

"Follow me. Let's have a good talk with Mr. Williams," Elizabeth directly grabbed Julia's arm and walked towards Eric despite her resistance when seeing she was that distressed.