"Oh! Have you guys seen the article Ti put out? They revealed a ton of news about Isabella's new project! Her new movie is called The Devil Wears Prada! It's a fashion drama adapted from the hit novel of the sa na from two years ago!"
"I saw it, I saw it! OMG! They even released a set of high-definition stills! Isa looks insanely beautiful in them!"
"Sigh. Isabella is really way too low-key. Since her debut, it feels like she's barely done any proper interviews, right? Even news about her new movies only cos out after filming has already started and so random passerby spots her. That's just… unbelievably unprofessional!"
"Exactly! This kind of behavior makes her not look like a celebrity at all."
"But isn't that exactly why we like her? She never actively gets into public feuds, she can't be bothered with all the pointless drama in the entertainnt industry. She just focuses on doing her own work. Like filming movies. When did Goblet of Fire (Part Two) wrap? September or October this year? And now she's already shooting a new film? Oh my—she is really busy, busy, busy. And next year she still has Order of the Phoenix to shoot? And after that, Iron Man?"
"Stop! Forget all that for now! Vogue just released Isabella's character styling photos for the new movie! Go look, now!"
"What? The Prada styling shots are out? Oh—go, go, go!"
As one of the biggest stars right now, no matter what Isabella did, it was bound to draw attention.
So the mont leaked set photos from The Devil Wears Prada appeared, news that Isabella had a new project spread instantly.
The public was surprised. Fans were ecstatic.
After all, Isabella had never really embraced fashion before.
Or rather, in all those past years, the only ti she dressed up properly was when she walked the red carpet.
That was exactly why, when these slightly more mature, breathtakingly beautiful photos appeared, people who had followed her for nearly five years suddenly felt that Isabella had truly grown up.
And in the eyes of her long-ti fans, little hearts labeled "excitent" began sparkling furiously.
They kept repeating, "So beautiful, so beautiful, so beautiful!"
Watching soone grow up is never an easy thing.
Especially when that growth blooms like a rose in full glory.
A kind of beauty that endures, never changes, and seems like it will last forever is even more thrilling.
This is not exaggeration.
Only people who are ugly themselves and ntally twisted would envy soone else's beauty.
Since the public loves beauty, and Isabella fans were practically screaming for more pretty photos, Warner Bros., after receiving feedback, shifted the focus of the film's promotion to releasing images.
Over the past week, they played whack-a-mole with the dia, gradually releasing on-set photos related to Isabella's new film through different outlets, along with bits of information about the project.
This half-revealed, half-hidden promotional strategy brought Isabella nonstop public attention. Once promotion started, she held the number one spot on both IMDb's star rankings and Google's trending searches.
This over-72-hour domination stunned industry insiders and prompted Warner Bros. to unleash the final blow of their early marketing campaign.
Yes.
Releasing the styling photos through Vogue was also Warner's arrangent.
Vogue belonged to the Ti Inc. group.
And Barry yer had already officially taken control there.
Since it was an official release, the artistic quality of the photos was guaranteed.
Before readers even opened the magazine, Isabella appeared on the cover, youthful and vibrant. A bun hairstyle, round glasses, a knitted sweater, jeans, and canvas shoes instantly turned the adorable Isabella into the model student from everyone's school days.
When readers flipped further inside, half-length hair, an asymtrical short dress, knee-high boots, and a light jacket let the wind of fashion blow straight off the page and into reality.
Having grown up and entered society, her calm confidence made Isabella shine brilliantly.
At that mont, fans once again felt pink bubbles popping over their heads.
The photos were so stunning that many people were practically dizzy with excitent.
But even more excited were fashion-related dia, editors, and columnists.
"Isabella's sense of style is genuinely surprising!"
"In the past, there weren't many street photos of her, mainly because she's been extrely busy. Since her debut in 2000, if you include Goblet of Fire (Parts One and Two), which have already been fild but not yet released, she's actually completed six films. That's an incredibly productive pace. And yet, her taste hasn't been isolated from the world like her lifestyle. Instead, it shows a low-key elegance that perfectly matches her personality."
"Take the latest Vogue photos as an example. The asymtrical dress she's wearing is a classic Prada design. Although it was released last autumn and is already a year old, the reason sothing is called a 'classic' is because it can be worn season after season."
"The boots she's wearing are Chanel's latest release this year. The moderately soft suede accentuates her leg shape beautifully. Most importantly, once she puts on knee-high boots, we're surprised to find that Isabella seems taller than we expected. In the Harry Potter films, she appeared about the sa height as Daniel and Rupert, but in reality—"
"I swear she's definitely over five-foot-five now!"
"She's really grown into a young woman!"
"The most surprising piece is the LV plaid jacket she's wearing."
"We all know that short skirts paired with boots are usually associated with fiery personalities, which doesn't quite match Isabella's previous image. But with a plaid jacket added, a sense of composure imdiately appears. From this outfit alone, you can tell that Isabella is passionate but rational."
"Just like the Hermione Granger she plays."
"Driven by emotion, but never ruled by it."
"Once styling that truly matches her personality appears—wow, I'd even dare say that The Devil Wears Prada might be a film personally overseen by Isabella, similar to The Voice."
"Anyone who understands filmmaking knows that productions have dedicated costu and styling teams. What an actor wears is decided by them, and since they aren't the actor themselves, they rarely choose outfits that truly fit the actor's inner self. And most of the ti, when capital is paying the bill, they won't let the lead wear out-of-season clothing. So—"
"Oh—"
"Although we've always known Isabella is professional, today I still want to say that her love for film, her insistence on her work, and her desire for creative expression far exceed our expectations."
"She's truly an extraordinary girl!"
"We're extrely, extrely excited for The Devil Wears Prada!"
When this thousand-word praise piece from the fashion dia appeared, the flood of complints nearly made Barry yer laugh himself unconscious.
Putting down the magazine, he shook his head and looked at his assistant.
"So this is how fashion dia are evaluating Isabella now?"
"Yes."
Nathan Bailey understood his boss imdiately and replied bluntly, "They've all invested huge sums in brand promotion for Prada. When each of them has spent a hundred million, even if Isabella were wearing a burlap sack, they'd still claim it was their brand and praise her for her taste."
Barry yer burst into laughter.
Monts later, his stomach even started to hurt.
Yes.
The fashion world's excitent was entirely funded by the six top-tier and eight second-tier luxury brands.
The logic was simple.
When Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, CK, and others each sponsored Prada with one hundred million pounds, no one in the fashion industry dared to criticize the film.
If they didn't criticize it and hyped it up instead, and the film perford well after release, those brands could recover their investnt.
But if soone trashed Prada and slamd its aesthetics into the dirt—
Wouldn't that be asking the six blue-chip and eight red-chip brands to lose everything?
Exactly.
The people who least wanted Prada to flop were actually the luxury brands themselves.
So once that reality set in, regardless of whether Isabella liked fashion or whether the fashion world liked her, she had beco the most fashionable person on the planet.
What?
Soone disagrees?
Just because I can't do anything to Isabella doesn't an I can't beat up you nobodies.
"Okay, okay. All this—forget it."
"It benefits us anyway."
Smiling as he accepted the marriage sedan delivered right to his door, Barry yer brushed aside the promotional topic surrounding Prada.
Then he turned and asked, "How are things in New York?"
"Pretty smooth. Isabella gets into character quickly, and Bryce isn't dragging things down. At this rate, Prada will need at most sixty days to shoot," Nathan Bailey reported while thinking. "But considering there's a Goblet of Fire (Part One) premiere during that period, plus Christmas and New Year—"
"At the earliest, Prada won't wrap until the end of February next year."
Barry yer nodded slightly as he listened.
Just as planned, Warner Bros. scheduled the release of Goblet of Fire (Part One) for Christmas 2005.
Since the Harry Potter premiere had to be held at least a week in advance and must take place in the UK, the premiere was set for December 16.
The location was the Odeon Theatre in London's West End.
Why not hold premieres in both the UK and the US?
Simple.
Isabella didn't have ti to attend two premieres.
With that arrangent, Prada could finish filming by the 14th at the latest this year. The rest would be shot next year. Once the premiere ended, Christmas arrived, followed imdiately by the New Year.
With the end-of-year schedule fragnted beyond belief, it was better to stop and resu next year rather than film three days and rest three days.
Besides, Prada couldn't be fild opportunistically like other projects.
If other films were missing soone, at most it would be one person.
But Prada—
If Isabella had to attend the Goblet of Fire (Part One) premiere, would Maggie Smith, Chris Columbus, and Michael Barnathan not also have to fly to London?
When all the key mbers were gone, the entire crew would disperse.
Coming back to film after the premiere?
Forget it.
Don't bother.
"Then what about the schedule for Order of the Phoenix?" Barry yer asked.
Nathan Bailey, who had morized the plan inside out, replied, "David Heyman wants to start Order of the Phoenix after next sumr, for two reasons."
"First, whether Order of the Phoenix will be split depends on the market response to Goblet of Fire (Part One), and that result won't be clear until late January. Second, both Daniel and Isabella have exams next year."
"Daniel is taking A-levels, and Isabella is taking GCSEs."
"The reason Rupert and the others' exams didn't affect filming before was because they didn't have that many scenes in the movies. As long as we fild their overlapping scenes with Daniel and Isabella in advance, they could go off and prepare for their exams."
"But this ti—"
"When the two most important actors in a film both have exams, it's simply impossible to keep filming."
"Still, this won't affect us. Even if Order of the Phoenix starts shooting in the sumr, it can still make its 2007 release. And next year, we'll have Goblet of Fire (Part Two)—"
Barry yer nodded again.
"Okay. Then that's settled."
He waved his hand, signaling that Nathan Bailey could get back to work.
However, Nathan Bailey didn't leave. Instead, he continued, "Mr. yer, there's actually one more thing I need to report. Our people discovered that soone is secretly filming Prada in New York—"
"???"
The sudden news made Barry yer frown. "What did you say?"
"Soone is secretly filming Prada in New York?"
"When sothing like this happens, the crew should just call the police! Why report it to —so is this Fox's doing?"
"Or News Corp's?"
It wasn't strange that Barry yer was shocked.
Compared to other places, copyright protection in Europe and the U.S. was relatively strong.
Well—
More accurately, that was mainly because most intellectual property belonged to capital.
So when Barry yer learned that soone was secretly filming near the Prada set, his first reaction was to throw that idiot in jail. Works in production also had copyright protection. And even if it wasn't piracy or distribution, trespassing into restricted areas to film was already pushing up against the Castle Doctrine.
His second reaction was—
Normal people didn't do this kind of thing.
Even abnormal paparazzi wouldn't secretly film an active movie shoot.
So whoever was filming was probably an enemy.
And soone bold enough to pull that stunt in New York—
The only person that ca to mind was Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp.
However, Barry yer's rapid questioning made Nathan Bailey shake his head.
"Mr. yer, it's not Rupert Murdoch."
"Then who?" Barry yer asked curiously.
"Uh—this is hard to explain—so—may I use the computer on your desk?"
Nathan Bailey pointed at Barry yer's desk.
Barry yer's expression instantly turned serious. "It's already online?"
As he spoke, he pushed himself back with his feet, making room and signaling for Nathan Bailey to get to the point.
Nathan Bailey didn't hesitate. He stepped forward and started working the computer.
In less than a minute, a very plain-looking website appeared in front of Barry yer.
Right there on the hopage was Isabella.
When Nathan Bailey clicked in, a 30-second short video appeared. It looked like it was shot on a handheld DV cara, judging by the blurry image.
Even so, the closed-off street scene of Fifth Avenue in New York was clearly recognizable.
The video showed a god's-eye view of Prada being fild.
Isabella, dressed in fashionable clothes, was running through the streets of New York, holding a phone in one hand and a stack of Starbucks cups in the other—
The mont the video started playing, deep lines had already ford on Barry yer's forehead.
As the video ended, just as he narrowed his eyes to ask a question—
Nathan Bailey moved the mouse again. "Boss, this video was uploaded at midnight last night. Eastern Ti. As of now, it's already gotten 140,000 views."
"And over a thousand comnts."
As he spoke, he scrolled down.
Soon, the comnts ca into Barry yer's view:
[@kalasend: Is—Is—is that Isabella???]
[@darthpaul: Oh—this angle is amazing. How did you even film this?]
[@wei-u7t: Is this real footage from Prada??? Oh oh oh—I'm sending this to my group chat!!!]
[@DEvie49: Oh my god—is this Fifth Avenue in New York? So so big-shot who lives here or works here fild this for us? OMG—OMG—OMG—this is insane!!!]
[@EriPam-t2b5t: No no no—the flustered Isabella is so cute—I love it—I love it—]
[…]
The market-like chaos of the comnts made Barry yer take several deep breaths.
Maybe it was because the video didn't involve plot spoilers.
Or maybe it was because the overall reaction was positive.
From a marketing standpoint, this could even be considered effective leaked promotion.
After swallowing, he cleared his throat and said, "When did you discover this?"
"An hour ago."
"Did you assess this person's behavior?"
"Yes. He didn't infiltrate the crew, so it's not illegal. Prada is being fild in public locations, and since we didn't clear out everyone nearby, private filming unrelated to the plot can't be dealt with through legal ans. So this kind of spread—there's nothing we can do about it."
Nathan Bailey sighed helplessly.
Barry yer nodded thoughtfully. "From the current situation, whether we deal with this video or not doesn't really matter."
"But—"
"It's 10 o'clock now, right? Even in Eastern Ti, that ans the video has only been up for twelve hours?"
"So twelve hours, 140,000 views?"
"What website is this?"
On the surface, 140,000 views in twelve hours didn't seem like much.
Google and Yahoo both had daily traffic in the billions.
News about Isabella on those sites easily reached hundreds of millions of views per day.
But Google, Yahoo, Amazon, MSN—those were all mature platforms, and they mainly spread text and images.
Yet now, a website had appeared that could host video.
And this site seed to let ordinary people upload monts from their own lives.
This—
Sothing was off.
Very off.
Barry yer sensed sothing unusual. Nathan Bailey quickly explained, "Mr. yer, the site you're seeing is called YouTube."
"It was founded earlier this year, on February 14, Valentine's Day."
"At first, the founders wanted to make it an online dating platform, but that failed."
"So in April, they pivoted and turned it into a video platform. The idea is to let non-technical internet users quickly upload and watch interesting videos online."
"The first video on the site was called at the Zoo, uploaded by one of the founders. It was just casual footage from a visit to the San Diego Zoo. Nothing special, but the model was new, so in the first month after the pivot, their average daily traffic reached 30,000. Right now, it's already around one million per day."
"Because they seed promising, they received their first angel investnt last month."
"Sequoia Capitalinvested 3.5 million dollars."
"That gave them the funds to upgrade their infrastructure. And based on current trends—"
"They may reach 100 million daily visits in less than a year."
"At that point—"
"A new form of dia may erge."
Yes.
The reason Nathan Bailey reported the secret filming of Prada to Barry yer so seriously was because the people who discovered it believed that YouTube might threaten the position of traditional dia.
Once the public could freely speak through the internet, the monopoly traditional dia held over information would start to crack.
The logic was simple.
When everyone in the world could beco a broadcaster, the most valuable thing traditional dia would have left would be its brand.
The new channel, the internet, might replace newspapers, magazines, and television as the main battlefield of the dia industry.
"So what are you suggesting?" Barry yer asked bluntly.
"Uh—the investnt departnt is asking whether we should consider investing in this website. Or similar ones," Nathan Bailey relayed.
Any large conglorate had an investnt division.
Once they spotted a promising sector, putting in so money for a stake was only natural.
In the past, this kind of deal would never have reached Barry yer.
A few million dollars wasn't even worth his attention. A departnt head could decide that.
But this ti, anything related to YouTube had to be brought to him.
The reasons were simple—
First, there was already a video on YouTube suspected of involving Ti Warner content.
Second, Ti Warner had only just decided to abandon the internet at the end of last quarter.
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