[Chapter 720: Tenfold]
Over the weekend, Eric and Chris discussed in detail the prospects for expanding the portal site's developnt. On Monday, they held a conference call at the Firefly Investnt headquarters about the partnership between Nokia and Qualcomm, after which Chris headed to Boston to set plans in motion.
It was May 29, and the release date for Firefly's first sumr blockbuster, Jurassic Park 2, was set for June 2. Eric only needed to make it back to Los Angeles in ti for the premiere, so he could linger a few more days in New York.
May was the pri month for television series pitching and ordering, with countless producers and networks converging in New York to promote or buy new shows for the upcoming year. Firefly boasted three flagship series: Survivor, ER, and Friends. Therefore, the selection of new shows was a calr process for them. The television departnt focused much of its energy on the soon-to-expand Lifeti network. Aside from the upcoming productions of Arica's Next Top Model and Project Runway, the Lifeti network had also ordered a quality workplace drama focused on won and several TV movies during May's pitch etings, reworking its program lineup according to the series release plan.
...
Eric's main focus remained on the two reality shows, Arica's Next Top Model and Project Runway. The two shows had been in preparation for a month and a half. In April, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista, with help from the producers of Survivor, ca up with a detailed production plan. Throughout May, the two had been busy with the pre-production and selection of contestants, and now all preparations were nearing completion.
"This is the official competition venue. According to the script, I'll announce the competition details here at the start of each episode, and in the latter half, the contestants will showcase their creations in this spot. The designers will sit in the chairs you're in, alongside the judges, to enjoy the fashion show presented by the models. Additionally, there are rest areas behind that can provide so footage of contestants preparing for the competition and waiting for results..."
In an ABC studio in New York, a simple fashion show set was built, but without an audience, just a tiny runway with a few chairs on either side. Linda Evangelista stood on the stage, demonstrating the show's format to Eric and the others seated below. This was Eric's last task in New York; once confird, he would return to Los Angeles.
After a few minutes of explanation, Linda looked at the audience below, waiting for Eric to make a decision. Eric was flanked by Emily Brighton and Anne Sweeney, along with a handful of other assistants. Cindy Crawford sat beside Emily. A few special judges and producers responsible for Project Runway were seated at the evaluation table on the opposite side.
LTD planned to sponsor these two reality shows, securing a portion of ad placents. Anne Sweeney, the president of A&E, was about thirty-five with brown hair. Initially responsible for Disney Television, Sweeney had been moved to this post after confirming Lifeti's expansion plans by Katzenberg, who believed a woman could better capture the essence of a female network. Of course, everyone understood the underlying motivations behind such a decision.
Eric had been following up on this matter since the preliminary production proposal was put forth at the end of April. Now, he was only conducting final checks to ensure every detail was flawless, so there were no major issues.
He whispered to Anne Sweeney and Emily before looking up at Linda Evangelista. "Linda, is that runway made of wood?"
Linda hesitated for a mont, lightly tapping her high-heeled boot on the runway, producing a thud against the wood. "Yeah," she replied with a nod.
Eric pointed to the screen at the start of the runway. "Why don't you walk down it so I can see?"
Linda was puzzled but complied, strutting out from behind the screen.
A series of dull thuds echoed in the room.
Before Linda finished her walk, everyone noticed the problem. The sound of leather boots hitting the wooden catwalk is almost the sa as the noise. If the audience abruptly heard those sounds during the program, it would surely take them out of the experience.
Upon reaching the end of the runway, Linda reluctantly took a few cautious steps back. Embarrassed, she said, "Eric, I didn't think of this. We'll get that runway replaced quickly."
Eric nodded and turned to Emily and Anne. "I'm good on my end. How about you?"
Emily shook her head, noting she was primarily there to observe the details of the ad placents for LTD's products and felt it wasn't her place to get involved in the show's production.
Anne Sweeney did have a few more questions. It wasn't until Linda started to look overwheld that she finally relented because of Eric's presence.
This executive, who had switched from Fox to ABC a few years back, was ambitious. She wanted to leverage the Lifeti network to achieve a significant outco, aspiring to reach the heights of won in Hollywood like Sherry Lansing and Amy Pascal.
The previous president of A&E was from Hearst, and after gaining control, Katzenberg adjusted the position, reasoning that a woman could better grasp the essence of a female-targeted network. Eric privately supported this decision, even though he didn't have much information on Anne. But he vaguely rembered that she had had a hand in a very famous series called Desperate Housewives. From this perspective, she certainly had much in common with Amy Pascal, who had a penchant for won-centered films. It made perfect sense to place her in charge of Lifeti.
Using the entire morning, the group toured several key filming locations for Project Runway and listened to Linda explain the entire process. The afternoon activities would certainly focus on Arica's Next Top Model.
Both reality shows chose Manhattan's Midtown as their main filming area, with the contestants' apartnts just a street apart. So, the walk-through didn't require much effort.
...
By 5:30 PM, after finishing up all the work, Emily, Anne, and the others wrapped up for the day and headed ho. However, Eric was intercepted by Cindy Crawford.
"Eric, are you free for dinner tonight? Let's eat together," Cindy said, already stepping forward to affectionately link her arm with his.
Linda Evangelista erged from a makeup room with her belongings just as this scene unfolded. She smirked slightly and approached Eric, teasingly chiming in, "Eric, since we're having dinner, why don't I join too?"
Eric joked, "If I take you both to dinner, soone will surely try to kill with their eyes."
"Then co to my place. I cook pretty well, and we can continue discussing Arica's Next Top Model. I think there are many places I could improve," Cindy said, throwing a threatening glance at Linda out of Eric's sight, warning her not to cause mischief.
Linda initially intended to tease Eric but felt annoyed by Cindy's glance, which inadvertently seed provocative. Boldly, she took Eric's other arm, saying, "Then let's go to Cindy's! We haven't hung out in ages."
Cindy couldn't hold back any longer and lightly pinched Linda under her ribcage from behind Eric.
"Ouch, that hurts!" Linda exclaid, tears welling up, looking at Eric with a pout. "Eric, Cindy pinched ."
It took two hours to drive from Manhattan to East Hampton, but Eric intended to stay in town. With the ladies inviting him, he graciously agreed, wrapping his arm around Linda's waist and comforting her as he said, "Alright, we'll go to Cindy's. If you're going, we can eat what she cooks. If not, then next ti I'm in New York, I'll invite you for dinner."
"Okay, I'll do as you say," Linda replied in a playful voice, which wasn't exactly baby-like but a bit raspy, carrying a youthful innocence that felt just right.
Seeing Linda's response, Cindy could only give her a pointed look, with no way to counter Eric's decision.
...
They went downstairs to the parking garage and squeezed into Cindy's car. Though her apartnt in the Upper East Hydee wasn't far, it was rush hour, likely making the drive around ten minutes.
Aware that her plans might be disrupted by Linda, Cindy quickly shifted the conversation back to Arica's Next Top Model. While driving, she asked Eric, "So, Eric, how do you think we're doing with preparations?"
"Everything's great! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you both co up with," Eric replied simply, feeling worn out from the day, not in the mood for anything too in-depth. In truth, he had already ford a comprehensive assessnt of the two shows throughout the monitoring process.
Cindy, in charge of Arica's Next Top Model, had a rather imaginative show format filled with creative details. It emphasized the host's interaction with the contestants, and she herself had a significant presence on-screen. In contrast, Project Runway's format was more fixed, each episode lasting 43 minutes, structured in several set modules that focused on showcasing the contestants' skills.
Eric was generally quite satisfied with their work and couldn't say one was better than the other; plus, he preferred they didn't mirror each other's formats too closely.
Linda leaned in to listen, and rembering sothing else, she asked, "Eric, I heard Survivor's second season just wrapped up, and I heard the season finale's viewership climbed to 50 million! How much do you think ABC is making off that?"
Eric shook his head and chuckled, "That's company confidential, so I can't share that with you. However, if your shows can reach even a tenth of Survivor's success, it would be enough to fill your wallets."
To be honest, Eric wasn't too clear on the specific revenue from Survivor's second season either. Having just concluded, only preliminary ad revenue data was available so far. According to ABC's statistics, the average ad revenue per episode for Survivor's second season had already hit $27 million, with total ad revenues exceeding $350 million. The production cost for each episode was only around $5 million, and thanks to post-production video distribution and share in syndication, Firefly could expect to gain at least a tenfold return.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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