[Chapter 845: Are You Sure You're Normal?]
At two in the afternoon, Eric arrived punctually at the Fox studio in Century City.
As he stepped out of the car, he spotted Elisabeth striding toward him in high heels, her assistant following closely behind, holding a stack of docunts.
Eric embraced Elisabeth, and after letting go, they headed toward the parking lot. He couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing here?"
Elisabeth shot him a look, "This place is mine, why wouldn't I be here?"
"I an..." Eric wanted to ask why she ca to pick him up. Although Elisabeth was currently only responsible for the film production departnt at 20th Century Fox, the project Dark Angel was significant to Fox but not under her jurisdiction. Still, Eric shrugged; after all, the whole studio seed like her playground. "Never mind, I won't say anything."
"Humph," Elisabeth huffed playfully but then affectionately linked her arm with Eric's. "Dad asked to talk to you about the digital release of original soundtracks..."
"Stop," Eric interrupted her before she could go further. "Liz, I've spent too much ti trying to persuade others lately. Can we take a break from music talk today?"
To secure as much musical content as possible, Eric had crafted a strategy to delay the physical release of traditional artists' digital music albums for three months. This plan would not only be implented within Firefly's system but also significantly expand the possibilities of bringing in content from external record companies.
However, the Yahoo Music Store couldn't be filled entirely with old music content. To make up for that, soundtracks for films within the Firefly system would be released simultaneously with physical records. Outside of Firefly, MGM had quickly agreed to the plan.
But Murdoch was not entirely satisfied with the proposal. Still, 20th Century Fox found it difficult to outright reject it, unlike other film companies. After all, the cooperation between Firefly and News Corporation had been closely interlinked over the years, even more so than with MGM. The two companies directly co-owned several firms, including Blue Sky Studios and FFM Television, as well as the Digital Domain's Australian branch. Additionally, collaborations like this one with Dark Angel happened frequently in TV businesses.
Outside of Hollywood, Yahoo had also reached an agreent with News Corporation to gain exclusive online news publishing rights from several of its dia outlets. Elisabeth knew this very well; the music business under News Corporation was even less significant than Firefly, and she didn't see the need to fight for it.
Therefore, even though she was following her father's instructions to bring it up, she hadn't planned on convincing Eric. Looking at the slightly worn expression on the man beside her, Elisabeth smiled and feigned reluctance, saying, "Alright, we'll talk about it tomorrow then."
Eric didn't mind Elisabeth's habitual stubbornness. With a smile, they walked together into the administrative building of the studio.
Although Eric had handed Dark Angel to Fox to fill in for The X-Files, everything still followed regular comrcial processes. This sci-fi series was co-invested by the television departnts of Firefly and Fox, also including a shell company backed by Caron. The rights to the series belonged to Fox, and Firefly would receive its share according to investnt ratios.
Thanks to the miraculous success of Titanic, competition for the lead role of Max in the series was fierce, despite it being a concept by Caron.
The production team had set very strict conditions for auditions for the female lead, requiring actresses to be between 18 and 22 years old, stand between 5'7" and 5'9", have at least three years of acting experience, and a background in dance or gymnastics to handle intense action scenes. Even so, over 300 girls initially passed the screenings and showed up for auditions, highlighting the strength of the Arican film industry.
The other minor roles had already been filled prior to this day. Today was simply the final round of auditions for the female lead, with only ten candidates remaining.
Though all the girls were gathered in the waiting room, the auditions weren't set to begin until two-thirty.
Caron was currently focused on developing pre-visual effects technology for Spider-Man and the Titanic-thed exhibition. Aside from providing the main storyline and taking a producer credit, he wasn't personally involved in this project and didn't co over today.
...
Eric listened as Fox's producer for Dark Angel, Brian Spicer, briefly recapped the earlier audition process. He flipped through ten sets of information and remarked curiously to Elisabeth, who was diligently reviewing the candidates' profiles nearby, "Liz, have you heard the story about interviews? A hiring manager randomly picks a pile of resus and tosses them in the trash, announcing that those people have been eliminated for a simple reason -- they just aren't lucky enough."
Elisabeth looked up at him, exasperated. "If you wanted to play that ga, why didn't you co here earlier? There are only ten people left!"
"Then let's just eliminate one or two," Eric said, and sure enough, he picked out two applications from the thin stack, marked them with a pencil, and handed them to a stunned Brian Spicer and the others. "Notify them that they can leave."
Knowing Eric well enough, Elisabeth recognized that his seemingly nonsensical actions often had so rationale, although it was rare for her to figure out what it was. Still, she believed in him.
She snatched the two actor profiles from Eric's hand and glanced at them but saw nothing special. So she handed them back to Brian Spicer, saying, "Brian, is there a problem with these two?"
Brian took the papers, hesitated, then replied honestly, "Liz, this girl nad Milla Jovovich was introduced by Mr. De Palma. However, I assure you, she ets all the criteria; she has a dance background and has been making cao appearances in TV dramas since she was thirteen."
Elisabeth pondered and asked, "Brian De Palma?"
Brian nodded.
Brian De Palma was a veteran director in Hollywood who had recently made the first Mission: Impossible film.
Elisabeth didn't pay much attention to that; over the years, she gradually understood that Hollywood was a network of relationships, and she was confident Eric wouldn't be concerned about that. The issue was likely with the other girl. "And the other one?"
"Um, Ali Larter," Brian Spicer glanced at the na on the other resu, frowning slightly in confusion, then looked toward the other responsible parties in the audition room.
Everyone shook their heads. One of them leafed through the actors' profiles, thought for a mont, and said, "This girl was selected by John's group. Do we need to call him to co over?"
Brian looked toward Elisabeth and Eric, explaining, "John Knowles is the casting lead for group three, and we split the first round into five groups."
Just as Elisabeth was about to say sothing, Eric took the two resus from Brian Spicer's hand, tucked them back into the file, and shook his head with a smile, "Never mind. I'm just a bit annoyed lately. I'm tired of the sa old routine. Let's pretend nothing happened and get started."
Although they didn't understand what had just transpired, Brian and the team all sighed in relief.
Elisabeth lingered for a mont, adjusted her chair, leaned over, and lightly hugged Eric. She then reclaid the two seemingly puzzling actor resus and spoke assertively to Brian Spicer. "Brian, notify them to leave."
Brian once more took the two resus, feeling Elisabeth's firm tone, not daring to press further. He nodded and promptly got up to leave the room.
Elisabeth still didn't let go of Eric. Ignoring the onlookers, she affectionately leaned her cheek against Eric's face, saying, "Eric, do what you want. You don't have to explain anything to them."
Eric gently patted Elisabeth's slim waist and grinned. "Why do I feel like that line just ca out of that girl's mouth?"
This ti Elisabeth didn't get upset at Eric for ntioning Drew but countered, "I'm nothing like her; she's crazy."
"Are you sure you're normal?"
"Isn't it that you're just a jerk?"
Onlookers were attentively eavesdropping on the rather odd banter between the two bosses, which could be labeled as sweet talk. But soon enough, Brian Spicer, who had just left, pushed the door open again, breaking the atmosphere.
Eric and Elisabeth noticed the footsteps and realized the situation around them, returning to their seats without further ado.
The remaining list featured eight girls whom Eric didn't know at all. The auditions began promptly at two-thirty and continued until seven that evening. With a tight schedule ahead, aiming to finalize the pilot episode before May, Eric didn't hesitate much; the auditions concluded, and the team quickly reached a decision. In the end, a lucky 19-year-old girl from Pennsylvania bagged the role of the lead character, Max.
With the lead for Dark Angel confird, Eric would no longer be involved in the show's detailed production.
...
On the afternoon of April Fool's Day, Eric flew from Los Angeles to Oakland, San Francisco.
The official product launch for Fireflyer was set for April 2 at 2 PM, to be held in the grand ballroom of the Marriott International Hotel in Oakland.
Although over a month of intensive promotion had made the groundbreaking Fireflyer player well-known worldwide, many particulars about the player remained undisclosed.
Thus, the launch event attracted mainstream dia from around the globe.
Once the event date was announced, over 600 dia outlets contacted Firefly Electronics for invitations.
In the tech hub of Silicon Valley, while competitors had thoroughly dismantled the player, they also wouldn't miss the chance to gather firsthand information. Coupled with lucky viewers selected via Yahoo portal, the final guest list reached 2,100 people.
The night before, Eric had watched a rehearsal of the press conference led by Firefly Electronics' president, Bill Olsen, working into the late hours. He woke early today.
Since the launch was at the Marriott Hotel, Eric chose to stay there as well.
Leaving his room, he entered the hotel's dining area where Chris was already seated at a table with two leaders of Firefly Electronics and Ian Gurney, the CEO of Yahoo, who had flown in from Boston.
"Eric, good morning," Ian waved as he spotted him, and the others turned their attention to him.
Eric approached, exchanged greetings, then took a seat next to Ian Gurney and asked, "What are you all discussing?"
They exchanged glances, before Ian Gurney spoke up, "Eric, about the pricing strategy for Fireflyer."
Eric casually ordered breakfast from the passing waiter, then replied, "You're not still thinking of raising the price, are you?"
Bill Olsen said, "Eric, based on our recent research, the $299 price point, which matches the Sony Walkman, does feel a bit low. Considering the popularity Fireflyer has already shown, I believe raising the price to $359, or even $399, could be on the table."
"But we've discussed this multiple tis," Eric shrugged. "We all know that the technology in Fireflyer isn't groundbreaking. Even though we've secured a complete set of patents for MP3 players, competitors can easily create alternatives if they choose to venture in. What we need to do is make Fireflyer popular quickly, establishing it as an industry standard instead of chasing profits right out of the gate. Besides, the total production cost for Fireflyer is only $150, and as production ramps up and technology advances, overall costs will continue to decline. We already have sufficient profit margins."
However, Victor McNally, CEO of Firefly Electronics, shook his head. "Eric, your strategy isn't wrong, but I think you're underestimating the technological lead and patent barriers we currently hold. I can assure you that even giants like Sony would require at least three years to fully navigate around the patent barriers we've built. Those three years will be ample ti for us to solidify our position in the MP3 player market."
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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