Chapter 252: Taking the Fall
Chapter 252: Taking the Fall
Only after Leigh Zimmerman finished showering and changing in the bathroom did Eric finally finish reading through the stack of newspapers. Glancing at the blonde standing there somewhat at a loss, Eric said, “Leigh, could you go downstairs and get breakfast for Jeffrey and me? Anything is fine.”
“Oh, okay,” Leigh Zimmerman nodded quickly, picked up her handbag, and walked out of the room, inwardly sighing in relief. At the very least, Eric had not directly told her to leave.
“You seem a little reluctant to let her go,” Jeffrey teased.
Eric paid no attention whatsoever to Jeffrey’s tone and smiled. “Of course. Last night was wonderful.”
“Alright, enough. Let’s talk business,” Jeffrey said helplessly, pointing at the pile of newspapers Eric had scattered around. “What do you think about these reports?”
Eric also put away his carefree expression. “If I hadn’t asked you to do all that yesterday, we’d be completely trapped in a passive position today. Ordinary people always form first impressions, and once that happens, trying to explain ourselves later becomes very difficult. Things are still manageable right now. At least we’ve muddied the waters, so public opinion isn’t entirely one-sided against us. As long as we handle the PR work properly, this won’t become a major problem.”
After a pause, Eric added, “Oh, right. I spoke with Robert last night. He’ll be flying over this morning to help. He definitely has more experience than you in dealing with this sort of thing.”
“Mm, actually, I was just about to bring that up too. But I thought you might…” Jeffrey hesitated.
Eric smiled. “Might what? Don’t tell me you think I still treat Robert like an outsider?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
“Of course not,” Eric denied. “Although I do mind the fifteen percent shares he took away, now that the two companies have merged, I’ll definitely treat him as one of our own. As long as Robert doesn’t start internal conflict first, I absolutely won’t either.”
Jeffrey, who knew Eric quite well by now, rarely gave him a disdainful look. “That’s not very convincing.”
“No, I mean it,” Eric countered. “Jeffrey, my goal is far bigger than you imagine. If I start fighting people over profits now, then I’ll never be able to keep moving forward.”
“What… exactly is your goal?”
“Hollywood.”
Jeffrey blinked, not understanding. “What?”
“Hollywood,” Eric repeated. There was an unmistakable youthful arrogance in his tone as he said, “One day, when people mention the word ‘Hollywood,’ the first thing they think of won’t be Los Angeles, won’t be the major studios, and won’t be any movie star immortalized on the Walk of Fame. It’ll be me—Eric Williams. Hollywood will be me.”
Eric’s heartfelt words carried a strangely infectious force.
Jeffrey widened his eyes, intending to say something to discourage him, but after opening his mouth, all that came out was, “Then… I hope you succeed.”
“I definitely will.” Eric nodded solemnly. “So, Jeffrey, do you really think that with a goal that far away and a road that long, I’d stop midway to fight with a companion who might help me move faster, just over a few scraps of food?”
Jeffrey gave a bitter smile and shook his head. “I understand now.”
The two briefly discussed countermeasures before Leigh Zimmerman returned carrying breakfast and knocked on the door.
“I think I’ll go back to my own room to eat,” Jeffrey said as he looked at the couple sitting closely together on the opposite sofa. Unable to bear it any longer, he picked up his breakfast and walked out before Eric could say anything.
“Don’t mind him. Let’s keep eating,” Eric said after noticing the girl’s expression.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“Of course not. We already finished talking business. By the way, you mentioned last night that besides modeling, you also perform in Broadway stage plays?”
Leigh Zimmerman nodded. “Yeah. I really love acting. Oh right, Eric, I’ll have a performance on Broadway next month. Will you come watch?”
Although the girl looked at him with obvious anticipation, Eric could only shake his head. “Sorry, Leigh. Once Home Alone 2 wraps filming, I’ll have to rush back to Los Angeles immediately.”
Leigh Zimmerman let out a disappointed “Oh,” then lowered her head and began picking at the salad in front of her.
She very much wanted to proactively ask Eric for opportunities, but because she understood industry rules fairly well, she knew that if she took the initiative to ask him for something, all she would receive would be empty promises.
This sort of thing could only come from Eric’s side voluntarily. If he never brought it up from beginning to end, she had no grounds to complain. She would just treat this as an ordinary one-night stand.
After all, Leigh Zimmerman had already heard that Eric had chosen her, an unknown newcomer, from among a group of supermodels. Whenever she remembered the expression on the face of her roommate—who was also a model under Elite Model Management—after learning she had gotten the role, she could not help feeling smug.
As a newcomer who had only entered the industry less than a year ago, when she first heard about the opportunity, she had never even considered competing for it. She felt there was no way she could beat all those famous supermodels. It was her roommate who had encouraged her to submit an application together, and somehow she had been chosen for the role.
At the same time, however, the jealousy caused by her good fortune quickly destroyed their friendship. After enduring several sarcastic and bitter remarks from the other girl over the past few days, Leigh had stopped speaking to her and was already planning to move out as soon as possible.
Compared to this opportunity, what was one fragile friendship worth? Besides, that roommate had never truly treated her wholeheartedly as a friend anyway. Because she had entered the industry earlier, she constantly put on airs and acted like a senior.
To put it bluntly, competition between models was so fierce that genuine friendship was difficult to form in the first place. Unless, perhaps… they were lesbians.
As Eric ate breakfast while smelling the faint perfume drifting from the girl beside him, he asked, “Do you want to develop in the direction of becoming a professional actress?”
Leigh Zimmerman’s heart immediately leapt with joy, and she nodded rapidly.
“Perfect. Then I’ll give you another opportunity,” Eric said. “You know about Friends, right?”
“Of course I do. I also know you personally wrote that sitcom. I watch it every week,” the girl said excitedly after hearing something familiar. “My favorite character is Ross. I think he’s that sort of adorably awkward perfectionist, which is way better than his sister’s obsessive-compulsive perfectionism. And Phoebe…”
The girl rambled on enthusiastically for several sentences before quickly realizing she had gotten carried away. She immediately shut her mouth and looked at Eric awkwardly.
Eric smiled. “Thanks for liking the show. Here’s the thing—there’s an episode of Friends where New York experiences a blackout, and Chandler gets locked inside a bank ATM vestibule with a famous model. The story lasts roughly one episode. I can recommend you to audition for it.”
According to the original script, that episode should have been Episode 7 of Season 1, and the woman Chandler met was originally supposed to be a Victoria’s Secret lingerie model. However, Victoria’s Secret was not yet very famous in this world, so Eric changed the character into a famous model instead. After revising the script, the episode had also been pushed back to Episode 20, which definitely had not been filmed yet.
Leigh Zimmerman could not help asking for confirmation. “Really, Eric? You really think I… can do it?”
Eric nodded again.
In the future, many of the films and television series he planned to produce would definitely include similar minor roles. Rather than letting some sleazy assistant casting director use them to sleep with aspiring actresses, he might as well use them to build goodwill himself.
Friends already had far greater influence now than its first season did in his previous life. Being able to guest-star in a single episode would mean getting one’s face recognized by over twenty million viewers across America. That was far more effective than appearing on the covers of several magazines.
Of course, this was the limit of what Eric could give Leigh Zimmerman.
After all, appearing consecutively in a hit television show and a blockbuster movie would already make it very easy for her to obtain more roles later. Whether she could advance further after that would depend on her own effort and luck.
After seeing Eric’s certain expression, Leigh Zimmerman immediately threw herself at him and planted several hard kisses on his face.
“Alright, alright,” Eric said quickly as a warm little tongue licked across his cheek. He hurriedly pushed the girl away. “Stop messing around and let me finish breakfast.”
After breakfast, Allen came over as usual to report Eric’s schedule for the day. Once Allen finished discussing business matters, Eric pointed at the blonde beside him and said, “Allen, contact Los Angeles. I remember there’s a model role in Episode 20 of Friends. Give it to Miss Zimmerman.”
Allen quickly noted the matter in his memo pad. After glancing at the woman beside Eric, he hesitated for a moment before asking, “Eric… should I speak directly with Mr. John Aniston?”
Eric nearly forgot about that.
Aside from Eric himself, the most powerful person on the Friends production team was John Aniston, who served as producer. If Eric directly pushed Leigh Zimmerman into the production, not only would John Aniston refuse to give the girl the role, he would probably call and curse him out afterward.
After thinking for a moment, Eric beckoned Allen over and whispered into his ear, “Do this instead. Tell him Jeffrey recommended her. He’s been single for so long, and at his age it’s not easy for him to pick up women anymore. Ask John to put in a little extra effort for him.”
Allen’s mouth twitched. “Eric, should… should we at least inform Mr. Hansen first?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell him myself.”
Allen inwardly thought, With a scapegoat this huge, there’s no way you’ll actually tell him. Still, he only nodded helplessly, closed his memo pad, and hurried away.
“Eric, I didn’t expect you to be this bad,” Leigh Zimmerman complained playfully after Allen left. Although Eric had whispered to Allen, his voice had not been low enough to prevent her from hearing. “I’m only guest starring in one episode. And I’m not so overconfident that I’d try to fight with your little girlfriend.”
Eric smiled. “If I didn’t say it that way, you wouldn’t get the role.”
Leigh asked in confusion, “Why? Isn’t Friends funded by your Firefly company?”
“It is. But the producer of Friends is my little girlfriend’s father.”
…
Although Eric’s preparations prevented public opinion from completely condemning the Home Alone 2 production crew for their “terrible destruction” of Central Park’s ecology, the incident still created a major impact.
While some rational people believed the viewpoints published in the newspapers Jeffrey had handled through PR, many others believed the opposite side.
As a result, over the next two days, fierce debate erupted over whether the Home Alone 2 crew should be allowed to continue filming in Central Park using artificial snow. The argument quickly spread across the entire United States and became a major hot topic.
At the same time, the five hundred thousand dollars Eric had instructed Jeffrey to donate beforehand to the Central Park Conservancy also played a significant role.
When reporters interviewed Conservancy chairman Tim Frick about whether the Home Alone 2 crew’s filming activities had caused serious environmental harm, Mr. Frick spoke quite favorably of the production team. He listed the various precautions the crew had taken one by one and described the Home Alone 2 crew as highly responsible.
Of course, Tim Frick did not hide the fact that the Conservancy had accepted a five-hundred-thousand-dollar donation from the crew. If the media uncovered it later, it would only become even more troublesome.
However, Tim Frick naturally could not say the money was compensation for possible damage caused by the artificial snow, because that would amount to slapping himself in the face. Instead, he explained that after seeing how old some of Central Park’s public facilities had become, the production crew voluntarily donated the money to help replace them.
Because the interview with Tim Frick aired during prime time, a great many people saw the news. Combined with the extensive PR efforts by the Home Alone 2 crew, the situation gradually became clearer.
In the end, the Manhattan borough government issued an official statement announcing that it would dispatch a supervisory team to monitor throughout the entire filming process whether the crew used artificial snow according to the previously agreed regulations. Furthermore, the supervisory team would also recruit several citizen volunteers to ensure its fairness and impartiality.
After this statement was released, the Home Alone 2 production crew immediately issued a statement of their own, declaring not only that they would cooperate fully with the supervisory team, but also that they were willing to cover the additional expenses beyond the Manhattan borough government’s existing budget.
With both sides exchanging gestures of goodwill, and News Corporation quietly exerting influence behind the scenes, the matter was ultimately resolved smoothly.
As for the so-called environmental organization GEPO, they never again came to obstruct the crew’s filming afterward.
By late October, Home Alone 2 officially wrapped filming successfully. Aside from returning to Los Angeles to oversee the post-production work on two movies, the release date of The Others had also arrived.
This was Firefly’s opening shot for the Thanksgiving-Christmas season lineup. If it could achieve a strong start, it would provide a certain box office boost for the several films scheduled afterward. Therefore, Eric attached great importance to the matter.