I'm in Hollywood

Chapter 305: No Expectations

Drew burst into laughter upon hearing the question, "Curious, I've brought you a present too. It's in my luggage, I'll give it to you tonight."

Eric raised an eyebrow and playfully tapped Drew's forehead, "I know you're hiding something, if anything goes wrong, it's best not to let me know last or else I won't be responsible."

"Pfft, you won't be responsible for anyone," Drew rolled their eyes and finally let go of Eric's arm after he sat down on his office chair.

Eric laughed and picked up the folder on the table, "Well, you're relying on me."

Drew glanced at Eric's folder, "What are these?"

"The list of actors being considered for the male lead in the movie 'Ghost'," Eric replied. Drew grabbed a few papers and pulled a chair over to have a look, not able to contain her excitement as she let out "Wow" and "He's so handsome".

Eric Williams shook his head helplessly without speaking and continued to look through the materials. The casting for "Ghost" was very different from Eric's previous films. In the past, auditions were announced and actors' files were selected from those submitted voluntarily by the actors.

But with Eric's current status, if he used the casting method of fishing in the ocean, it was estimated that the number of files received would burst the reception room of the fireflies, and there would be big problems in selecting. Therefore, this time, the casting for "Ghost" specified a series of prerequisites for the three major talent agencies, asking them to recommend qualified actors. Although many actors from small talent agencies may lose opportunities as a result, it is a helpless matter. Hollywood has always been so unfair, and no one can change that.

Despite all this, Eric still has hundreds of files of male lead actors in his hands.

As for the original male and female lead actors of "Ghost", Eric never considered them in the beginning. Because of some information in his memory, Eric doesn't like Demi Moore, and this reason is enough. With his current status, he doesn't need to explain his reasons to anyone.

As for Patrick Swayze, Eric still feels that the other party is more suitable for playing action films. The male lead in the movie, Sam, is set to be a department manager at a Wall Street investment bank. However, no matter how Eric looks at it, he feels that Patrick Swayze is more suitable for playing the security guard at the entrance of the investment bank.

In Eric's memory, Demi Moore's performance in "Ghost" was barely acceptable, but Patrick Swayze is completely a male vase, still the kind of very unaesthetic male vase.

Eric feels that the male lead of this movie should first have a successful and charismatic personality of a bank manager, and secondly, it is best to have a little artistic atmosphere.

In fact, when he was considering the male lead, he almost immediately thought of someone.

That's right. Tom Cruise.

Eric met with Cruise, who met all of Eric's requirements for acting, appearance, and box office appeal. Although there was some distance between the two of them after their last collaboration in "Running Out of Time," Eric still invited Cruise, and the latter responded, but with no specific answer, only scheduling a face-to-face meeting for tomorrow.

Cruise has not produced any movies since leaving CAA and starting his own production company, but Eric has heard that Cruise's production company is now preparing a movie, which was funded by Paramount and he and his partner, Paula Wagner, are serving as producers.

So, although Eric agreed to tomorrow's meeting, he did not have high expectations for Cruise to participate in "Ghost." He still patiently chose from the actors in front of him.

Eric was in the study, looking at the materials and chatting with Nicole from time to time. He did not realize that the outside had become dark.

Around 7:00 PM, Nicole called for the two of them to eat dinner.

"Come on, let's go have dinner. I think you must be hungry too. By the way, tonight is the premiere of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and I have placed all the questions you have been thinking about in the question bank. Perhaps they will appear tonight." Eric said as he led Nicole out of the study.

In the dining room, Drew was seated next to the table, loudly telling stories about his experiences shooting "The Silence of the Lambs" in Pennsylvania, while Nicole sat next to Eric, occasionally serving him food with a gentle and caring demeanor. If Nicole were ten years younger, this would look very much like a family of three.

After dinner, Drew eagerly came to a slightly smaller living room, turned on the television, and tuned it to Fox TV. The program had not yet started.

Eric soon after moved into the living room with his laptop, sitting down on the couch in the middle of the room, placing his laptop on his knees, typing away. Although it was the latest IBM laptop, compared to the previous era, this laptop still appeared very clunky and unattractive, and its low configuration was also frustrating. However, it was now impossible to find a better laptop on the market, so Eric had to make do. Anyway, he was just writing scripts and looking at files on it, and the laptop's memory was low, but it was still sufficient for office work.

Nicole soon washed the dishes and quickly brought a fruit plate into the living room, sitting down on the other side of Eric. Watching Eric's fingers tap the keyboard flexibly, there was a hint of admiration in her eyes. What else doesn't this man know?

"Wow, it's started, it's started, Eric, let's watch TV, okay?"

Eric nodded, closing his laptop.

The studio design of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" is very simple, with a single platform in the middle, the host and the contestants seated on either side, a circle of live audience sitting below, and a large silver screen behind displaying the content of the questions.

Contestants are divided into several groups and must go through a short round of competition, with the first one to answer the question correctly getting the opportunity to answer questions face-to-face with the host on the platform.

Drew leaned on Eric and complained, "Hey, Eric, I feel like there's a big difference between what I'm seeing now and what you showed me in the proposal. Many of the settings haven't been used, and the questions aren't categorized. I remember the proposal you showed me had the setting where the guests could choose a certain category of questions. Hmm, so disappointing."

Eric explained briefly, "It's a strategy."

Drew asked curiously, "What strategy?" Nicole also looked over.

"The production team is doing this to make upgrading the show more convenient and to extend its lifespan. If they set the show up to be perfect from the start, there wouldn't be much room for changes later on and when the audience gets tired of it, the show's lifespan would come to an end. However, by making the show not seem too perfect from the beginning, they can keep some new and interesting segments for later. When the audience gets tired of it and the ratings start to drop, they can then introduce these new segments to rekindle the audience's interest. It's like how clothing companies release new styles every year, even though the changes aren't huge. As long as there's something new and with proper advertising, customers will be willing to spend money."

Nicole nodded in agreement and had a thoughtful look on her face. Meanwhile, on the television, the first participant has been selected and stepped onto the center stage. After a brief self-introduction, the tense questioning began.

Although the initial segments of the show were set up to be relatively simple, the fireflies and Fox both made great efforts to enhance the atmosphere. Every word the host spoke, every hint of sound that echoed from the TV, and even the countdown sound of answering questions all struck a chord with the audience. Furthermore, the questions in the beginning were simple, and although a single guest on the stage may hesitate, if the people sitting in front of the TV are a family, then perhaps after a little discussion, they could come up with the answer, this situation would also give the audience a sense of superiority, making them quickly fall in love with this show.

Drew looked at the TV screen, watching the middle-aged man from Ohio hesitate, and asked suspiciously, "Wow, what is the average highest plateau in the world? I don't know such a simple question, I know, Eric, is this a child you found to deceive people's appetites?"

Eric shrugged, "That's impossible. The show is all about authenticity. These people were selected from all over the United States, and with the attention of other television stations and media, if we use a stand-in, if it's exposed, it would cause a huge blow to the show's popularity. Although this is indeed a very simple question, but everyone has their own blind spots, who knows where they'll get stuck."

Drew nodded and reluctantly believed Eric's words. And in the television, the quiz show contestant successfully completed the question after using the opportunity to ask for help.

Eric did not follow the system of using fifteen questions like in the British version, but instead chose twelve questions and also set two safety points at the fifth and tenth questions.

Because it was the first show, the production team specially selected some outstanding guests and was not opposed to having a millionaire appear in the first show, which would actually stimulate the audience's interest even more.

Drew was so tired from just returning from the East Coast that she fell asleep on Eric's lap while they were watching TV. The phone in the living room rang just as the show was about to end, and Nicole stood up and grabbed the cell phone instinctively. Eric pressed the answer button and mumbled a few words before hanging up.

"What's the matter?" Nicole asked curiously, as she heard a few phrases.

"It's just the ratings statistics," Eric replied calmly, after looking at Nicole. "The peak rating was 33 million, and the average was 28 million, not as good as 'Friends.'"

Nicole secretly rolled her tongue, an average rating of 28 million, if it stays stable, it would definitely be a high-rating program with over 20 million viewers.

Each episode of the show costs at least 5 million dollars in advertising fees, which is equivalent to her current movie fee. She is already doing well if she can take one or two movies a year, but her movie fee is also very unstable. However, this show can bring in 5 million dollars a week. If the movie fee stays at its current level, the show's income in a year is estimated to be equivalent to her life-long movie career.

"Eric, how much of the profit can Firefly get from this show?" Nicole couldn't help but ask.

Eric looked at the woman and realized that although this kind of thing was not too sensitive, it was still not appropriate to spread around: "We share the copyright with Fox. So the advertisement split is half and half. The production side and the broadcast side are also about half and half. Also, such variety shows have little peripheral profits. Even if the ratings are as high as Friends, the final profit is still much less than Friends. However, this type of show can bring a more extensive popularity. Any TV show has an age limit on its viewership, but this variety show has very few restrictions. I believe people from eight to eighty years old will be very interested."

Although Eric spoke a lot, Nicole was calculating quickly in her mind. Then she found out that Eric personally could get about one million dollars in royalties from the movie every week. One million dollars a week, compared to her current earnings, it's simply not worth mentioning. It's really a case of one-upmanship.

The TV program has come to an end without Nicole realizing it. Eric looked strangely at Nicole who was still sitting on the couch, deep in thought, and picked up the sleeping girl. He said, "It's late now, you should get some rest too. I'll send Drew back to her room."

"Oh...um." Nicole quickly nodded.

Eric returned Drew to her big bed in her bedroom and then went back to his own room to take a shower. Not long after he turned off the lights and went to bed, the bedroom door was gently pushed open.

"Drew, is that you?" Eric thought it was Nicole coming to bother him again and asked.

"It's me," Nicole whispered softly in the dim light.

Eric was reaching for the bedside lamp when he heard Nicole's voice. He stopped and turned his head.

Nicole floated over, climbed onto the big bed, and snuggled into his arms. To be honest, Eric still enjoyed sleeping with a fragrant woman in his arms. He hugged her tight and gave her a kiss on the forehead, saying, "Sleep."

"Mmm," Nicole murmured softly, but her restless hand grabbed for Eric's privates.

"Nicole, I'm a bit tired today," Eric said, stroking her back.

Nicole breathed heavily and said, "Just relax, I'll take care of everything."

With that, she took off her clothes and lifted the blanket, straddling Eric. Her privates were soon deeply absorbed.

Eric grabbed onto Nicole's waist and slowly enjoyed the swaying of her hips.

Eric stretched out his hand to support the girl's waist, slowly enjoying the shaking of Nicole's buttocks.

I don't know how long it took, the two sighed in satisfaction at the same time, Nicole limply lay on Eric's chest, rested for a while, then stuck out her little tongue and licked Eric's chest, all the way It slid down slowly, helped Eric clean up carefully, and then quickly ran into the bathroom.

After a while, Nicole came out again and curled up in Eric's arms.

"No safety measures, no problem?" Eric asked softly, stroking the girl's smooth bare back.

Nicole hesitated for a moment, but said quickly, "Don't worry, it's fine."

Eric stretched out his hand to support the girl's waist, slowly enjoying the shaking of Nicole's buttocks.

I don't know how long it took, the two sighed in satisfaction at the same time, Nicole limply lay on Eric's chest, rested for a while, then stuck out her little tongue and licked Eric's chest, all the way It slid down slowly, helped Eric clean up carefully, and then quickly ran into the bathroom.

After a while, Nicole came out and snuggled up in Eric's arms.

"No safety measures, no problem?" Eric asked softly as he gently stroked the girl's smooth bare back.

Nicole hesitated for a moment, but quickly said, "Don't worry, it's fine."

Eric hesitated for a moment, unable to say anything heavy in this moment. He could only say once again, "I don't want a child so soon."

"I understand," Nicole nodded obediently in the darkness, her eyes flashing before fading. Although she had some thoughts in mind, if Eric was saying this, she still ignored it, there would surely be no good result.

Eric seemed to have noticed Nicole's disappointment, and soon said, "By the way, I have a date tomorrow with Tom Cruise, I need a female companion. Why don't you come with me?"

"Tom Cruise?" Nicole asked.

"Yes, the male lead of 'Ghost'. To be honest, I don't like him, but he is indeed very suitable for the role. However, I don't have high hopes, I just want to try and contact him. Cruise now has his own production company, and I think their offer will not be too low, the possibility of closing the deal is very high," Eric replied.

"Oh," Nicole nodded without commenting.

The next day at noon, Eric brought Nicole to a famous restaurant located in Beverly Hills. After speaking to the waiter, they were taken to their reserved seat. It was almost 12 o'clock and the appointment was in less than five minutes, Eric expected Cruise to have arrived, but to his surprise, he hadn't come yet. This made Eric even more pessimistic about the appointment.

Nicole, who was looking at the menu in her hands, asked Eric curiously, "Is this the right place?"

Eric smiled awkwardly and said, "Don't worry, it's right. However, in Hollywood, there are still people who can make me wait."

Nicole nodded indifferently, she could see that Eric was already a little distracted, so she also glanced around and felt that the meeting here would not be too smooth.

The 12 o'clock was coming quickly, and Cruz's voice still didn't appear. Eric was playing with the utensils in his hands, about to order the waiter to bring them a cup of coffee or something, and then he remembered Cruz's voice.

"I'm really sorry, Eric, there was a traffic jam on the way," Cruz said with a sorry tone, but there was not much of an apologetic expression on his face.

"No problem, we just arrived too," Eric shook hands with the other party and then shook hands with Pauline Wagner, who followed Cruz.