Eric spent an entire day in Nicole's tender company, living a day like a real married couple.
Her gentleness made Eric a little intoxicated. If he were truly a young man of 20, he probably wouldn't feel or cherish this sense of home.
After all, young people are restless, their temperaments not yet refined; pursuing excitement and happiness is an instinct and nature.
But inside Eric's young body resided a soul of over 30, a soul that had endured more than a decade of ups and downs in the entertainment industry.
In the intensely realistic world of entertainment, he had witnessed too much human warmth and coldness, and too many fickle attitudes.
The more he saw and experienced, the stronger his desire for a warm home became. After wearing a mask for so long, one naturally needs a harbor to rest.
And Nicole, whether in terms of personality, ability, or other aspects, was a very good candidate.
Unfortunately, when Eric saw the clothes he was wearing, the thought of settling down unconsciously extinguished, because the clothes were specially bought for him by Gadot.
Wearing clothes bought by one woman, then going on a date with another woman, while simultaneously, unknown to both of them, there were a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and even countless other women hidden away.
Among them were also twins, who would eventually become triplets, and possibly even triplets plus an aunt.
Even more outrageous, there might be a mother and daughter plus a cousin.
Sometimes Eric felt he was truly despicable and wicked, a complete scumbag.
But what could be done? Being too outstanding was also a kind of trouble.
Eric even imagined a scenario where he gathered all the women into a room, told them the truth, and let them choose whether to leave or stay.
He figured most would still choose to stay.
And even if it didn't come to that, Eric felt they weren't stupid; they probably all knew, more or less, that their man definitely had others outside.
However, if there was no concrete proof of being caught in the act, they could choose to selectively ignore it.
Even if there was concrete proof, they might still choose to selectively ignore it. Such things were all too common in the entertainment industry, like Xiao S, Jin Qiaoqiao, Xu Fan, mr. & mrs. smith, and so on.
So, to compensate them, all Eric could do was work twice as hard on the boat and help them with their careers.
Last night, he toiled for several more hours until he was exhausted, and only then did they call it a day.
In the office, Eric called Billy over.
"Billy, do you remember that thing I talked to you about at the last gathering?"
Billy thought for a moment: "Are you talking about the Michael Dobbs matter?"
"Yes, I plan to send you to England again. On one hand, to discuss the adaptation of house of cards with him—of course, that's just an excuse. The real purpose is to seek his help."
"Boss, what exactly is it? I'm completely confused by what you're saying right now."
Eric pointed to the sofa, and Billy sat down.
"Are you familiar with Michael Jackson's child molestation case?"
Billy nodded: "I know a little, but not in detail. Are you referring to the one in 1993, or this year's?"
"This year's. This controversy originated from a BBC reporter named Martin Bashir. It was the documentary he filmed that led to this incident."
"But I don't believe this was just his personal act. According to the information I've gathered, Sony Music is very likely involved behind the scenes."
"Sony Music? Isn't it Michael Jackson's record label? Why would they do that?" Billy asked, puzzled.
To facilitate his work, Eric simply recounted the grievances between Michael and Sony Music.
After hearing the inside story, Billy sighed: "So that's how it is. If Sony really did this, those guys deserve to die."
"Doesn't it feel like two atomic bombs were too cheap for them?"
"Exactly. Japan should be bombed into oblivion and made to sleep forever in the Pacific."
Eric laughed heartily. Hearing insults directed at Japan always made him happy from the bottom of his heart.
"Billy, in any case, you must handle this matter well, no matter what. Even if it means throwing money at it, I want a result."
"Don't worry, even if Michael Dobbs is a wall, I can still make a hole in it. His wife, Evelyn, isn't a politician; she's much easier to deal with."
"I don't care what method you use; just give me a result as soon as possible."
"Mission accomplished, guaranteed. But you just mentioned the adaptation of house of cards. Are you really planning to start filming that novel?"
Eric nodded: "Yes, it will begin within the next month or two. You can use that as an excuse to get close to him."
After Billy left, Eric wrote a few numbers on a piece of paper.
It was currently the end of the second quarter, and a new batch of copyright fees would soon be credited. Moreover, the performance of the walking dead was excellent, and under his father's persuasion, HBO uncharacteristically agreed to an early settlement. The total income from both sources would be around 500 million USD.
After deducting the subsequent investments for projects already in production, as well as interest and principal payments to the bank, the current liquid capital was still sufficient to start several new projects.
Large productions like transformers were out of the question. What lay before Eric were low-budget films, TV series, and variety shows.
For the upcoming Lionheart Network, Eric had to provide more and better works. The long-term viewership of TV series and variety shows was clearly superior to movies.
So, producing house of cards, hannibal, supernatural, american horror story, and breaking bad would also be a good idea.
Among these, house of cards had the highest production cost, but it should be manageable at around 2 million USD per episode, even with the bulk of the budget going to actors.
The original house of cards reportedly cost an average of 4.5 million USD per episode.
That was because the majority of its budget was spent on hiring actors, directors, and screenwriters.
These three important positions accounted for over 50% of the film's cost, somewhat similar to the Chinese TV dramas of the 'traffic' era.
The difference was that they genuinely had acting skills and quality, so this time Eric still wanted to invite Kevin Spacey to star.
His performance in American Beauty two years prior had already earned him an Oscar.
For Kevin Spacey, his acting skills had already reached their peak; there wasn't much difference between 10 years ago and 10 years later. Playing Francis Underwood, the male lead of house of cards, would be effortless, and he wouldn't even need to change his makeup; he could just adjust the character's age in the script.
Kevin Spacey was currently 44 years old. In reality, there were countless senators in their 40s; Obama became president at 47. There were no age restrictions in the political rules here.
And if Eric personally took charge of house of cards, serving as both writer and director, it would not only be more efficient but also significantly reduce costs.
As for hannibal, supernatural, american horror story, and breaking bad, based on Hollywood in 2003, the average production cost for a TV series episode was 550,000 USD.
hannibal and american horror story could be allocated a bit more money, while 550,000 USD would be sufficient for supernatural and breaking bad, and could even be further compressed.
Eric planned to make these five series the main attractions for Lionheart Network from the second half of this year to the first half of next year.
the walking dead would be released first to attract a batch of new users who hadn't seen it, as well as old users who wanted to rewatch it. Then, house of cards would fire the true first shot.
supernatural didn't need to be too exquisite; its filming progress was relatively fast, so it could take over, but only as a transition; it couldn't be expected to attract too many viewers.
The reason supernatural had such longevity, running for 15 seasons, was primarily because CW didn't have many other standout works; renewing it was a reluctant choice at the time.
What made this show very unique was its successful redirection of audience attention from the plot to the actors, somewhat similar to a fan economy.
The two brothers often held private fan meetings, and merchandise sold well. Ultimately, supernatural successfully transitioned from a teen idol thriller to a long-running series.
Next was breaking bad. Walter White's story in the first season wasn't very appealing. The best approach would be to merge the first two seasons, quicken the pace, and cut out irrelevant segments.
After that would be hannibal or american horror story; whichever was produced first would be broadcast.
Then, in between, variety shows could be interspersed, such as creating The Voice and inviting Michael Jackson to be a judge, depending on the progress of Michael's lawsuit.
If launched next year, competing head-to-head with Fox's American Idol would also be good. Besides Michael Jackson, inviting several other big-name kings and queens, even if it meant spending more money, would be worth it.
Eric didn't believe he couldn't beat American Idol. Ideally, he'd crush this predecessor on the beach within one or two seasons, becoming the number one music variety show and monopolizing the market share.
Besides these, there were also various popular variety shows like America's Got Talent, Man vs. Wild, Ninja Warrior, and Take Me Out. He could use whichever he wanted, then sell the copyrights worldwide to earn money.
The only problem was the high production cost of variety shows. Eric also wanted to complete initial contact with Marvel in the second half of the year, so production progress would likely be delayed a bit.
Only when the box office returns from his current films were complete would it be time to launch variety shows on a large scale.
After roughly outlining MGM's development path for the next six months, Eric called Chen Xing in.
"Is the President in?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, I'll go over. Regarding the phone call I gave you last time, contact the other party now and notify them to come over."
"Understood, Boss!"
Taking the elevator to his father's office floor, he was joined by Julio from the production department and a pretty, cute girl who looked to be in her early 20s.
Seeing Eric enter, the two quickly moved aside and greeted him simultaneously.
Eric nodded slightly, then looked at the unfamiliar cute girl: "New here?"
"Yes, Boss, I'm Jenny, Jenny White."
The girl immediately extended her hand. Eric felt it would be rude to refuse her directly; his image and reputation within the company had always been good. They briefly touched palms, a fleeting contact.
"What are you two going to do?"
"The President wants to hear about the overall situation of the production department for the second quarter. I'm here to report."
Eric said "Oh" and felt a bit guilty. He seemed to have become a bit overconfident recently, not discussing many new projects or plans with his father.
Although there was no strict accounting between father and son, he should at least inform him. Regardless of respect, as president, a comprehensive understanding of the company's operations was essential.
"Let's go together then; I also have something to do," Eric said.
"No, please go ahead first."
"Then you might have to wait a while; this conversation won't end quickly."
The elevator door opened, and Eric walked towards Harry Cooper's office. The wavy-haired secretary hurried to open the door for him.
Once the boss was out of earshot, Julio said in a somewhat reproachful tone: "Jenny, what you just did was too thoughtless. You shouldn't have extended your hand first. It might have put Eric in a difficult position. Ignoring you would hurt your self-esteem, and acknowledging you might lead to gossip."
"This is the company, not a party or a restaurant. You are facing our boss, not a friend or a client. You must learn to maintain respect and awe, understand?"
As a rookie in the workplace, Jenny nodded like a pecking chick on the surface.
But what she was thinking was, he's indeed as handsome as in the photos! I actually shook hands with Eric Cooper! I'm so excited, hahahaha!
In Harry Cooper's office, the secretary closed the door and left.
"Eric, is something wrong?"
No one knows a son better than his father. Seeing his son, Harry Cooper, an old hand, immediately knew he must have something to ask for.
Eric nodded: "Dad, I might need to borrow your personal connections."
"Tell me what it is. Is there an actor or director you can't get, and you need me to step in?"
"It's not that, though there might be elements of it. I'm considering that Lionheart Network will be launching in a few months, and I'm planning to produce house of cards as a flagship show. I want to invite Kevin Spacey for the male lead."
"However, after winning the Oscar, he's at his peak right now. If the script can impress him, that's best, but if we can't negotiate his salary then, I might need you to intervene."
His father thought for a moment and said: "For Kevin Spacey, his current asking price for a film is 10 million USD, but a friendly rate could be less. However, film and TV series salaries are two different tracks. How many episodes do you plan to shoot for this series?"
"No more than 15 episodes, probably around 12 or 13."
"How much do you intend to pay Kevin Spacey per episode?"
"350,000 USD. Less would be even better."
Hearing this, his father shook his head: "That's too little. Even if the script quality is high enough, that price is too low. I suggest raising the price to 400,000 USD per episode."
"If we shoot 15 episodes, Kevin Spacey could get 6 million USD in salary. I can negotiate that friendly rate."
"After all, the shooting duration for a TV series is much shorter than for a movie; he can treat it as a break between two films."
"Plus, with a good script, he shouldn't refuse."
"Dad, is that the lowest?"
Eric still felt it was a bit expensive. He remembered that Kevin Spacey's salary for house of cards in 2013 was only 500,000 USD per episode.
He was trying to push the price down by doing it 10 years in advance.
"No choice. He's an Oscar winner, and the big screen has always discriminated against the small screen, as you know."
"Alright, once our streaming service takes off, I'll make sure these big-name film and television stars are scrambling to act in our shows."