After a few hours of flying, Laila finally returned to Hollywood.
Whether it was due to dreaming of this place since her past life or not, as soon as her feet touched the ground of Hollywood, she felt a strong sense of belonging. Even her grandfather's house in New York couldn't give her as much of a sense of belonging as this place did.
The air seemed to be constantly filled with the scent of film, and even the scenes passing by the car window while she sat inside felt like scenes from a movie, allowing her to quietly enjoy her fascination.
"I'm heading back first. I have no idea if Abel has been eating properly during this time." Roy disembarked from the plane and hurriedly carried his luggage away.
During his absence, Abel had been entrusted to Louise's care. Even though he knew nothing would go wrong, as a protective older brother, he couldn't help but worry.
Theron also left the plane along the way. Claire had to return to her mansion in Beverly Hills to sort out her things. So, the only person who accompanied Laila to the company was her blonde secretary, Demi.
These few days had been like a dream to her. When she closed her eyes, she could still hear the sound of the waves, and there seemed to be a lingering taste of the sea in the air. She had fallen in love with that jelly-like beach; in the past, she thought such a beautiful place only existed in fairy tales.
Laila wasn't a demanding boss. She originally intended to let Demi go back to rest and pack her things, but Miss Secretary believed she hadn't been "working" during these days off. Regardless, she insisted on staying by the boss's side to serve her. After futile persuasion, Laila decided to let her stay.
Entering the company, the employees who saw that the boss had returned greeted her.
Laila grabbed someone at random. "Do you know where Louise is?"
"She should be in her office."
"Okay, thanks." Laila nodded at him and headed straight for Louise's office with Demi.
Before Laila entered the office, Louise already knew that she had returned. So, when Laila came in, Louise had already ordered her favorite tea to be brought over.
"Why didn't you rest first?"
Laila picked up a cup of tea. "There's something on my mind. Without resolving it, I don't have the mood to rest."
"Is something wrong?" Louise thought back over the past few days of company affairs but couldn't figure out what unexpected issue could make her "worried."
"It's not related to the company." Laila soothed her first, then asked, "Have we recruited all the actors?"
"Yes, I've selected a few. We'll finalize them when you arrive." Louise got up and went to the desk, pulling out the actors' profiles from the files. "Our movie has garnered a lot of attention, so the auditioning actors are of a good standard. Some A-list actors are interested in our lead role, but I've informed them that the lead has already been chosen."
"Who are they?" Laila took the actors' profiles and asked casually.
"There…"
Louise mentioned a few names, all of whom were A-list actors. Some might have waned in popularity, but the fact that they were interested in her film even at their current value was a bit of an ego boost.
"I didn't expect so many people to be interested in our movie before we even started promoting it." Laila smiled. "That's a good sign."
Louise also smiled. "Of course, it's a good sign. Our company is already very different from what it used to be. We've shed the stigma of being a B-movie production company. In the future, we might become one of Hollywood's top nine giants."
Nine giants? Laila chuckled knowingly. Who could imagine that one of the companies at the pinnacle now might go bankrupt due to a movie's failure? Her company would be the one standing at the top when that happened!
Louise typically offered several options for each role, and she personally vetted each candidate. Laila appreciated this aspect very much, and their multiple collaborations built up a significant level of trust in Louise's judgment. So, after selecting a few names from the list, Laila handed it back to Louise.
"Just these few, you're in charge of the rest."
"Okay." Louise nodded, carefully stowing away the list. As soon as the boss left, she would arrange for her team to contact these people.
Laila thought for a moment. "How's the theme park project coming along?"
"Billy says everything is proceeding smoothly and will be completed before the scheduled time," Louise said, then remembered something. "Regarding our emerging talent collaboration program, the new batch of scripts is out. Do you want to take a look?"
"They're out?" This was a program Laila cared a lot about. It could be said that a significant portion of the future productions of Phoenix Studios would come from this program. "What do we have?"
"We have a few that I think are quite promising." Louise got up again and pulled out several scripts. "For instance, 'Eyes Behind the Mountain' and 'Hostel,' I believe both have a lot of potential. Additionally, a couple of people came a few days ago with a work called 'Wrong Turn.' I thought it was good, so I included them in the emerging talent collaboration program."
"'Wrong Turn'?" Laila was briefly taken aback. If she remembered correctly, the director and writer of Wrong Turn hitched a ride with her on a road trip last time. She even invited them to come find her after they finished the script. How did they silently make their way in without even telling her?
"Did they not mention my name?"
Louise was also taken aback. "You know them?"
"It was during a road trip I took in the past." Laila briefly recounted the experience to her, then asked, "When we parted ways, I specifically told them to come find me when they finished the script. I didn't expect them to send it without even telling me."
Louise nodded in understanding. "So that's how it is. They probably didn't tell you because they wanted to verify their own abilities, right? Or maybe they wanted to assess the strength of the company."
"Perhaps." Laila shrugged. Since they chose this path, she didn't have much to say. If it were her, she would probably want to succeed on her own merits rather than through a backdoor. This was good; it showed that they had a strong belief in themselves and were worth investing in.
"If the scripts are mature, start assembling the production crew. Every day wasted is a day of losses. Our company's recent earnings have been too low."
Although she had a film, "Rush Hour," premiering in September, it wasn't being distributed by her company. She was only involved in profit-sharing. Since she had no other film shoots planned, the company's earnings relied on the sales of DVDs and merchandise related to her past films.
This was why she attached such importance to the emerging talent collaboration program. She didn't want the entire company to revolve around her. A normal company needs diversified income sources to develop better in the future.