Laila understood Louise's excitement, but she had to emphasize, "This matter cannot be leaked in advance, otherwise we won't get what we want."
"I understand." Louise nodded solemnly in agreement.
It's not just children who have rebellious hearts; adults, especially those who are highly respected, maybe even more so. It's easy to say when they choose what everyone thinks they should choose, but if everyone thinks they should choose something and they don't, then they might not choose it.
As it happened many times before, when the media unanimously believed that a certain film was a sure winner, the outcome turned out to be different. Obviously, for the Oscar judges, concluding differently from the public was a way to demonstrate their authority. Even if "The Lord of the Rings" had excellent performance and received a lot of support, once Laila's words at this moment were leaked, whether it would still achieve such results was hard to say.
After discussing the matter, Louise left the office excitedly. The joy of breaking the record for the youngest Best Director made her forget what she had just wanted to know, about how to continue dealing with the spat with the Golden Globe Awards.
What she didn't know was that after she left the office, Xiao Ye walked out of the lounge connected to the office.
"You dare to say." After all, he had been in Hollywood for a few years, and Xiao Ye understood some of the rules of the Oscars. As soon as the boss opened his mouth to break the record of the Oscars record. Directors from the East would be shocked if they heard this. Didn't they come with two movies this year to compete for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and return empty-handed?
Laila gestured for him to sit down, smiling, "Don't you think I've been waiting too long?"
If it weren't for the age limitation, she would have won that award back in "Chicago."
This was something Xiao Ye couldn't argue with, and not just him, many people believed that the Oscars owed her a Best Director Oscar. Who told her to be so talented? If it were a middle-aged person in their thirties or forties, they would have won that award with that musical.
"Okay. You win." Xiao Ye shrugged, not intending to continue on this topic with her, "I have some leads on what you wanted me to investigate."
He came in just now to tell her about this matter, but Louise happened to come up, so he first retreated to the lounge and waited for them to finish their conversation before coming out. Actually, he didn't need to do this at all. His habit of doing things in the dark made him subconsciously hide himself, and when he realized that he no longer lived in such an environment, it was hard for him to come out again.
Otherwise, if a man walked out of the female boss's lounge, it would turn into a very erotic story. What awaited him would not only be the boss's anger but also Roy's iron fist. Even though he had been trained for years, he didn't want to taste Roy's fist. That guy had real kung fu; he had seen him bend a thumb-thick iron rod with just one kick.
Laila didn't think about his psychological activity hiding in the lounge, and just hearing the word "leads" already made her excited, "What have you found?"
"Faiza, do you remember that woman?" Xiao Ye suddenly mentioned a name that surprised her.
"How could I forget? Thanks to her, I almost died in the desert." If it weren't for Roy desperately saving her at the time, she might have turned into sand by now. "What about her? I remember she had a mental problem and was sent to a sanatorium. Was she released?"
Xiao Ye shook his head, "No, she's still crazy. I'm talking about her father, Dawud. That guy is said to be quite fond of his daughter. Not only did he raise her like a princess from a young age, but he also collected all the best things for her. You caused his favorite daughter to be sent to a sanatorium, and she might be there for the rest of her life, so..." He didn't finish, just shrugged to mean "you know."
Laila frowned, "There's a saying in the East, 'beyond the whip's reach,' I don't think he can reach over here." She didn't deny that the man was very rich, but could he really control so many things from such a distance? Many times things happened very quickly, and almost as soon as they happened, the hidden hand behind the scenes would react.
"He can't do it himself, but he has a trusted subordinate who has always been in Hollywood. Don't you remember?"
Laila didn't remember: "Which one?"
Xiao ye's mouth twitched slightly: "Well, you forget a lot because you're important. That person is Faaris, the former head of the film investment company that used to work with Faiza."
Laila said, "Oh," recalling him and realizing there was such a person. She certainly knew him. He used to provide her with a lot of amusement; every time she saw them miserably investing in those losing movies, it would whet her appetite enough to eat half a bowl of rice more.
Laila asked, "Are you saying he's been staying in Hollywood and secretly working against me?" To be honest, after Faiza disappeared from the United States, Laila did not pay attention to that losing investment company. It lost hundreds of millions in just a few years, and every investment was a loss. There was nothing worth her attention.
Moreover, since 9/11, the United States had been generally hostile towards people from the Arabian Peninsula, forcing Faaris to hide behind the scenes, and he had not been seen in the media, which led Laila to believe he had left the United States long ago.
Xiao ye nodded: "Although there is no concrete evidence from before, this time I caught his trail. His company has made a lot of money in recent years, and he has many resources at his disposal. It's easy for him to cause you trouble. It may not have a big impact on you, but too much trouble is not good for you."
Who wants to be watched all the time, and whenever something happens, someone comes to step on you? It's not that it hurts to be stepped on, but it's annoying to be left with dirty footprints.
Laila asked, "Are you saying their company has made a lot of money from investing in movies?" Laila was a bit incredulous. In the past, they would lose hundreds of millions, and now they were making money.
Xiao Ye shrugged: "We haven't investigated the specifics yet, but in recent years, they have made some shrewd investments. Many movies have won awards, and they have greatly boosted the box office."
Laila speculated, "Maybe they hired someone?" She didn't expect to hit the nail on the head. Her idea was simple: Faaris was an obvious outsider, and he belonged to the amateur type. No matter how good he was in other areas, he had no good insights into the film industry. Just look at the movies they had invested in before; they only focused on big investments, big special effects, and movies that seemed to have a market, but they didn't know that Hollywood was never short of blockbusters, but not every film could achieve good box office results.