In her past life, just being able to make a living was considered good enough. The real big money was made by the top directors. Once you reach the status of a top director, sometimes shooting commercials can be more profitable than making TV shows or movies. Take the top directors in China, for example. If you ask them to shoot a commercial for you and offer them too little, would they even bother with you?
Laila's situation was similar now. If the money offered was too little, she wouldn't bother. After all, each of her movies would gross several hundred million dollars.
Before she could respond, the control of the phone changed again, and her grandfather's voice came through once more, "Her matters are not urgent, let's talk about mine first."
"Dad! What do you mean my matters are not urgent?" Janet's voice could be faintly heard. This time, she didn't try to snatch the phone back from her father and could only complain to him over the phone.
To her daughter's words, her father just gave a proud snort. His granddaughter was his pride; he had been tired of his daughter's antics for decades!
"Laila, here's the thing. Miranda has a charity organization, you know about it, right? She hopes to hire you for some print ads to promote anti-domestic violence and improve the living environment for women and children, to let people see the difficulties faced by these groups."
Laila was puzzled, "Why would they come to me for this?" It's just a print ad; many people could do it, right? She had thought it was for a short film. She didn't think a print ad would require a director.
"Why not you? You're the top female director in Hollywood, who has also created her own movie kingdom. Moreover, you're a well-known photographer. If you hadn't been making movies all this time and hadn't taken on any work, who knows how many people would be willing to pay you a lot of money to help them take photos."
The more her grandfather spoke, the more pleased he became. Based on her talent and ability, who else could they choose if not her?
Thinking about her identity as a woman and her photography skills, Laila seemed to understand why they wanted her to do it. Since it was for charity and she had the time, she naturally wouldn't refuse such a meaningful task.
"No problem, I can agree to this. Let the person in charge contact my secretary for the specifics."
Oswald nodded in satisfaction. "Good."
With that matter settled, Janet finally regained control of the phone, "Darling, it's my turn now!"
"Yes, go ahead. I'm listening," Laila replied somewhat helplessly. It seemed like her mother thought she might hang up at any moment. Every time, she would only end the call after listening to everything her mother had to say.
"Do you know the brand GHD?"
Laila felt embarrassed; she had never heard of it. In her past life, she didn't pay much attention to brands and such. In this life, she could afford branded items, but she only had an impression of some commonly used, top luxury brands. So what exactly was her mother talking about?
Fortunately, Janet didn't expect her to answer, or perhaps she thought it was impossible for her not to know, and continued, "Yes, it's the GHD hairdressing tools! We have had some cooperation with them before. During our last chat, they expressed their hope to have you help shoot the latest advertisement for them. You know, they invest at least £100 million in advertising every year, so I believe they won't be stingy with you."
Did she know about it... she really didn't know anything, okay? However, could a brand that sells hairdressing tools really be that profitable? How many products would they have to sell in a year to make that money back from advertising?
"I don't have any problems with it, but my price is quite high. Would they be willing to pay?"
Thinking about it, Laila still found it hard to believe that a brand selling hairdressing tools would be willing to spend so much money to hire her for an advertisement. £100 million in advertising costs every year, was that figure really true?
At this point, Janet finally noticed something was amiss, "Darling, you don't know about GHD?"
"Should I?" She was just a director; why should she know about a brand of hairdressing tools? It was her mother who often needed to do overall styling, so she would be more familiar with these things.
Janet tapped her forehead, "You really... Do you know about Hermes?"
"I do." She had heard of this brand in her past life. She knew that many people who loved to show off would carry one. At that time, she didn't have the spare money to indulge in luxury goods, so at most, she would just glance at them when others showed off.
"GHD hairdressing tools are like the Hermes of hairdressing tools. Do you understand now?"
Laila understood immediately, "I understand. It's a high-end hairdressing tool that sells for a high price."
Janet was left speechless by her response, "However you want to put it, the point is they have money and are willing to spend it to hire you for the ad. If you're willing, I'll let them know."
"I don't see why not." Laila checked her schedule. She had plenty of time before the Oscars, so as long as it wasn't a too complicated ad, she could finish it before then. Did ads need to be very complicated?
"That's great!" Janet was very happy. She couldn't wait to have more opportunities to show off her daughter to her friends. Last time, when she helped plan for Burberry, she had a great face in front of her friends. She wondered how many people would envy her after this ad was shot.
Ah, she was really a woman blessed by the Goddess of Fortune. Otherwise, how could she have such a lovely and talented daughter? And how could she have met Quentin and had a son?
After hanging up the phone, Laila rubbed her temples. Every time she spoke with her mother, she felt mentally exhausted, as if her brain had been working overtime. Her mother often seemed to be on a different wavelength, and dealing with her was more tiring than dealing with little William.
But she didn't dislike this kind of fatigue. Although there were many moments of frustration, when she thought back on them later, these moments of fatigue would be tinged with sweetness.
She had originally planned to spend some time discussing the script with Nolan while she had the time. Unexpectedly, with just one phone call, she had two more jobs.
But doing more charity work was only right. They said the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. She agreed with this point. In her past life, she never had the chance to do anything. Even though she had been given the golden finger of rebirth, why shouldn't she do something to give back to others?
Charity organizations were very efficient. Not long after she hung up the phone, they called her back. First, they thanked Laila for her help, then they explained the theme of this project.
"This time, our theme is to save women and children living under the shadow of domestic violence. You are a very successful woman and have a high standard. Being able to invite you to take on this work is an honor."
Laila modestly responded with a few words. As she had guessed, they were mainly interested in her status as a woman. She believed that her personal influence should also be a factor that the charity organization valued.