Demi Moore was surprised and a bit embarrassed. Though she didn't mind getting involved with the bad boy, she never expected things to get this far.
William White didn't mind; these things were just compensation for him. To succeed, you have to be willing to take risks.
"Nastassja, have you ever considered being a producer?"
"Are you talking about me? Can I really do that?"
"Let me put it this way, sometimes being too pretty isn't suitable for an actress -- audiences aren't interested in your acting; they just want to see your body."
"Like Sharon Stone?"
"That's different. What she has is allure, not beauty -- two entirely different things."
Staring at Demi Moore, who was playing the ostrich, the young lady teased, "What about her then?"
"I don't know; I'm confused. Maybe it's rebellion, or maybe pity. Whatever it is, she has a lot of potential."
"Then I'll look for you to invest."
"Hahaha, a script by William White and you think you need to look for investors? Go ask around Hollywood, who wouldn't want to invest?"
Sometimes beautiful women are not so bright, inversely proportional to their looks. She only thought being a producer was tough without realizing that if you have a universally good script, people will come to you.
"What script? What's it about? Who's starring?"
William White gestured toward Demi Moore. "She will do. Here's the story."
After explaining the plot of Ghost, William White gained two new little fangirls.
Consequently, the three young artistic youths engaged in lively discussions in the restaurant. There's no need to mention the chaos that followed.
Nastassja was a bit envious. The success or failure of this movie was already evident. If this movie doesn't make the girl famous, she might as well switch careers.
Thinking about those regretful past events made the girl even angrier. That little rascal, though no angel, was a lot better than that old man.
Man, his ceaseless antics were really something.
It's not just jerks being pretentious; beautiful women can be quite pretentious too. It's hard to say who ends up at a disadvantage.
Throwing out a piece of profit doesn't mean William White was generous. In fact, his film company had grown a bit warped. Without him, it might just fall apart.
These assets would eventually go public, so he had to cultivate a few producers. But those shady men need to rely on their own capabilities.
As for the beauties? Isn't there a saying, ladies first?
Nastassja, starting to form a team, earned quite a bit of resentment, but William White had no intention of protecting her. If she couldn't manage this, she might as well give up and go to bed.
...
"William, be honest with me. Can I invest or not?"
"Lucas, go talk with Nastassja. Honestly, I'm open to either of you investing."
"Who's directing?"
"If we can't find someone suitable, I can do it. If you're willing to humble yourself, that would be fantastic, and I'd fully support it."
"William, how do you manage to have so many companies and still find time to make movies? It's what I admire most about you."
"You know, Lucas, I'm not good at managing companies, so it's all professional managers in charge."
"Yeah, it just sounds easy -- specialized people for specialized tasks. But it's not that simple to execute."
"Haha, well that all depends on your judgment."
William White's eye for people often left Wall Street speechless. Not to mention his chief advisor, Barry Diller, and Michael Eisner; these guys alone are enough to make people envious.
These two meticulously cultivated successors from Paramount inexplicably just became his advantage.
...
Demi Moore was still a bit incredulous.
Was she really the lead actress?
Who in Hollywood didn't know that this man's films almost never failed? Even with an unknown Asian actor as a lead, they still pulled in 80 million dollars.
To be honest, if that movie had a white lead, it would have earned more than a hundred million.
Demi Moore didn't think she was particularly beautiful, but William White gave her confidence. Apparently, being too beautiful might be detrimental for an actress, because audiences could forget the plot.
When she heard that, she could hardly believe it. Isn't being prettier supposed to be better? If someone looks like Nastassja, it's difficult not to become a star.
In fact, William White's remarks didn't surprise Nastassja. She had heard the same thing back when she was just a child.
Luckily, that old man had some sense of decency.
...
William White didn't care what these women thought. For him, it was just a transaction.
This was also what William White liked about Hollywood; everyone talked about value, leaving weird emotions out of it. Those things could be left on the screen, no need to bring them into life.
Don't play the clueless girl role; that doesn't exist in Hollywood, where everyone is an actor, and your acting isn't that reliable yet.
With Basic Instinct wrapped up, he was quite pleased with the film. Adding Ghost to his repertoire, this guy was shaping up to become Hollywood's romance king, wasn't he?
For Hollywood, having such a prolific powerhouse wasn't necessarily a good thing. If he hadn't started dabbling in artsy films, others might not have survived.
Clearly, this person didn't have that realization. Since there wasn't a suitable director, he had to keep working. Still, that reluctance he showed was mostly an act; he didn't want to waste opportunities with fresh talent available.
After all, wastefulness was a very disgraceful act. Even under the pretext of dedicating oneself to art, it couldn't hide the fact that he was a rake.
In reality, he didn't care about such labels. To him, the result wasn't important. As long as you enjoy the process, it was enough.
Hollywood?
It's a marvelous place where everyone acts, so there's no need for confessions in church. All he did was part of the job, with no guilt attached.
...
The chaotic days among Americans mostly ended around this time. The dreadful pandemic of the century was hovering over the Americas.
Supposed anti-mainstream movements had pretty much run their course, for simple reasons: continuing recklessly meant risking it all when even money couldn't save you.
In reality, American anti-mainstream movements had long gone astray from their origins. Those initial folks merely liked chaotic lifestyles, whereas by Steve's time, it transformed into an anti-monopoly stance.
Haha, this arrogant guy would never guess he'd become what he was against in the future himself.
So, opposing stuff is mostly nonsense. It's just the lifestyle you aspire to, and opposition only stems from your inability to achieve it.
*****
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