Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Think in a Different Direction

“What am I to say about you, Laverne?” Adrian, sitting behind the spacious desk, looked at Laverne with a mix of resignation and frustration and sighed, “Should I praise you for your outstanding work, or should I reproach you for taking matters into your own hands?”

Ever since Laverne became the CEO of the company, this was the first time Adrian had summoned him to the office. Before this, it had always been Adrian who actively sought out Laverne in order to uphold his presidential authority in practice.

No wonder Adrian was being somewhat impolite; he was indeed very frustrated. Just before this, during the street scene shooting with Willis and Ving Rhames, who played the role of the gang boss Masha, they had been surrounded by countless reporters for a long time. If the weather hadn’t been good, eliminating the need for flash, who knows how many shots those guys would have ruined. And every time they finished shooting and took a break, they would swarm around like flies, asking all sorts of questions, annoying to no end.

“You’re more of a star than us, buddy,” Willis teased him.

At the beginning of the street chase scenes, Willis’s fans were waiting nearby, hoping for autographs. But once the Oscar nominations were announced, the area turned exclusively into reporters and those curious to see what kind of wonder Adrian was.

To be frank, Adrian had never thought he would get a Best Director nomination. In his memory, “The Shawshank Redemption” got 7 nominations but not for Best Director; the most significant were Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay, the rest were technical awards.

But now, he had not only received Best Director nominations, but also a total of 8 nominations, with Best Sound evolving into Best Supporting Actor–Adrian had specifically had Tim Robbins considered for Best Actor and Morgan Freeman for Best Supporting Actor, and it had worked wonders. Of course, most of this was due to Laverne’s efforts, without his PR campaigns, how could those old men at the Film Academy be so forthcoming with nominations.

If it were anyone else, they would be jumping for joy–a nomination for Best Director at the Oscars, breaking the record for the youngest nominee at that. How could that not be a cause for celebration? But Adrian only felt frustration. He had put so much effort with the single-minded intention to make a memorable appearance in the next few days and got it ruined by a nomination that should have made him happy. It was undeniably a terrible thing.

Frustration coupled with the harassment from reporters, Adrian took advantage of the weekend break to return to the company and take Laverne to task; he certainly had not asked for this nomination.

“Sorry, boss,” Laverne said after a few seconds of silence, “I think there might have been a misunderstanding in my communication with them, leading them to misinterpret my intentions.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow; clearly, that was an excuse. Laverne’s competence was beyond doubt, or else he would not have secured 8 nominations for “The Shawshank Redemption,” so he certainly wouldn’t make such a mistake. And Laverne had no reason not to follow his instructions, thus only one explanation remained for receiving the Best Director nomination–the judges had indeed misunderstood!

While the conclusion was somewhat laughable to him, upon reflection, it seemed entirely possible. Just putting “The Shawshank Redemption” in the running for Best Director was a mere gesture, but Laverne couldn’t very well tell the judges not to nominate it for Best Director, could he? If the judges interpreted it incorrectly in the process and felt that the movie deserved it, then it was normal for them to make the nomination.

In that case, Laverne would not be at fault, and Laverne himself likely understood this. But he still took the responsibility upon himself. As for why he did this, there were two reasons.

In Hollywood, opportunity is often more important than ability. If Adrian had not come along, Laverne might have stayed in his small company’s general manager role, insignificant until retirement, his ambitions unfulfilled, his name unknown.

As for the other reason, Laverne also believed that the young boss, who could achieve so much in just two years, who put him in the position of CEO, and trusted him unreservedly, understood this as well.

“Let’s forget it, the problem isn’t with you; the important thing now is how to rectify it,” Adrian said, waving his hands dismissively as if to put the issue behind them. “I think you understand why I’m doing this, Laverne.”

Although he had returned to the company feeling frustrated and irritated, now he had adjusted his mindset, and to some extent, he was even enjoying the sensation. Laverne had pleased him; while “The Shawshank Redemption” had its quality guaranteed, its 8 nominations might not have been unrelated to his PR. That level of capability was first-rate in Hollywood, and he believed Laverne could do even better. Such talent, if not for himself, might have gone unnoticed.

In fact, Laverne was still one of the luckier ones. Relatively speaking, competition among actors was even fiercer; every year, thousands of young men and women with dreams flocked to Hollywood. Those with backgrounds fared better, the others might as well have been headless flies bumping around everywhere. When they gradually realized the harshness of reality, many would stop at nothing to seize an opportunity.

Adrian recalled a story from his past life about Jack Lemmon, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his debut in “Mr. Roberts,” exuberantly sharing the news with his acting teacher. But his teacher, pointing to the people passing by, told him: Of the people who just walked by, six could have played the role no worse than you; the most important difference between you and them is, you got the role, they didn’t!

So that’s why Drew would flirt with him; that’s why Monica didn’t reject him; that’s why Laverne accepted the blame. The feeling of manipulating others’ fates was indeed enthralling.

“Frankly, I don’t think there’s much we can do at this point, Ed,” Laverne changed back to the formal address.

“We can’t just let it go,” Adrian frowned, raising his hands, aware that Laverne was speaking the truth. If it had only been for the youngest Oscar Best Director nominee, they might have found a way to divert the public’s attention. However, that damn Haggis Painter from the Washington Post, the chief entertainment reporter, had dug up all his past.

Too careless! Adrian thought to himself, but then shook his head slightly. Even without Painter, there would be others. Those details weren’t exactly secrets and were easily discovered. Moreover, his career was just taking off and was far from the point where he could influence the media.

“Perhaps,” Laverne said after a few minutes of silence, looking at his boss, “we could consider a different approach.”

“A different approach?” Adrian raised an eyebrow.

(Vote for recommendation, please bring them to me~)