"Frank, Frank, dear Frank—"

Compared with the ease of Jenny and Cesare, Tom Brown, who is about to succeed as president of the college. Sharic, who was obviously much more annoyed, held his head and sighed, looked around at the dozen or so faces around the long table, and then continued to complain about Frank, who was already in the last days of his tenure, and therefore seemed relaxed and calm. Pearson, "Dear Frank, you're so fond of that wonder girl......"

On West Valle Street in Beverly Hills, the seven-story office building of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Ampas, the host of the Oscars, is a rare bustle of people and phone calls: because the Academy's work is almost unpaid, all departments work at the same time only around the awards season, and for most of the year, members of the Academy's Board of Governors do not come every day, only the Academy's administrative and financial departments, and use the Academy's funds to support the film industry. Angel Charity's department is only open all year round, and at this time of year, directors who have worked hard at the end of awards season tend to treat themselves to a lavish vacation, rather than being stuck with their colleagues and blaming each other as they are now.

Therefore, although the Oscars regained the good results of more than 50 million viewers, most of the committee members were helpless and bored - because the joy brought by high ratings has long passed, and now it is time to wipe the ass for the ratings.

Not only Tom, but even the rest of the directors looked helpless, but it was Frank, who was about to step down, he seemed to be a little angry, even in the face of Tom's accusations that seemed a little ill-intentioned, he did not get angry, but replied in a brisk tone, "Oh, come on, Tom, you are also one of the board members who make decisions, this is a democratic country, this is a democratic organization, any decision is a collective decision of the board members - even if it is a dark deal, it is a transaction for all of us together, Don't you think it's a bit childish to point the finger at me at this time? ”

Compared with his frankness, several council members seem a little sneaky and obscene, even if Frank did not say a word of lie, several council members still exchanged glances with each other, as if they felt helpless about his willfulness - how could they be members of the academy council, all of whom were Hollywood executives and big producers, not good at internal politics? For these old foxes and former domineering presidents, there are many things that don't need to be said directly, and a little tendentiousness is enough for the other party to understand their true intentions.

-- Let's take the current dialogue as an example, there is a joke that when the president of the United States takes office, he will be given four envelopes, which can be opened when he encounters a problem, and the first envelope is written with the following sentence: When you encounter a problem, you will scold the previous president. Although this is a joke, it also more or less illustrates the internal ecology of all institutions that have the mechanism of general election, when the media has made such a big black pot, waiting for the Oscar to carry it, the college must give an explanation both internally and externally, of course, no one will openly admit that this is the Oscar's election mechanism is wrong, but in this controversial situation, in the face of more than 7,000 members may set off a wave of dissatisfaction, the council also needs to give an explanation - and the best person to take the blame, Except for Frank. Who else but Pearson?

If Frank had been cheerful enough and righteous enough, he wouldn't have even been forced by the council members - he wouldn't have had to say anything to Tom himself, and of course his reputation would have suffered a certain amount of damage, but after all, who had made him the president of the academy? If he didn't even have that responsibility, it was no wonder that the council members were disappointed in him.

"It's not time for us to point the finger at you, Frank," After a moment of awkward silence, seeing that Frank's expression was still so reasonable, with a helpless sigh, the first vice chairman, Cheryl. Boone. Isaacs said softly, "Although we all know that this is a collective decision, and we did not cross the yellow line to interfere in the vote, obviously, the media does not think so, this girl won five Oscars during your tenure, exactly four years between you took office and left office, she won a record-breaking five awards, and there is also a double award that is very easy to evoke - unprecedented, and winning Best Picture in a row, which is also something that has not been done for decades-"

"Since the Oscars were founded, we have been facing things every year that we haven't had for decades!" Frank raised his voice, almost rudely interrupting Cheryl, "It's a young industry, Cheryl, it's a miracle industry, twenty years ago, no one could have imagined that one day special effects would be the key to the box office - even just five years ago, everyone thought that computer special effects were a fading tide, it was nothing more than an aid to the story, the actors and the story were the core of the movie - five years ago, who would have thought that the ratings of the awards show would fall below 30 million? If you're questioning that girl who won the best picture for two consecutive years, then we don't have a clear conscience about it, Cheryl, everybody here knows that, as you said, none of us interfered in the vote, did we call her? Yes, but that's just a matter of getting the nominations, and according to the nominations, she has more than 60% of the votes for Best Actress and 65% for Best Picture, and if there are no accidents, she's going to win two awards, and all we're going to do is save the ratings for the awards ceremony - just fight your way through the competition with the Golden Globes, with the Screen Actors Guild, with the Directors Guild Awards, ladies and gentlemen, we're not without competitors, I repeat - you can take it, It's unacceptable, in Hollywood, nothing will stand forever, no company will not go out of business, no award will not be outdated, do you think the gold content of the Oscars will always be proud of MTV? ”

Frank took a deep breath and almost roared, "Look at the box office totals of this year's nominees – let me tell you, it doesn't have to be!" ”

There was a sudden silence in the conference room, and several directors touched their noses uncomfortably and moved around in their chairs to find a comfortable position. Sharic can only stop talking: his seizure seems to be off-topic, but it completely expresses his attitude - Frank not only does not plan to go out to carry the black pot himself, nor does he intend to admit that the Oscar is at fault, in his opinion, 'Whoever among you is not wrong, can come out and throw him with a stone', under the premise that the fairness of the award is not disturbed, at least not interfered with by him, he thinks that even if the marketing methods of the Oscars are made public, it is not a big deal, have you not marketed the Golden Globes? If not, why would you give Kate a double award, so that Kate was excited when she got the heroine of "Revolutionary Road" and publicly showed her love? You Golden Globes didn't market, why Jennifer. Jefferson's tone leaked out of your awards, which inspired the Oscars to a certain extent?

As long as the foundation is hard and can withstand the criticism of the media, the blatant marketing methods are actually not a scandal for the college, and Frank's thinking cannot be said to be reluctant - provided that the Oscars really have to stand up to criticism and scrutiny, and several of the directors exchanged annoyed glances, and they expressed their hearts with their eyes today more than in the past year: among the trustees, Frank has always been a somewhat annoying diehard, or rather he' Fake Qing Gao', since he was still a member, Frank insisted on letting the movie speak for himself, and would never be affected by PR, and even said that the new voting and counting method implemented in 2006, that is, the 'tendency' vote counting method, was also implemented under the promotion of Frank, and the first one made a fuss about Jennifer. Jefferson's big oolong of a double award, this is also equivalent to completely exposing the ugly atmosphere and phenomena such as gangs within the Oscars, holding each other, and selling votes in favors, this kind of chaos makes every director have a shocking feeling, and at the same time makes them blush a little - although they are in the position of a director, how much of their mind is for the college, how much of their mind is for their own profit, how many times they have led the group to vote, they themselves know that these things can be hidden from others, but not from themselves.

Although according to Frank's idea, the first big oolong is a warning for everyone, and it will also make it more difficult for PRs and studios to influence the outcome of the Oscars, but this big oolong is a good opportunity for the vested interests within the academy, in the crisis of almost stepping down, Frank reluctantly gave up the idea of promoting the 'tendentious vote counting method', and the departmental awards returned to the control of the unions, which is also the result that the directors are happy to see. Frank's words are also very clear: do you still want me to take the blame? My term of office is coming soon, I'm really anxious, I invite a third party to settle in the investigation, anyway, I'm innocent, if you are really as objective as you appear, then you are also innocent, in this case, what are you guilty of?

――The problem is here, perhaps in this year's nomination process, under Jennifer's public relations offensive and the momentum of this film, many judges will indeed follow their objective choice and put "Monroe" in the nomination list. After all, it can't be said that this film doesn't get a nomination, and besides, this is only a nomination link after all, everyone has to write five to ten films, even if someone else publicizes me, then I just have a quota that is occupied, and other places can still write freely and write something that meets my heart. Therefore, the vote rate of the nomination process is actually the most real, and it is difficult to say when it comes to voting, even if it is not PR, under the results of the previous sessions, there will still be members who will take the initiative to give up Jennifer and choose someone else, which is based on the unwritten rules of the Oscars for many years.

So, after everyone unanimously approved to use Jennifer's news attention for marketing, how to ensure that she 'doesn't break the stalk when she gets the first award', and will not shoot herself in the foot and let the Jennifer award fail, so that she can only choose to announce the marriage on other occasions? Frank is not going to get his hands dirty with these things, and he has always been interested in objective voting, and he has no choice but to rely on these judges to exert their influence to urge members to keep their choices and not give up their true favorites because of the rest.

If the previous huddle was for their own interests, then this time, Cheryl believes that the rest of the members of the board of directors are indeed thinking about the future of the Oscars, and the decline in the ratings of the college year after year, as well as the excitement of this year's Golden Globe, really make every director have a strong sense of crisis - this time, their huddle is indeed selfless, and it is indeed righteous to the extreme: no one openly asks those members who are unwilling to choose Jennifer to change their ways, on the contrary, What the Council asks is for members to put aside all external factors and choose the work they really want to choose, regardless of external factors, just for the sake of film. This also makes the current treacherous situation facing the college almost like a living satire - for four years, in the intrigue within the board of directors, Frank has been in a weak position, if the chairman, who insisted on the de-biasing and de-public relations of the Oscars, is a somewhat naïve positive figure, and the directors have more or less played a negative supporting role, then at the last Oscar of Frank's tenure, everything is reversed: at the time of making this decision, Frank couldn't have guessed that the directors would have to work hard in the process to ensure that Jennifer really won the two awards 'fairly' in the end, and now he turned a blind eye as if nothing had happened, and now he turned his face and denied people, insisting that he was not afraid to flip the table, as if he was not going to come out and take the blame and fulfill the duties of the chairman.

The same is 'sacrifice the small self, the achievement of the big self', when the positive characters are happy at the same time, the negative characters always have some compromises, although even if they are praised and get the little red flower, Cheryl and others may not be able to change their minds for the sake of the overall situation and justice in the future, but because of the proclamation of 'correct' but fell into a dilemma, which made them feel unwilling and aggrieved in their hearts, Cheryl almost wanted to rush out to scold Frank - when he was empty for four years, She really didn't have much reverence for Frank.

"Okay." However, looking at Frank's smug expression, Cheryl felt her throat being choked by a pair of invisible hands, and when she finally spoke, even Cheryl herself could hear the weakness in her tone, "Frank, this is your opinion?" Invite a third party to intervene in the investigation and prove the innocence of the Academy? I have to remind you, Frank, that the media never tells the truth, and once the Oscars start the investigation process, it is tantamount to admitting that there is something wrong with us, and as I said before, as the president of this term, you will definitely be the target of public criticism. Whether it's for you or for the Academy, we have to find an effective and quick solution that minimizes the impact......"

For many years, Cheryl has been in charge of public relations and film promotion for film companies such as Paramount and New Line, which also makes her words full of authority, even if she looks like she is resigned to fate, showing the uncooperative Frank, and her change in attitude has also moved Frank's expression, and the rest of the directors have looked over - Cheryl has given up the idea of letting Frank take the blame, and in the face of Frank's threat to flip the table, she did not use the threat of reciprocity to force Frank to comply, Instead, they decisively chose to cooperate.

"Acknowledging that the Oscar choice has within. The curtain seems to satisfy everyone—sacrificing one person to calm the storm and then let time heal everything sounds tempting. Frank finally changed his attitude that the dead pig was not afraid of boiling water, sat up straight, and said in a deep voice, "But it's actually very stupid to do this - guys, every Oscar has a controversial choice, every Oscar has a big marketing scene, and it's not surprising that the awards show always tries to attract the news." Of course, people will not be able to look at it, like the □□ of this storm, the man who Hollywood hates the most-"

"Perez. Hilton. "Ed, who hasn't spoken. Carter whispered, adjusting his frowning expression and listening intently to Frank's intent.

"Perez. Hilton - Hehe, I have to say, the most hated person in Hollywood? I have to say, he's very good at putting gold on his face......" Frank smiled quietly, and then continued, "People like this, who wander on the fringes of the entertainment industry, eat the leftovers of the film industry, can write reports no matter what, are they telling the truth?" Maybe not exactly, but there must be a little bit of truth, but would people be outraged about it? People don't, under normal circumstances, people just laugh indifferently and let the topic pass. ”

"You may think that everything that the Oscars are facing now is because Jennifer went too far at the awards ceremony - you may secretly complain in your heart that she is too high-profile, maybe you will think that it is because she has so much public attention right now-" Frank shook his head, "Let's put aside the question of whether Jennifer is fully cooperative or overdone, and talk about the speed of this news, Perez. Hilton's blog post on CNN? Ladies and gentlemen, CNN? ”

Several of the trustees squirmed in a listening expression, and Cheryl's eyebrows furrowed, and she began to think quickly: if all this was not a spontaneous media event, but someone was manipulating it......

"If there's any hint of manipulation in this, Frank, do you think they're targeting Jennifer or Oscar?" She quickly asked, and began to sort out the context of the news event in her mind: how did this matter escalate and get on the global news network when there was really no real evidence. "Will it be the Golden Ball? They dream of being the big names at Hollywood awards, and this year's ratings seem to have given them an opportunity — and that may have fueled their ambitions. ”

"Maybe it's Jennifer's enemy," Ed whispered, and he seemed to be completely on Frank's mind, "I'm more inclined to be her enemy, and Oscar is just one of the ways they attack her—"

"But in order to attack her, that person did not hesitate to put Oscar in □□ trouble," Frank emphatically said, "He can make a catchy post in the global news in a short period of time, this is a very energetic and capable person in Hollywood, of course he is qualified to be Jennifer's opponent, of course there is no doubt about this, this is also a very bold person, as a big man in the film industry, he dares to go against Oscar - and since he is so bold and so capable, then of course you can think of For now, the focus is still on 'whether the Oscars are given to Jennifer in advance', the subject is the Oscars, and the rumors say that we are making this arrangement for the sake of ratings, and the opposite of this is still the Oscars - for Jennifer, this just makes her title a little more controversial, and it is not enough to give her too much trouble, friends, if you know what I mean......"

Of the more than ten members of the Oscar Council and committee, only four are elected from various trade unions, just industry leaders, without much administrative experience, and most of the rest of the directors are former and current overbearing presidents, Frank only needs to point a little, these overbearing presidents can naturally complete the thinking, "His ultimate goal is still Jennifer ......"

"Even a vague acknowledgment that something could go wrong with the Oscars would lead to more intense attacks, and the media wouldn't follow the usual approach in this matter, and even if we used our connections to quell most of the media's interest in pursuing it, all the media would be forced to follow up if he could get one media outlet to continue at a time when public attention had been stirred up."

"Maybe he's just waiting for us to get rid of some scapegoat, and then tear a wound even harder, and try to pull Jennifer deeper, such as exposing election bribery—"

"This will serve his purpose, leaving Jennifer in a deep quagmire, but ......" Tom, who had not spoken for a long time. Sharic glanced around at everyone and said in a deep voice, "Oscar will fall with Jennifer." ”

Everyone, including Frank, had solemn faces, acquiescing to Tom's speculation: this kind of thing happens every day in the business world, in order to tear Jennifer off the altar, Oscar must fall with him, and then, whether the academy will recover from the trauma, or be bitten by its own enemies, and go into decline, the other party does not care so much. - And for the members of the council, all this is actually not so important, as long as things go as the other side wants, no matter what the outcome of the academy is, they will definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame as the object of exposure, and from then on they can only be mentioned together with the word scandal.

There is no one who can sit in the conference room who is not a successful person in his field, and no one will chirp and complain when the crisis comes, shouting that it is unfair, and no one will angrily blame Jennifer. JEFFERSON -- If you have to make such a gaffe, then you have to wait until you go back to your mansion after the meeting, and now, what people need is professional thinking: no matter what, Oscar has been targeted, and it looks like this attack will continue, then now, the directors have only two options, first, to put Jennifer . Jefferson exorcises the game and lets it all end, second, and Jennifer. Jefferson stood together and found the enemy so that he had no desire to continue attacking. Hopefully, as for whether this is an exchange of interests, or shouting and killing, or - for some particularly dangerous people, through some gray means of rubbing the ball, so that the other party has no time to care? This is all a trivial, for these capable and well-connected big people in the industry, as long as the idea is determined, how to do it is definitely not a problem.

"We don't have too many options." After a long silence, Tom said, "Since there's no recording now, I'll just say it - I don't think anyone here is going to use too loud a word for this, right?" ”

"That's right."

"You're right, that's crazy."

The sporadic responses sounded, and more people answered directly with expressions: After all, this is not their own industry, but their own reputation, and the future of the college, and this is not a contest of real money and real ammunition in the political and business circles.

"Good." Tom clasped his hands together and said conclusively, "Then we can only talk to Jennifer. Jefferson Stands Together - Does anyone dispute that? ”

There was still silence: leaving aside whether Jennifer should be held accountable for all this, just saying that Tom's conclusion, there was no problem, and now unless Jennifer died suddenly and unexpectedly, there really was no force that could kick her out, and in fact, any attempt to get her out of the game was likely to invite her revenge, and once she started to flip the table, things would only get worse - if that case, whether she died or not, Oscar would definitely die first.

"Frank," Tom said, looking at his predecessor with a somewhat complicated expression, as if he was unwilling to bow to the other at the last moment—and the trustees noticed this, and they exchanged glances quietly—and eventually, Tom said, "then give Harvey a call...... As long as Jennifer isn't too stupid - even if her fabled political backer is a real deal, even if she doesn't have any resources to fight back - I think there's always something good about her getting this far in Hollywood, and at the very least, she can try to find this person who wants her life for us...... And she'd be happy to do so. ”

Several people changed positions again, but no one objected, and Ed sighed softly and whispered, "Two Oscars - to solve a dangerous enemy for her for free - too cheap for her......"

"She brought us 53 million viewers." Unexpectedly, it was Cheryl who refuted him - this strong woman who was born in the propaganda department, and who also valued the ratings the most and actively promoted the marketing plan, sighed faintly, "Dear Ed, you have to remember this - the trouble for the ratings is always worth it......"

Thinking of the Lifetime Membership Federation, which never had to think about tenure or even a fixed name, but had a huge impact on the governing committee, Ed couldn't help but shake his head, and he no longer expressed any negative emotions, but silently watched Frank take out his mobile phone and walk to his chairman's office......

#

Until Jennifer could find such an enemy, Frank and Harvey, Harvey and she all needed time to discuss the situation, and this time the board meeting naturally ended, but many of the board members did not leave there, but went back to their offices, took out their mobile phones and dialed - to the next president, Tom Brown. Sharic's mind is clear: the more unclean the butt, the more afraid they must be of flipping the table, whether it is Frank's decision to flip the table, or his reasoning about the situation, the unease of these directors has increased dramatically, and I am afraid that they are now thinking more about how to keep their reputation and position than fighting for power with their new chairman. After all, it is impossible for anyone who can enter the committee to be short of money, and they will be intriguing with each other in the camp like this, and what they value more is naturally their own name and power.

In the internal management mechanism of the college, the term of office of the chairman and other competent officials is only four years at most, but the term of office of the general director can reach nine years, which also causes the strange phenomenon that the chairman's voice is even worse than the director at some times. Jefferson would never take this black pot for the college, even if he and the trustees were all in bonding - don't look at the fact that everyone is in the same boat now, and when the matter is resolved, it is difficult to say how the resentment left behind will ferment. It is also unknown whether Jennifer, who now seems to have taken advantage of the benefits, will be ostracized by the councillors: although it is useless and unreasonable to be angry with her, it is difficult to say how sensible the councillors can be in this matter after this crisis.

After savoring the current situation for a moment, Tom's lips could not help but have an intriguing smile: he was satisfied to find that he, who had been silent, seemed to have become a small winner in this incident, at least, his losses were not very large, but the gains were really not small.

Of course, in addition to the benefits of being in front of the stage, you can smoothly enter the academy and gain more influence than Frank......

Unavoidably, he turned on his phone, and Tom found a familiar number and dialed it.

"Hey, James," he has worked hard at Fox since the day he entered the industry, has been the CEO of Fox for many years, and still holds a large stake in Fox. Sharek, in an intimate tone, "about the thing we talked about earlier......"

#

"Okay, I see—I totally get it, thank you very much, James......" Jenny paced back and forth in her room as she answered the phone in her villa directly in front of the beach, "yes, I see, I know what to say to whom...... Yes, I totally understand Tom's position, in fact, I can't express my gratitude to him......"

As she spoke, she walked to the other corner of the room, where Cesare was standing by the window, he was talking on the phone, listening to the excited voice on the other end of the line, and letting out a low voice of approval that he was listening, and when Jeanne walked up to him, the other end seemed to ask him a question, and Cesare said, "We ...... about it"

Jenny put the phone away for a moment, sending him a clear signal, Cesare raised his eyebrows, without any pause, and changed his tone freely, "We've always been suspicious, so - this is just for you and me, Harvey - we got some hackers and hacked Perez. Hilton's mailbox and cell phone, and, of course, everything in his life...... You might not believe it, Harvey, but the evidence is conclusive—indeed, it's Paramount's Brad. Gray is behind his back......"