King of Hollywood

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Venice was called the City of Water because it was built on water, and its numerous waterways, the gondolas, and over four hundred bridges created a unique spectacle that attracted visitors from all over the world.

The specific venue of the film festival was the long and thin Lido Island, which crossed southeastern Venice and was a holiday resort as famous as France's Riviera, Miami, and Hawaii in the United States. Here, there were private beaches, public baths, casinos, restaurants, nightclubs, theaters, and other entertainment facilities; hosting a film festival here was more than appropriate.

The opening ceremony was on August 27th, and Adrian arrived in Venice with his team a day earlier. Although called a team, it actually consisted of only himself, Katherine, Dennis, and two assistants, making up five people. As for other matters such as entering the competition, Laverne had flown in from the United States a week earlier to take responsibility for these tasks.

Adrian was somewhat worried at first because, due to the tight deadline, the first cut of the film had not achieved the best effect in his mind. However, Laverne's operation had smoothly passed the review, demonstrating his outstanding capability. After all, seven years ago, Paramount's CEO was Michael Eisner, the current Disney CEO. Being one of the powerful figures who had developed Disney to its current state, Laverne was not to be underestimated. This was why Adrian ultimately acquired Bossworth Film Company despite having other more cost-effective options.

After arriving at the hotel, Adrian took a short rest and then found Laverne to discuss matters. Although he always paid attention to his film company, Los Angeles and London were separated by the Atlantic Ocean and the American continent. The bulky mobile phones of this era did not support global communication, and contacting required either making an international call with a wired phone or using a satellite phone, which was too troublesome. Besides, after the shooting, most of his energy was spent on post-production and a bit on Katherine. Therefore, using this opportunity for a face-to-face chat to inquire about specific situations was very necessary.

"Edie Blake in the planning department, Clarice Sandor in the script review department," after some small talk, Adrian got to the point, "Although I promised them that I wouldn't fire any employees within six months, I also said I'd be assessing them during this period. Frankly speaking, the performances of these two haven't satisfied me."

"I think there must be some misunderstandings," Laverne said after going through some documents Adrian brought, "though Edie and Clarice aren't the best employees, they are quite dedicated."

"But mistakes always occur, right?" Adrian smiled and raised his hand before Laverne could speak, "Okay, Laver, I'm just providing my opinion. Since I entrusted the company to you during this period, I will naturally trust and respect your opinion."

"Thank you, Mr. Cowell," Laverne said after a moment of silence.

"You can call me Ed—now let's talk about issues concerning the film festival." Adrian changed the subject.

"Alright, Ed, the committee has accepted 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' to participate as an independent film," Laverne said, handing over a document he carried to Adrian.

"Great, this way we can save a bit," Adrian said, nodding as he flipped through the document.

The reason for participating in the film festival as an independent film rather than in the name of a film company was crucial because of the American law stipulating that movie production companies couldn't handle both production and distribution of the same film. In other words, if a film company produced a film, it had to be distributed by another film company, extended from antitrust laws.

For those Hollywood groups with several film companies, this law was merely a formality. Handing distribution over was just transferring from one hand to another. Even though the antitrust laws explicitly stated that film companies could not own theaters, these large groups still found loopholes to indirectly control them. Smaller film companies, however, had to comply with such laws.

Actually, it wasn't much of an issue, as Hollywood had a well-established distribution channel, eliminating concerns over interference. However, Adrian did not want to waste the distribution fee. Since he was just starting his career, all the money should be spent wisely. So why not attend the film festival as an independent film and then have his company handle distribution? After all, from investment to production, it was done by him—okay, with some help from company staff, but that wasn't a problem, right?

"Have you watched the samples? How do you find them?" At this point, Adrian asked, seeing Laverne's hesitation and adding, "It's okay, I just want to hear your opinion."

"Um...I should say it's quite interesting, but I'm not sure how many people will appreciate this British-style cut film. It is unlikely to be rated below R, which would significantly affect its audience," Laverne said after some thought.

Adrian wanted to say something but, after considering it, decided against it. Laverne was simply analyzing it from the perspective of the American market, so he wasn't entirely wrong.

"How is the release time arranged?" Adrian asked again.

"The 31st, at the Flay Theatre," Laverne replied briefly.

"Then we'll talk about it after it premieres," Adrian said with a smile, switching the topic again, "How about the adaptation rights for those novels? Previously, you said there seemed to be some trouble?"

"Mr. Stephen King has agreed to sell us the adaptation rights; he might have already signed the contract. Mr. Michael Crichton's novel is still under negotiation. Judging by the current situation, the likelihood of acquiring it is quite high. The main problem lies with Mr. Winston Glum; he insists on participating in the script's adaptation," Laverne explained.

Adrian furrowed his brows and contemplated for a while before speaking, "It would be best to secure Crichton's novel adaptation rights as soon as possible, and concessions can be made if necessary—even allowing him to participate in the adaptation. Glum is not an option... Has he not given even the slightest hint of compromise?"

"Yes, Mr. Glum states that this is a mandatory condition," Laverne sighed.

Adrian was silent for a few seconds. "I understand his sentiment; a work is akin to one's child, and nobody wants others to dress their child indiscriminately. But the problem is... his work is a political satire novel, while I want to adapt it into an inspirational movie. If he gets involved in the adaptation, we're bound to conflict—which is why I stress the importance of obtaining full adaptation rights for this book."

What a troublesome guy; perhaps Paramount had no other choice either? He rubbed his fingers, thought again, then said, "How about this, Laver, you can agree to this condition, but simultaneously prepare a special contract ensuring that if irreconcilable conflicts arise during adaptation, we can seamlessly sideline him and proceed independently."

Laverne raised his eyebrows in slight surprise but nodded without saying more. The conversation between the two thus ended, and Adrian returned to his room for a good rest.

The next day, the film festival officially opened amid numerous reporters' cameras and video recorders. The opening film was a local Italian work. After walking a non-red-carpet red carpet and attending the opening ceremony listening to the chairman's speech, Adrian took Katherine for a tour around Venice's streets and alleys.

He had little interest in engaging with European directors as his goal was not here, and besides, he was still a newbie director. Of course, several heavyweight figures from the United States did come, with Martin Scorsese notably attending with his new work "Goodfellas." Being of Italian descent, he naturally had a particular affection for the Venice Film Festival. His film themes often dealt with Italian-American identity, Catholic notions of sin and redemption, and issues of violence in American society—all of which might be reasons why the Oscars had ignored him for over a decade.

Since Scorsese was here, Robert De Niro, who had closely collaborated with him since the '80s and was one of the protagonists in "Goodfellas," naturally wouldn't fall behind. Though Adrian didn't particularly feel anything towards Scorsese, he immensely appreciated De Niro's performance. However, as previously mentioned, he was merely a new director now, and even if he encountered them, at most, he could only engage in brief exchanges. So why join that crowd?

Moreover, the film-related matters had already been entrusted to Laverne, and vacationing was part of the film festival anyway, so he leisurely toured Venice with Katherine.

Of course, they visited places like the Governor's Mansion, Ponte dei Sospiri, Ca' Rezzonico Palace, St. Mark's Square, and St. Mark's Church. Riding a gondola through the web-like waterways was also a must. They even took a special trip to the library where "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" once filmed. Over three days, they covered most of Venice.

"Venice is so beautiful; I love this place!" Emerging from the waterways and watching the distant seagulls on the gondola, Katherine couldn't help but praise.

"If you like, we can make it a point to travel here once every year," Adrian said, holding her waist and smiling.

Katherine said nothing, with a faint smile, looking at Adrian with bright eyes for a while before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. Adrian, taking advantage, pulled Katherine into a deep embrace and kissed her passionately, fully engrossed like any couple in love, oblivious to the surrounding scenery.

Seeing this, the boatman rowing at the end immediately started singing a song. Although he sang in Italian, the affectionate tune was unmistakably sincere. Perhaps due to the love song, the two in embrace became even more passionate.

(At last, it's over. Honestly, I can't tell what was sensitive about this chapter... Next chapter finally advances the story...)

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