Chapter 252: I am Hollywood

[Chapter 252: The Scapegoat]

By the time Leigh Zimmerman finished her shower and got dressed in the bathroom, Eric had just finished reading through a stack of newspapers. He glanced at the woman who looked a bit bewildered and said, "Leigh, could you go downstairs and help Jeffrey pack two breakfast orders for me? Anything will do."

"Oh, um," Leigh Zimmerman quickly nodded, grabbed her handbag, and left the room. She sighed in relief; at least Eric hadn't outright told her to leave.

"You seem a little reluctant, huh?" Jeffrey teased.

Eric didn't mind Jeffrey's tone and smiled, "Of course, last night was quite wonderful."

"Alright, cut to the chase. What do you think about these reports?" Jeffrey pointed to the mess of newspapers Eric had been shuffling through.

Eric shifted from his nonchalant demeanor and said, "If I hadn't had you do this yesterday, we would have been entirely reactive today. Regular folks tend to form preconceived notions, making it much harder for us to argue our case later. Right now, at least, we've stirred the waters a bit. Public opinion wouldn't be solely against us, so as long as we manage the PR well, we should be fine. By the way, I called Robert last night. He'll be flying in this morning to help us out -- he certainly has more experience than you in this."

"Actually, I was going to mention that," Jeffrey said, hesitating. "But I think you might..."

Eric chuckled, "Might what? You didn't think I viewed Robert as an outsider, did you?"

"Isn't that the case?"

Eric denied it, saying, "Not at all! While I am a bit miffed about the 15% shares he took from me, now that the two companies have merged, I'll treat him like family. As long as Robert doesn't stir up any internal conflict first, I assure you I won't initiate any either."

Jeffrey, who was quite familiar with Eric, surprisingly shot him a disdainful look. "That's hardly convincing."

"No, I'm speaking the truth," Eric countered. "Jeffrey, my ambitions are much bigger than you realize. If I start arguing over interests now, it'll be difficult to make progress."

"What exactly is your goal?"

"Hollywood!"

Jeffrey blinked, not fully understanding, and asked, "What?"

"Hollywood," Eric repeated, his youthful bravado evident as he said, "One day, when people mention the word 'Hollywood,' I want them to think of me first -- not Los Angeles, not the big studios, and not any stars on the Walk of Fame, but me, Eric Williams. Hollywood is me; I am Hollywood!"

Eric's heartfelt words sounded quite infectious. Jeffrey's eyes widened as he tried to muster some words to knock Eric down, but they came out as a blessing instead. "Well, I hope you succeed."

"I will," Eric solemnly nodded. "So, Jeffrey, do you think I would ever stop to fight with someone who could help me get there quicker over trivialities?"

Jeffrey shook his head, smiling reluctantly. "I get it."

They discussed a few strategies briefly before Leigh Zimmerman came in, carrying some breakfast orders.

"I think I'll just head back to my room," Jeffrey remarked, glancing at the couple snuggled up on the opposite sofa, clearly unable to stand it. Without waiting for Eric to respond, he picked up his portion and left.

...

"Don't mind him; let's eat," Eric said, observing Leigh's expression.

"I hope I'm not interrupting you two," Leigh asked.

"Not at all; we've said all that needs to be said. By the way, you mentioned you were performing in a Broadway play in addition to modeling?"

Leigh nodded, excitedly responding, "Yeah, I love performing. Eric, I have a show next month on Broadway; will you come watch?"

Though she looked eagerly at Eric, he had to shake his head. "Sorry, Leigh, but after wrapping up Home Alone 2, I have to rush back to Los Angeles."

Leigh's face fell as she murmured an "oh" and began fiddling with the salad in front of her. Although she wanted to seek some opportunities, she understood the industry rules well enough to know that directly asking Eric could only lead to empty promises.

So, she knew it would have to be Eric who initiated such discussions. If the other party didn't bring it up, there was nothing to complain about; she could simply treat this as just another fling.

After all, Leigh heard it was Eric who picked her, an unknown, from a group of supermodels. Whenever she recalled her former roommate's expression, who was also a model from a leading agency, when she learned Leigh got the role, she couldn't help but feel a surge of pride.

As a newcomer in the industry for less than a year, she never intended to compete for this opportunity because she believed she had no chance against all those famed supermodels. It was her roommate who nudged her into submitting her resume, and somehow Leigh ended up getting picked.

However, due to the jealousy that followed her good fortune, Leigh and her roommate became estranged quickly. After receiving several barbed comments from the roommate, Leigh decided to stop talking to her and planned to move out soon. Compared to this opportunity, a not-so-strong friendship didn't matter much, especially since that roommate never truly considered her as a friend anyway, always using her early industry entry as a means to elevate herself.

As they competed for what few opportunities there were, true friendships among models were hard to come by -- except for... lesbian relationships.

Savoring the faint scent of perfume Leigh wore, Eric asked, "Are you looking to transition into acting?"

Leigh beamed at the question, nodding quickly.

"Perfect, I have an opportunity for you," Eric said. "You know Friends, right?"

"Of course. I know you were the writer for that sitcom. I watch it religiously every week." Maybe because she heard something she recognized, Leigh excitedly said, "I love Ross! I think he's such a goofy perfectionist, much less annoying than his sister's obsessive perfectionism, and Phoebe..."

Leigh rambled on for a bit before realizing her enthusiasm might have been too much. She quickly silenced herself, glancing at Eric with a hint of embarrassment.

Eric chuckled and said, "Thank you for liking the show. Here's the thing. In one episode of Friends, there's a blackout in New York, and Chandler ends up stuck in an ATM vestibule with a famous model. It would fit nicely for about an entire episode. I can recommend you for it."

According to the original script, this episode was supposed to be in season one, episode seven, with Chandler stuck in the ATM vestibule with a Victoria's Secret lingerie model. However, since Victoria's Secret wasn't well-known yet, Eric swapped Leigh's identity to that of a renowned model, and the script was revised. The plot was pushed to episode 20, which likely had not begun shooting yet.

Leigh couldn't help but confirm, "Really? Eric, do you really think I... can pull it off?"

Eric nodded again. In the future projects he was preparing, there would undoubtedly be many similar roles. Rather than let some unscrupulous casting director exploit a young starlet, it would be better to do favors himself. The current influence of Friends was much stronger than in its first season in real life, so being featured in an episode would be like getting recognized in front of over 20 million viewers nationwide; that was far better than just appearing on a few magazine covers.

Of course, that was all he could offer Leigh.

After appearing in both a hit TV show and a blockbuster film, it would surely be easy for her to land more roles, leaving her future advancement up to her efforts and luck.

Seeing Eric's approving expression, Leigh immediately jumped up and planted several kisses on his cheek.

"Alright, alright," Eric said, quickly pushing her away while touching the spot where she kissed him. "Enough, let me finish my breakfast."

...

After they ate, Allen came by to discuss Eric's schedule. Once Allen finished with the news, Eric pointed to Leigh. "Allen, contact the L.A. office. I remember there is a model role in episode 20 of Friends, which I'm assigning to Ms. Zimmerman."

Allen quickly noted it down in his memo. After glancing at Eric's companion hesitantly, he said, "Eric, should I talk directly to John Aniston?"

Eric nearly forgot about that. Besides him, the most powerful person on the Friends set was the producer, John Aniston. If he pushed Leigh forward without due consideration, John wouldn't just deny her the role but would also likely call Eric to chew him out.

After a moment of thought, Eric beckoned Allen closer and whispered, "Say it was a recommendation from Jeffrey. He's been single for a long time, and at his age, it's hard for him to date. Maybe John will put in some extra effort."

Allen's mouth twitched, but he still inquired, "Eric, should I let Hansen know?"

"Don't worry about that; I'll tell him."

Allen thought to himself that with such a big mess on his hands, it would be a miracle if Eric informed him, but he just nodded helplessly and hurriedly left.

"Eric, I never expected you to be so shady," Leigh pouted after Allen left, giving Eric a playful glare. Although Eric had whispered to Allen, he hadn't been quiet enough for her not to hear. "It's just a guest role, and I wouldn't be so bold as to clash with your little girlfriend over it."

Eric smiled, "If I didn't say it, you wouldn't even get the role."

Leigh, confused, asked, "Why? Isn't Friends one of your productions?"

"It is, but the producer of Friends is my little girlfriend's dad."

...

Thanks to Eric's prior arrangements, public opinion did not overwhelmingly condemn the Home Alone 2 crew's 'egregious actions' for damaging Central Park's ecology. However, the incident still stirred a significant impact. Although some rational individuals believed Jeffrey's comments in the newspapers, many others sided with differing opinions shown in other publications.

Thus, the following two days saw a huge debate arise over whether the Home Alone 2 crew should continue filming in Central Park using artificial snow, rapidly becoming a national hot topic.

The $500,000 donation to the Central Park Conservancy that Eric had arranged through Jeffrey also played a considerable role. When reporters interviewed Tim Frick, the chair of the Conservancy, about whether the Home Alone 2 crew's shooting impacted the environment, Mr. Frick spoke favorably of the crew, celebrating the measures they had taken, calling them a very responsible crew.

Of course, the committee's acceptance of the crew's $500,000 donation wasn't hidden from the media -- doing so would have caused even greater trouble. However, instead of claiming that this was compensation for the potential damage artificial snow might create in the park, Mr. Frick said that the crew had noticed the park's outdated public facilities and donated to help replace them.

Since Tim Frick's interview aired during prime time, many people watched it, and combined with the array of PR efforts from the Home Alone 2 crew, the narrative began to shift in their favor.

Eventually, the Manhattan district government issued a statement announcing they would send a supervisory team to monitor the crew's use of artificial snow during filming in Central Park according to their prior promises. This supervisory team would also select several volunteers from the community to ensure its impartiality.

Following that declaration, the Home Alone 2 crew quickly released their own statement, agreeing to cooperate with the supervisory team and expressing their willingness to cover any expenses outside the Manhattan district government's budget.

After some back-and-forth goodwill, coupled with the news media's supportive push, the matter was eventually resolved smoothly.

The so-called environmental group, NYGCO, subsequently ceased all efforts to obstruct the filming.

...

By late October, Home Alone 2 wrapped successfully. Aside from rushing back to Los Angeles to finish post-production on two films, the release date for The Others also approached.

This was a critical launch for Firefly Films during the Thanksgiving-Christmas season. If it could start strong, it would positively influence the box office for the subsequent films, which made Eric regard this project with utmost seriousness.

*****

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