King of Hollywood-Chapter 522 - 243 This Makes People Happy

"How’s it going, kiddos? Tell me how you feel." After carefully watching for a while, Adrian moved to the side of the television and said to the group of little imps in front of him.

Unexpectedly, Little Emma, who was sitting in the front, waved her hand without any courtesy, not even glancing at him, her eyes firmly fixed on the screen, her tone impatient: "Move away, you’re blocking us!"

Damn brats. Adrian couldn’t help but roll his eyes noticeably, then he stepped back from the television a few steps and looked at Small Emma beside Little Emma: "What about you, Emma?"

Although he called out "Emma" loud and clear, unfortunately, Little Emma didn’t even blink her eyes; Small Emma, who was about to say something, glanced at her then sneakily stuck out her tongue before solemnly answering: "I want to watch TV right now."

Seeing her attitude, that she was deferential to Little Emma, Adrian shook his head and looked at another group of little imps, the children of the company employees, then called out one of their names: "Kristen, what do you think?"

She was a girl about the same age as Little Emma, with short brownish-red hair, giving a tomboyish vibe, somewhat androgynous, with pretty light green eyes. When Adrian asked her, she shrugged her shoulders, seemingly not very interested in the cartoon: "It’s okay, kind of interesting, it should attract people."

Another little know-it-all, or rather, a somewhat presumptuous little know-it-all. Adrian mentally noted this, then glanced at Little Emma again. If you’re talking about being precocious, that little one was truly advanced. He really didn’t know...

He imperceptibly shook his head and came to his daughter’s side, the little one staring at the television screen intensely because, being younger, she liked this cartoon aimed at younger kids more.

"Is it good, dear?" Adrian squatted next to Lily.

"Uh-huh." Lily nodded, but immediately made a baffling remark: "I just don’t understand what they’re saying."

Adrian had no solution for this, though Nintendo had done a dubbing for the samples sent to the United States, it was only temporary, and considering the English skills of the Japanese, adults might understand, but it was quite impressive for the little ones to grasp the general idea. However, despite some typical flaws of Japanese animation like skipped frames and verbose dialogue, the animation was beautifully produced, and the character designs were very popular with children; the dialogue might have been unintelligible, but the adorable and passionate moments combined perfectly with the edited visuals, conveying the message effectively, so with some minor adjustments, it could still be popular.

"No matter what, it’s pretty good, isn’t it?" Adrian asked his daughter again.

"Hmm..." Lily dragged out her voice but didn’t answer, her eyes darting back and forth, glancing around constantly. Adrian chuckled and sighed, then turned his head away, although Little Emma’s gaze was still on the television screen, he caught her quick head-turning movement.

"Can you tell me now?" Adrian leaned his ear towards his daughter, "You can whisper it to me."

"It’s fun, especially... especially... the electric mouse, it’s so cute." Lily thought for a while before finding an adjective, then suddenly giggled softly: "Daddy, Emma said she’ll be mad at you for a month."

Adrian shrugged, stood up, and announced: "Alright, kids, that’s it for today. If you like this animation, I’ll give each of you a set when it’s released."

If it isn’t released, that’s another story, but clearly, the little ones hadn’t realized this, and several of them cheered. This animation from Nintendo was indeed popular with children and, of course, with otaku who were obsessed with anime and games. This animation called ’Pokemon’ was originally a game developed by Nintendo in 1996. Its unique game system won the hearts of countless people, and then the animation was developed along the same lines.

With the popular game as its foundation, the animation had also become widely successful, sweeping across all of Asia in just two years. Ambitious Nintendo had then set its sights on Europe and America. Despite cultural differences, not all Japanese animations and games were unpopular in Europe and America; as long as they were well-made and didn’t cross the line of political correctness, many people liked them.

Although Adrian didn’t know much about this animation, he knew it was a worthwhile deal. He had never heard of "Pokemon" in his previous life, but he had seen figurines like these on many American nerds’ blogs. Since Nintendo approached him—though not just them—it would be stupid if he didn’t seize the opportunity. Moreover, when he was in Japan, he had already realized that it was only a matter of time, and now it was just an annotation to his initial thoughts.

"As for the peripheral rights, try to get half of them, of course," Adrian instructed the person in charge after dismissing the group of kids who had been invited to watch the animation. "That’s under the premise of securing the broadcasting rights."

What’s the most profitable part of an animation? The peripherals! After Pixar took back the rights from Disney, it grew much faster than Adrian remembered, so how could he possibly pass up "Pokemon"? Half of the peripheral rights might seem harsh, but it’s limited to North America, and Nintendo has a firm grip on the game rights there since they’ve distributed consoles. Although they’re weak in distributing animations and movies—there’s no doubt that this animation will turn into a movie—they’ll definitely get cut a better deal.

Furthermore, Adrian could cooperate with them comprehensively, and not forget AC Media has its gaming studios. As long as he showed sincerity and grasped their bottom line, he wasn’t worried they wouldn’t agree. As for the relationship between AC Media and Sony, it wasn’t a strategic alliance, They were just somewhat close; in business terms, Nintendo wouldn’t be that foolish.

Gathering a bunch of kids today to watch the animation was one way to show sincerity, of course, Adrian also wanted to take this opportunity to address Little Emma’s situation too.

"You seem quite unhappy, can you tell me why?" In the vast office, after hanging up his jacket to look less formal, Adrian asked, "I saw you playing well with those kids, especially with Kristen. You seemed to be having a good time chatting, why don’t you want to talk now?"

The small figure was shrunk in the high-backed chair behind the desk. Though her hands rested on the armrests, her entire body sank into the chair, making her look particularly petite, her legs swinging back and forth in the air, still sporting an indifferent expression.

"Alright, I know you’re really upset that I left you alone and went to Canada, but I wasn’t on vacation. I went to Canada because I had things to take care of," Adrian spread his hands earnestly.

"Liar!" Little Emma glanced at him sideways, her nose tilted high, still very dissatisfied.

"So what would you like me to do?" Adrian sighed, "I’ve been away from you a lot, haven’t you been just fine, Emma?"

"How is that the same! You promised me that if I came to the United States for a vacation, you would take me around to play everywhere. It was fine for the past few years, but now..." Emma suddenly raised her voice, pouting her lips, both angry and aggrieved, "if it’s not something happening here, then it’s some work there, you have no credibility!"

Adrian chuckled, shaking his head. He squatted down in front of her, pinched her cute cheek, and looked straight into the little one’s eyes: "You have to understand, Emma, some things in this world don’t shift with human will. The world is like this, plans always change faster than one can foresee, you need to learn to accept rather than complain. I know what you’re worried about, please believe me, you’re always here with me, you’ll never leave."

He grabbed her hand, gently placing it on his own chest, and the little girl’s downturning mouth finally started to recover. She sighed, shifting her gaze away.

"Actually... I don’t know, but... I just feel unhappy, it’s like... it’s like... even if playing with Rose, Lily, even Kristen makes me happy, it can’t lessen my..." she stammered, taking a long while before turning back, looking at Adrian embarrassedly: "I’m sorry, Ed."

"It’s okay," Adrian smiled slightly, reaching out to lift her from the high-backed chair into his arms, "Everyone gets troubled by emotions from time to time, especially since you’re still so young..."

"I’m not young anymore." Emma suddenly puffed up, interrupting him, her little chest puffed up as if she was very displeased with the word "young."

"Okay, not young then, but even I can be very emotional sometimes..." Adrian continued to explain.

"Really? You get emotional? I’ve never seen it," the little one interrupted him again, not only was her tone surprised, but her eyes were also widely opened.

"Emma!" Adrian immediately glared at her, and Emma followed up with a chuckle, raising her hands: "Alright, alright, I’ll stop saying it."

He shook his head, wanting to continue, but the moment he opened his mouth, he realized the atmosphere had already been disrupted by the little girl. Sighing once more,

Emma gently smiled, stretched out her arms to wrap around Adrian, who was squatting in front of her, and rested her head on his shoulder, "I’ll adjust myself, Ed, I promise."

Although it was just one sentence, Adrian clearly understood the unspoken meaning and gently patted the small body in his arms. But after only a couple of pats, Emma suddenly pushed him away, looked at him earnestly and said, "Even so, compensation must be made!"

I knew it. Adrian rolled his eyes, then forced a smile, "Okay, what do you want as compensation?"

"For the next week, you have to spend time with me. You’re allowed to handle other matters after work but not for more than two hours, and the weekends must be entirely mine..." Emma counted off on her fingers in a mature manner, "Of course, most importantly, you have to sleep with me for at least five nights!"

It took a lot for him to suppress the urge to tell her "you’re already eight years old." Adrian sighed helplessly, even if he were to put the legal code in front of her, bolded and highlighted, she probably wouldn’t care, let alone such a weak statement.

"Alright." He spread his hands, then the little one yelled "yes," jumped up in place, hugged Adrian, and nibbled on his face with a loud smack, giggling as she ran out of the office.

Adrian grimaced as he got up from the floor, wiped the saliva off his face, sat back in the chair, finished up a few matters at hand, and then glanced at the clock before asking Charlize to arrange the car.

"Although Director Shimizu doesn’t have much directing experience, he has a unique eye in this area, or else I wouldn’t have appointed him as the director, so you must follow his lead."

"Uh-huh."

"But also take care of yourself, you’re my girl, understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"I’ve also arranged for Morrison Sato to go there as a producer to mediate the relationships on both ends, let him know if there are any problems or requests."

"Uh-huh."

"Can you say something other than ’uh-huh’?"

"Uh-huh?"

Yukie shyly raised her head, then saw the teasing smile in his eyes, her cheeks already reddened, blushed even more.

"You’re teasing me again, Ed." she murmured in a low voice.

"Who makes you always answer me with a nasal sound?" Adrian laughed heartily.

"I... I’m just out of strength," Yukie murmured, a blush spreading across her fair neck as she buried her face in his chest, too shy to look up again.

Her whole body was sprawled across Adrian, her white blouse hanging open, her bra on the RV’s floor, her skirt hiked up to her waist, and her panties dangling on her right calf. A satisfied, lazy smile hung at the corner of her mouth, and the flush of color on her skin did not completely fade, making what they had just done quite obvious.

At the moment, they were on their way to the airport, as they needed to wait for the release of "Legally Blonde" to gauge the audience’s reactions to Yukie’s newly added character. Additionally, the "Ju-on" team required adjustments between the United States and Japan, so even though Takashi Shimizu had been appointed director early on, filming was only set to begin in late August. However, this timing wasn’t too bad, at least as far as "Legally Blonde" went, since most of the audience had responded positively to Yukie’s role.

Since filming was imminent, Yukie naturally had to prepare to return to Japan. Adrian personally took her to the airport, and thinking about not seeing her for a while, they had become intimate in the RV.

"Please make sure Ed takes good care of himself. Now that I’ll be gone, I hope the other servants will take even better care of you," Yukie whispered, her head still resting on Adrian’s shoulder.

Adrian chuckled softly, caressing her black hair. Truth be told, though Yukie didn’t do much, she was meticulous. The way she arranged and organized things was very much to his liking, often even more so than Charlize knew, so now Yukie took care of most of his household chores, becoming a very fit personal maid.

What if he had her as his personal maid permanently? Japanese women were naturally good at these things. Yet, on the other hand, being a remarkable actress outside and your own maid at home doesn’t sound too bad either.

"Relax and focus on shooting in Japan; this is what I’ve arranged for you." Adrian whispered in her ear, then slid down to plant soft kisses on her fair neck, his lips curling into a slight smile. "Don’t worry about my health, I can prove right now that I am perfectly fine."

As he spoke, his hands began to roam over her body, causing Yukie’s breathing to become a bit rapid: "More... I want more..."

"Of course, I could have the driver slow down, and besides, the plane is right there. It leaves when I say so," Adrian said as he gently nudged upwards, and Yukie immediately began to moan softly.

With a few days to go before his trip to Italy and no pressing matters, Adrian had arranged for a private plane to take Yukie there, so naturally, he wasn’t worried about any delays. The extended RV was filled with passionate moans like before, the young woman sitting on top of Adrian, shaking her black hair in rhythm once again.

After sending Yukie off from Los Angeles, Adrian inevitably had to focus most of his energy on handling Emma since the company was currently in good developmental stride. As long as he delegated the tasks, they would be carried out well, like the ongoing negotiations with Nintendo. Moreover, the vision of various company heads had broadened significantly. For instance, New Line had formally proposed to Marvel Comics to bring "Blade" to the big screen, which Marvel Comics had agreed to.

Originally, this movie adaptation from the comics was supposed to be a test release by Marvel Comics during this summer season. Given its smaller scale and less sci-fi-heavy setting, the investment wasn’t too large. Since "Blade" achieved good box office results, it paved the way for a series of Marvel superhero movies. But now, with Adrian’s involvement, AC Media bought Marvel, skipping "Blade" and going straight to producing "Spider Man," and "Blade" was ignored - if not for New Line’s interest in adapting this comic, Adrian might have completely forgotten about this Marvel superhero.

New Line saw several benefits: a smaller scale, ready-made scenes, moderate investment, and with DC superheroes having dominated the screens for too long, audiences were ready for something new. Plus, with "Spider Man" in production as a lead-in, who could say that a movie version of "Blade" wouldn’t be popular?

Adrian didn’t offer his opinion, leaving it to Marvel to decide, and they didn’t disappoint him, quickly agreeing to New Line’s proposal. This pleased Adrian greatly, but something else pleased him even more.

"Alright, gentlemen, let’s hear your thoughts," Adrian said, putting down the documents and looking at the two slightly nervous men in their mid-thirties sitting across from him.

"Um... this..." The men exchanged glances, and the one on the left spoke first, "We’re thinking of leveraging the internet."

"The internet?"

"Yes, using the internet for a surprising promotional stunt." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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