American winner takes all

Chapter 379 "Looking for Angel-Playboy Special Edition"

I'm afraid no one in the media present expected that Ethan's attitude would take a 180-degree turn!

What about the promised retirement ceremony?

What about the farewell match?

How did it become a declaration of struggle?
Will his physical condition allow him to continue playing?
A series of questions emerged in the minds of reporters from various media outlets at the scene.

Not allowing them to think, Ethan then mentioned another breaking news.

"During the offseason this year, the Angels Cheerleading Team will hold a nationwide audition event, and anyone can sign up. We will broadcast the entire event live with our media partners, and the winners will eventually become a member of the Angels Cheerleading Team. , and received a contract with an annual salary of up to 10 million!”

"Please stay tuned to our official website. Specific progress will be announced on the website as soon as possible."

"In addition, we sincerely invite all media to cooperate, and you are welcome to come for consultation..."

Ethan's last words were for the major television stations.

As a reality show for the general public, it must have a reliable television media partner.

Various media outlets in the audience were talking about it. It was the first time that a reality show and cheerleading teams were combined, let alone the Angel Cheerleading Team.

And the "tens of millions of annual salary" contracts that Ethan talks about are on par with Hollywood's second-tier movie stars, right? It's really generous...

The original retirement ceremony was turned into a press conference by Ethan.

Ethan then answered numerous questions about the reality show and the team, which extended the conference, which was expected to last only half an hour, to an hour.

However, since the moment Ethan announced that he would not retire, Mia and the women who were present at the scene got up and left. I wonder what tricks they will come up with next.

·
"They've all left. Do you really want to go back and have a look? Even just to make a phone call?" After it was over, Ovitz said with lingering fear.

Ethan said very freely: "That's not necessary. If you leave now, you will come back obediently when the time comes."

"No wonder they all follow you willingly." Ovitz said with a smirk.

How could Ethan make them all circle around him if he didn't have two brushes?
Considering that this was Ethan's own family matter, it was inconvenient for Ovitz to ask more questions, and then he took Ethan to visit the production team of this reality show.

As one of Hollywood's top bosses, Michael Ovitz is now a complete failure, but his skinny camel is bigger than a horse and he still has a lot of resources at his disposal. After hearing Ethan's plan before, he was very optimistic about it and started making preparations as soon as he returned to Los Angeles. Now everything is ready.

This "retirement ceremony" was organized by this team. Ovitz took over this responsibility from Lisa after receiving Ethan's instruction. Today is a preview. Judging from the results, Ethan is very satisfied. .

Including directors, screenwriters, on-site staff, more than a dozen types of work, are all in place. This does not include other staff members who were not present.

All that is needed is the east wind.

And this so-called Dongfeng is the media channel used to voice and spread.

Ethan didn't need to worry about this at all. Less than half an hour after the press conference, he received the first call requesting cooperation.

"Why didn't you inform me about such a big event in advance? I'm not prepared at all." There was a complaint on the other end of the phone. It was Christina, the eldest daughter of Playboy founder Hugh.

"We don't have much time to prepare." Ethan said.

"Yeah, you don't even have a production team. It just so happens that we can help. Don't worry, we won't charge any money this time, but a share..." Christina said pretentiously.

"Sorry, you don't need to worry about the production." Ethan looked at Ovitz beside him.

He went on to talk about Ovitz's production company, which had taken over full control of the show's production.

"No wonder he showed up at your press conference." Christina said with a stiff smile, accompanied by a hint of disappointment.

"Now let's talk about media cooperation..."

Christina hopes that Playboy will be the exclusive media partner of the magazine and needs a series of media rights. For example, Playboy can freely interview contestants and report the whole process, and relevant contestants must be able to participate in various activities hosted by Playboy.

This is very different from the previous cooperation with the Angel Cheerleaders.

Now that Ethan is a shareholder of palyboy, such a request is certainly in his interest, and the conversation went very smoothly.

"In addition, your cheerleading team needs beautiful girls, and Playboy is indispensable for beautiful girls. We can definitely join forces to create a few 'top names'." Christina continued.

"Tell me about it?" Ethan showed interest.

"It's very simple. I'll send a few over to compete. They are the default winners. Compared to those 'outsiders' selected through auditions, we can enjoy a higher share of the share from them. What do you think of this plan?"

"There are less than ten people in the cheerleading team now. It has to be expanded to nearly forty people. No one will notice if five or six people are included."

"I'm not confident in the quality of your girls." Ethan shook his head.

Girls with real potential don't bother to appear in magazines and become famous by selling meat.

"It's not about your word whether it's quality or not? Playboy is willing to send the best, why are you free? Come to me, I'll call them over, you can interview in person first, which one you like, How about letting someone pass by then?" Christina said with a smile.

Rather than asking Ethan to go for an interview, it would be better to ask him to "choose a concubine."

"Forget it, this is a cheerleading selection. Comprehensive quality always comes first. I don't want the competition to be filled with insider information." Ethan refused directly.

If you accept the proposal at this time, you will inevitably be subject to the other party in the future.

"No matter what, this will be a fair, open and just selection." Ethan understands that the game itself is the best script. If a game is unfair from the beginning, it will not be very attractive to the audience. force.

"If you want to get a share of the pie, then honestly send people to compete." Ethan finally said.

"You are really stubborn... Then let's change the approach. You have to give our playmates five direct quotas and create a special direct selection track."

"This is even more unnecessary. Whether it's Los Angeles or Chicago, there are auditions."

"But there are too many of us, are you sure you want to do this?"

"How many people are you planning to send to participate in the selection?"

"I roughly calculated that there will be at least more than 100 models, and more than % of them are playmates. This is the most luxurious lineup so far."

Playboy is going to spend a lot of money.

Ethan was also a little surprised when he heard the news. Is the pressure for transformation so great?
Originally, there was no threshold for participating. Even if I refused, seeing Christina's attitude, she was not ready to give up. So many people really needed a special selection track.

"This part of the production is left to us and must be broadcast exclusively on our pay television stations."

"What classification?"

"Of course it's TV-MA. We don't do programs for underage viewers."

"I only have one request. You must be present as a judge and participate in the selection. Anyway, the people selected are all your subordinates. I don't want to hear you complain later about who is not obedient enough."

Why does Ethan think this is an enhanced version of "choosing a concubine"...

"It's up to you, that's a private matter between you and them, and the company has nothing to do with it." Christina knew that letting Ethan go would be like letting a wolf into the sheepfold, but without Ethan, these selections were meaningless, and he also It’s a guarantee of ratings.

"Sounds good, we can have similar sessions every year in the future." Ethan smiled.

"Can I still know what you think?" Christina sneered.

"The name of the program is called "Looking for Angel-Palyboy Special Edition"?"

"Sounds good."

After discussing some more details with Ethan, Christina hung up the phone.

·
In addition to Christina, many other media representatives contacted Ethan.

For example, FOX's Penny said that FOX is willing to spend a lot of money to buy out the show, with the buyout fee being as high as US$300 million per episode. According to Ethan's plan, the first season of "Looking for Angel" will last for five months, which is 20 episodes, so the total buyout cost will be US$ million.

"Three million? This is not a good price. The cost of reality shows is very high." Ethan said.

"In fact, the budget given at the beginning was only US$200 million per episode. This year's most popular reality show "Survivor" only costs this amount per episode. It is the program with the highest overall ratings except the Super Bowl. If If it's a miniseries, the TV station might give a higher price, but this is the price for a reality show," Penny explained.

"That's right, but "Survivor" is produced by CBS TV station, and the production is also handled by its production center. An episode must cost at least 500 million US dollars." Ethan responded.

"Then you have to ask other TV stations..." Penny also seemed helpless. The price difference was too big.

Ethan then asked Penny about Mia.

"Ethan, no one wants you to play ball anymore." Penny sighed.

"But I'm still fine now, aren't I? If there is any problem, I will retire." Ethan said.

"Mia asked us not to contact you for the time being..." Penny continued.

When Ethan was hospitalized, Penny did not come because of work. Although she also received Mia's request, she did not know the details, and did not share the same hatred as others but revealed it to Ethan has a lot of information.

"I knew it was like this!" Ethan couldn't laugh or cry.

I don’t know what to do when I get home tonight.

Afterwards, Ethan received several more calls, including joint offers from ABC and SEPN, as well as offers from NBC, with the highest price not exceeding US$400 million, which was still far from the price Ethan had in mind.

Including the representative of CBS TV station, the caller was actually Bonnie. The purpose of her call was to find out what Ethan was saying.

Ethan told her about the bids from several TV stations.

Bonnie Bernstein was so frightened that he hung up the phone in a hurry.

"It seems we're getting a cold reception from the TV station." Ethan dropped his phone on the table.

After talking for a while, the result was not satisfactory.

"This is closely related to the environment of TV program production and the fierce competition between TV stations." Ovitz was not surprised.

"You are right. All programs are linked to ratings, and the production cost of each episode is relatively average. But "Looking for Angels" is different from these programs. The initial investment is the highest, and the cost will gradually decrease after that."

Ethan is preparing to conduct auditions in multiple cities across the country, including locations, filming, and editing, which will incur a huge cost.

On the other hand, those well-known talent shows, such as "American Idol", are just a filming hall from beginning to end.

The reason why Ethan chose the former option was because of the quality of the draft. The net must be large enough to catch the "big fish".

But from a practical perspective, this is somewhat idealistic.

"If you put it inside the TV station, your plan will not pass at all." Michael Ovitz tried to say, he felt that changes had to be made.

"We should start from two aspects. First, reduce the number of audition cities and only designate a few competition areas. Second, find ways to obtain sponsorship and amortize costs." Michael Ovitz mentioned the specific details.

"Re-dividing the divisions... why not refer to the NFL divisions and define six divisions, southwest, northwest, southeast, northeast, plus the two in the middle." Ethan said casually.

A person is nourished by the soil and water. Of course, there is still some difference between California girls, Texas girls, and Florida girls.

It sounds like this is not quite the same as NFL divisions, but it has achieved cost savings while also covering a wide enough area.

"If we really want to save costs, why not turn these six divisions into franchises and let the local governments take charge...just like 'Miss America', what do you think?" Ethan tried again.

"Miss America" ​​is an annual beauty pageant in the United States. Each state's competition is outsourced in the form of a "franchise."

"This is the most economical method, but it will take up a lot of extra time when recruiting investment." Ovitz said.

Ethan thought about it and it was right, so he decided to think about it next year.

"As for the sponsors, I leave it to you." Ethan said to Ovitz.

"You want to deal with the team?" Ovitz asked.

"The training camp won't start for another month." Ethan shook his head.

"I have to record a show during this time."

As for the negotiations with the TV station, they cannot be settled in a short period of time. It is better to wait for "Playboy Special Edition" to be broadcast and the first wave of word-of-mouth from the audience to come before negotiating.

·
In the evening, Ethan returned home. Although everyone was there, he was treated as a completely transparent person. Except for the servants, everyone treated him as if he did not exist.

"Catherine, if something goes wrong, I will choose to retire..." Ethan said kindly with a smile on his face.

Catherine ignored Ethan as if he didn't exist at all.

"Grace, stop making trouble, this matter is over." Ethan found another one.

"Kelsey, that mask you mentioned is really useful." Grace turned sideways without communicating with Ethan at all.

Ethan went directly to McKenna, who was the most obedient.

As soon as McKenna opened the door, she panicked for a moment when she saw it was Ethan. She muttered "...I have a stomachache." Then she closed the door again and locked it.

Okay, you all want to fight with me, right?

In front of the dinner table, Ethan looked at the people who ignored him...

"I have to go to Chicago for a few days to record a show. Help me prepare some changes of clothes." Ethan turned to the servant and said.

Early the next morning, the driver Peter came to pick Ethan up and take him to the airport.

Just after the door was closed, all the girls in the family immediately gathered together.

"Mia, have we gone too far?" Catherine said worriedly.

Thinking of what she did last night, she felt a little regretful.

The others also talked to each other, obviously not wanting to continue fighting with Ethan.

"There is no way to put the bullet back into the barrel of the gun. Anyway, there are still a few months until next season. Let's try harder? If it doesn't work, I will admit my mistake to Ethan and apologize." Mia also sighed. .

Things have reached an embarrassing situation.

"What show are you going to record in Chicago?" Grace recalled what Ethan said last night and was puzzled.

"It won't be related to Playboy, right?" Kelsey imagined.

The only person in Chicago who can have a relationship with Ethan is playboy.

Everyone immediately felt like they were facing a formidable enemy!

"No, I have to chase him back!" Catherine immediately picked up the car keys.

"It's too late." Grace continued.

"What should we do?" The image of Ethan surrounded by playmates appeared in Kelsey's mind, with an expression on the verge of tears.

"We didn't ask for it ourselves." Lisa sneered.

"This..." Mia suddenly realized that she seemed to have made a big mistake.

(End of this chapter)