America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 76 French Buyers

The Savannah Film Festival does not have an awards section; it focuses more on film screenings and artistic exchanges.

Film masters and actors from all over the world will have face-to-face exchanges with art students during the film festival.

Benjamin's "Zombie Dancer" crew certainly didn't qualify.

Despite graduating from the Savannah College of Art, Benjamin has yet to become a well-known alumnus.

In the open space between the two theaters on campus, a large number of promotional booths were set up. Martin and Catherine, the male and female leads of the film, dressed up in their movie costumes and handed out promotional materials to passersby.

Martin's vampire costume and Catherine's leather coat and sword-wielding huntress image attracted many people to the booth to learn more about the film.

"At 7 p.m., 'Zombie Gigolo' will be screened at the Festival Theater."

In the very center of the bulletin board hangs an eye-catching slogan.

Martin, the male protagonist, is very proactive. Every time he distributes a document, he says to the person, "7 p.m., Festival Theater, welcome."

The male lead's hard work inspired the female lead, Catherine, to also keep talking.

When there were fewer people around, Martin would bring two unopened bottles of mineral water and give one to Catherine.

While Catherine was getting a drink of water, she whispered, "No matter how much we do, our pay won't increase."

Martin replied with a smile, "We are the male and female leads. If the film does well, no one can steal our thunder."

More people were drawn to the large poster, so Martin put down his bottled water, went up to them, and handed them the flyers.

The man picked up the brochure and looked at it very carefully.

Martin sensed that he wasn't just curious and said, "Sir, the film will be shown at the Festival Theater at 7 p.m. If it's convenient for you, you can come and find out more."

The man pointed to the figure in the brochure and asked, "Are you the male lead? Are you playing a vampire?"

"Yes, I'm the male lead." The other person spoke English with an accent, which Martin recognized as similar to Michel Gondry's. He tentatively asked, "Are you French, sir?"

The man nodded: "I am Blanc from France."

Martin invited Blanco to the booth, saying as they walked, "You look like someone who works in the film industry?"

Blanco asked, "Because I'm attending a film festival?"

"Your temperament is very similar to that of one of my French friends." A film professional from the same country—who could be a friend or an enemy—Martin's words were somewhat ambiguous: "He's a film artist who recently came to Georgia to film, so I was particularly impressed by him."

Blanco laughed: "You mean Michelle?"

Martin immediately recognized the connection and said, "Yes, Director Michel Gondry. I've enjoyed a French meal in Atlanta with him and eaten Georgia specialties. He's not only a film artist, but he also has the exceptionally high level of French expertise in food appreciation."

The words sounded particularly agreeable, and Blanco followed Martin into the booth.

Dave, Benjamin, and the others saw Martin chatting enthusiastically with someone, so they didn't go over for the time being.

They had complete confidence in Martin.

If it were Catherine, she would have taken over the reception duties long ago.

Kelly Gray, dressed in a business suit, arrived at the booth with her assistant Ella. She quietly approached and listened to Martin and Ella talking.

"When Michel left, he invited me to Paris." Martin's eyes were filled with longing. "I've always wanted to experience the atmosphere of the art capital and the city of romance up close, but unfortunately, several months have passed and I still haven't had the chance."

Blanco was quite polite: "There will definitely be opportunities; maybe one day you'll be attending the Cannes Film Festival."

He thought for a moment, then took out his business card and handed it to Martin: "Seven o'clock tonight, the Festival Theater, right?"

Martin took the business card and quickly glanced at it. It read "Business Manager of EuropaCorp."

"Yes, seven o'clock in the evening," he said with a smile. "Please wait a moment."

Martin brought out a formal invitation and handed it to Blanco with both hands: "The crew would be extremely honored if you could come."

Blanco accepted the invitation, shook hands with Martin, and then took his leave.

Not far from the exhibition area, he found a quiet spot, took out his phone, dialed Michelle's number, and said, "I'm in Savannah. I just met an interesting person, someone who says he's your friend, an actor, Martin Davis from Atlanta."

Michel Gondry said, "He is indeed a friend, a very nice person, a great actor, and someone who longs for France."

Blanco received many invitations today, and after ending his call with Michel Gondry, he only considered it briefly before deciding to go see the movie "Zombie Dancer" tonight.

Inside the exhibition area, Kelly came over and asked, "An important person?"

Martin handed her his business card: "A buyer for EuropaCorp. Judging from his words, he's from the same hometown as Michel Gondry and a friend."

Kelly immediately thought, "Your connection with Michelle Gondry came in handy?"

Martin said, "It should work. I think he'll attend the screening tonight."

Kelly turned to Ella and said, "Arrange VIP seating."

Ella responded.

Kelly then said to Martin, "The more buyers we have, the better our chances of selling it."

Martin quietly squeezed Kelly's hand, his voice filled with undisguised concern: "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, you've done a fantastic job."

Kelly flipped her hand over and pinched his fingers: "You have so many ideas, give me a good one."

Martin shrugged helplessly: "What we need to do now is prove our strength. My bad ideas will only hold us back and make things worse."

Although Martin had studied film buying and marketing in the United States for some time, he felt he only had a superficial understanding and it was best to remain silent on specific buying and selling matters.

In the afternoon, Sofia and Vincent arrived from Atlanta to attend the screening.

Kelly Gray simply greeted Sofia and Vincent politely, without engaging in much further contact.

Also accompanying them were all the staff of the Bison House Club.

Bruce said to Martin, "The boss specially closed the shop today so we could come see a movie together."

Hart leaned closer and said, "Old Brooks, this movie has nothing to do with you. We asked you to make an appearance, but you wouldn't listen."

Bruce replied, "I'm the kind of guy who does dirty and hard work."

Hart understood what he meant and turned to Martin, asking, "Dad Martin, have you seen the sample footage? How did I do?"

Martin said, "He died a horrible death; he was blown to bits by Catherine."

At five o'clock, Sofia generously invited the entire crew to dine at a nearby luxury buffet restaurant.

Dinner was very lavish, but Martin only ate a little.

He specially rented a formal suit for the film crew to perform on stage, and the suit fit them perfectly.

Actors must control their diet in advance before attending important occasions.

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(End of this chapter)