Edward Foster’s expression slightly softened when he saw her come in.
He nodded to Lawrence Winters in acknowledgment.
Lawrence Winters walked over to sit beside him and asked with a smile, "What are you all discussing? The atmosphere here feels like ’one man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot get through...’"
Opposite Edward, the director and producer quickly chimed in with flattery, "Miss Winters is right! Our young Mr. Foster is indeed our company’s hero and guardian! No matter how big the difficulty, as long as our young Mr. Foster is here, there won’t be a problem!"
Edward Foster laughed involuntarily, his previously gloomy expression finally eased a bit, and he gestured at her playfully, "You’re good at giving them a way to save face."
"I’m just speaking objectively," Lawrence Winters crossed her arms on the conference table, looking quite relaxed, as if she was about to take a nap on it.
The tense atmosphere in the meeting room dissipated just like that.
The cashier brought Lawrence Winters a bottle of water and placed it in front of her.
Lawrence Winters smiled and nodded in thanks.
Edward Foster leaned back in his chair and continued, "I understand your difficulties, but the company isn’t doing so well financially either. Several of the TV dramas we produced haven’t been sold yet, there’s no cash flow, and if you want me to reinvest, I need to have the money to give you!"
"... If it’s really impossible, we can only cut post-production," the director said through gritted teeth, "This drama is a fantasy one, so post-production special effects are extremely important. We set aside some money to hire an international special effects company for that. Or, we can go with a domestic special effects company to save some money."
Lawrence Winters didn’t like what she heard.
She tapped her fingers lightly on the table to get everyone’s attention, then asked with a hint of puzzlement, "Why does hiring a domestic special effects company mean paying less for special effects?"
"Miss Winters, you might not know this, but domestic special effects companies aren’t as good as international ones. In terms of special effects, you get what you pay for. If you pay less, you’ll be mocked for having ’cheap’ special effects," the director said helplessly, "We really prepared enough budget this time to hire an international special effects company, and the results would be significantly different!"
"But since the company doesn’t have money for additional investment, we can only reallocate funds meant for international special effects."
Lawrence Winters looked at Edward Foster, "Mr. Foster, what do you think?"
Edward Foster furrowed his brow and said, "I don’t want to reinvest, but I also don’t want to reallocate the special effects budget. Everyone knows in fantasy dramas, special effects are crucial. If we can’t have high-quality special effects, then there’s no point in making a fantasy drama."
Lawrence Winters quickly nodded, "Mr. Foster is right, I feel the same way. And I have a suggestion."
"Go ahead."
"Mr. Foster mentioned earlier that we won’t reinvest and won’t reallocate the special effects budget, and I agree with that. But I have a suggestion that we should have a domestic company handle the special effects this time."
The director and producer immediately opposed, "That’s not acceptable; the domestic technology is far inferior. If the budget remains the same and we’re forced to use domestic companies, we’ll suffer a huge loss."
Lawrence Winters looked at them with a soft yet firm smile, "Since you claim the domestic technology is far inferior, why don’t you make an analysis report comparing the special effects produced by international companies and those by domestic companies? I want a technical analysis report of the top five domestic special effects companies and the top five international ones, could you do that?"
The director said nothing but glanced at the producer beside him.
The producer’s face didn’t look good. He lowered his eyes awkwardly and smirked, "Do a technical analysis now? We don’t have the time, we can’t wait that long."
Lawrence Winters raised an eyebrow, her fingers still tapping lightly on the conference table, and said coolly, "How did you go about selecting the international special effects company? You must have some process, right?"
The producer pursed his lips and said, "We were considering Micro Tower, one of the world’s most powerful special effects companies. They’ve done special effects for many well-known international films."
Lawrence Winters chuckled lightly, "Micro Tower? With your current budget, even if you give it all to them, it would only cover five minutes of effects."
The producer’s face turned white and then quickly flushed red, breaking out in a sweat. He was a bit flustered, removing his glasses to wipe them with a tissue.
Edward Foster, who had remained silent, now nodded to back up Lawrence Winters, "Lawrence has a point. Which international special effects company are you considering? Have you signed a contract?"
The producer could ignore Lawrence Winters, but not Edward Foster.
He hurriedly replied, "We’re still in the negotiation stage, no contract signed yet."
"Then that’s good. As Lawrence just suggested, you should do a technical comparison analysis report. I’ll give you two days. If you can’t manage that, I’ll find someone else who can."
Edward Foster’s decisive words left the director pale.
He quickly said, "But Mr. Foster, what should we do here in the meantime? We’ve already delayed five days, creating a half-million-dollar gap. If we delay two more days, we’ll be in big trouble!"
Lawrence Winters glanced at Edward Foster and smiled, "Mr. Foster, let’s think of something."
Edward Foster had been pulled into this meeting by the director and producer without knowing about Ruby Sheldon.
However, with a spark in Lawrence’s eyes, he immediately cooperated with a smile, standing up, "Of course, let’s have a meeting to discuss it."
Lawrence Winters knew that no one in the production team had brought up Ruby Sheldon in front of Edward Foster, because no one wanted to offend the Sheldon Family.
Everyone’s savvy; who would want to be the one to take the fall?
So, everyone tacitly agreed, knowing that the Fosters and the Sheldons had a good relationship. Even if they did speak up, Edward Foster wouldn’t go to the Sheldon Family for money over such a minor issue.
Lawrence Winters stood up with Edward Foster, and they walked out together, surrounded by people from the production team.
When they got into the car, they saw Ruby Sheldon rushing out.
Edward Foster furrowed his brow and asked Lawrence Winters in a low voice, "...When did she get here?"
Lawrence Winters also lowered her voice and replied, "...She’s the root cause of the budget overrun in the production team."
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This is the second update with 600 additional monthly tickets, the third update comes at 7 PM.
Hugs and kisses to everyone!