"Why were you gone so long?" Evelyn asked when her son finally returned.
After Charles Capet sat down, he subtly glanced at Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein next door, and replied with a smile, "I ran into that fat guy from Miramax backstage and chatted for a bit."
"And also made an enemy, didn't I!"
Evelyn frowned, "You ran into the Weinstein Brothers, what did you say? Why would you make an enemy?"
"Nothing much. He said he was interested in an actress under your wing and wanted your cooperation. I directly threatened him not to cross the line, or I'd go all out against him!" Charles Capet said casually, but Evelyn listened with a bit of trepidation!
"Charles Capet, you were a bit impulsive! Many actors at ETA have worked with Miramax!"
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, these big-name actors at ETA, are all Harvey Weinstein's lackeys.
"Haha, don't worry. At worst, Mother, you can take your actors and switch to CAA, or just come to Capet Pictures as CEO. I'll give you three, five, or even ten times your current salary," Charles Capet said with a laugh.
Evelyn also laughed, shaking her head, "That's not necessary. ETA is currently worried about me leaving, otherwise they wouldn't have tied me down with shares."
"Although actresses in Hollywood don't earn as much as actors, my core people are all on the rise, and I have Britney Spears as a trump card. The shareholders of ETA aren't stupid; they know how to handle things."
"I'm worried about you, after all, Harvey Weinstein has been immersed in Hollywood for over twenty years and has a wide network!"
Charles Capet shook his head, "I know, but he's not who he was in the nineties. Over the years, his dirty tricks at the Oscar have offended countless film directors and producers."
"Now Disney wants to kick him out, and he's just reorganizing an independent film company. Even with support from Wall Street capital, he can't beat me, because my capital strength is not something he can compare to!"
"Capital seeks profit, and Miramax's profits haven't been high in recent years. Several blockbusters have basically been unsuccessful. As for Oscar awards, only those actresses care about them."
"Do investment banks like Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, and Goldman Sachs care how many oscar statuette you have? They only care about your rate of return!"
Evelyn sighed and laughed, "This person likes to slander behind people's backs, you still need to be careful."
"I know, but I hope he doesn't do anything foolish, otherwise I really will make him lose his reputation and become a street rat," Charles Capet is currently in a period of capital accumulation and doesn't want to waste time and energy fighting with these people.
However, if Harvey Weinstein were to make him unhappy, Charles Capet wouldn't mind using capital to directly expose Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault scandals.
The outbreak of such a scandal would affect the reputation of the entire Hollywood, and if Hollywood's reputation is affected, that means profits are affected.
For profit, sacrificing a fat dead man, isn't that a simple matter?
Evelyn glanced at her son and reminded him, "Charles Capet, look into some newspapers and magazines or other media. You need to have your own voice now."
Evelyn was reminding Charles Capet to acquire some newspapers or magazines. Charles Capet nodded; this matter indeed needed to be taken seriously.
However, now is when print newspapers are declining, many news agencies are losing money, laying off staff, and facing the difficulties of transitioning to online platforms.
"However, Charles Capet, you don't need to take this matter too much to heart. Harvey Weinstein, after all, only throws his weight around in independent films. The focus of Hollywood now is on commercial films. He's been in Hollywood for so many years and knows who can be provoked and who shouldn't be."
"For a young man like you, who has created such immense wealth in just two or three years, the impression given to outsiders is one of youthful vigor, acting without much thought for consequences."
"So, Harvey probably won't provoke you, especially since with your current capital, it wouldn't be difficult to bring him down if you really wanted to."
Evelyn analyzed this from her experience, as an old hand wouldn't provoke a young hothead, especially a rich hothead.
After all, Harvey Weinstein had too many scandals, and while Hollywood is like that, such unspoken rules have always existed internally.
However, Harvey Weinstein's way of doing things was truly too ugly, and those young actresses who were exploited were completely powerless to touch him.
"I understand, I'm too lazy to deal with him right now. Hollywood has too many messy things, and it's easy to trigger a domino effect," indeed, the biggest obstacle is Hollywood's internal structure, as there are too many people like Harvey Weinstein.
Capital against capital, it's not difficult to deal with the Weinstein Brothers at all. The difficulty lies in other Hollywood capital interfering, and that's when real capital confrontation is needed.
It would trigger a Hollywood earthquake, the market would undergo a reshuffle, many people would lose, and many would rise.
As the awards progressed, brokeback mountain had only won two awards so far: the Oscar for Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Best Supporting actress lost to the aviator, and the academy award for best actress lost to Hilary Swank for million dollar baby, which was her second academy award for best actress.
In the competition for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger also returned empty-handed.
Finally, it was time for the last two major awards. The five films for best director were:
Martin Scorsese, the aviator
Ang Lee, brokeback mountain
Clint Eastwood, million dollar baby
Taylor Hackford, Ray
Alexander Payne, Sideways
When presenter Al Pacino called out, "best director, Ang Lee for brokeback mountain!" the crew members around Charles Capet all stood up and applauded.
"Congratulations!" Charles Capet also stood up and shook Ang Lee's hand to congratulate him.
This was the first Asian director to win the Oscar for best director, and everyone in the audience stood up and applauded in congratulation.
The excellence of brokeback mountain was undeniable. Although Ang Lee was excited when he went on stage, he still delivered a very stable acceptance speech, thanking many people: family, crew members, and the audience, etc.
"Of course, finally, I want to especially thank Charles Capet of Capet Pictures. If not for him, the script for brokeback mountain doesn't know how long it would have remained gathering dust. Thank this genius boss of Hollywood!"
As the camera zoomed in, Charles Capet only needed to maintain a slight smile, muttering to himself that the final best picture was probably in doubt.
Sure enough, the best picture award was taken by million dollar baby. Clint Eastwood and two other producers went on stage together to accept the award.