America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 503 Cannes Film Festival
This year's Cannes Film Festival has come to its last day, and the closing ceremony and awards ceremony are about to begin.

In the room, Martin changed into Briony's evening dress, put on a brand new Cartier watch on his left hand, and held a Nokia N98 concept phone in his right hand.

Bruce came over at this time and said, "The car sent by Cadillac has arrived and is downstairs."

Thomas, who came to Cannes from Los Angeles, said: "The French branch of the Coca-Cola Church has organized a group of people to come here, all wearing red T-shirts."

Martin nodded slightly and reminded Bruce: "Don't forget to bring the commemorative Coke."

Bruce stuffed the prepared Coke into his pocket.

Thomas walked out with Martin, saying, "I have talked to your five major advertising sponsors one by one. If you win the Cannes Best Actor Award, you will receive a bonus of $600 million, plus the latest products worth no less than $100 million."

Martin was generous: "They deliver the stuff to Los Angeles, cars, watches, cell phones, whatever you want."

Thomas agreed cheerfully.

As Martin walked out the door, Bruce motioned for Thomas to slow down.

Thomas slowed down his pace and asked in a low voice, "What's up?"

Bruce said softly, "From all of these, pick the best set for Mene...Yes, Mene may not return to Los Angeles, give it to his agent first."

“I see,” Thomas said.

The group took the elevator downstairs, where Melanie, the public relations manager hired by the crew, was waiting in the hotel lobby.

She saw Martin, came over and nodded to him, and said, "Walk the red carpet faster."

Martin didn't quite understand what she meant.

Melanie said: "The economy has been bad in the past two years. The film festival organizing committee has been desperate to make money this year. Too many red carpet tickets have been sold. There is no need for us to interact with those red carpet stars or be their background."

Martin briefly talked about the Coca Cola Cult.

"You can just go there directly then." Melanie suggested, "No need to stay outside for too long. Interviews and the like can wait until after the awards ceremony."

The other party was a senior local public relations person, and Martin listened to her advice and agreed.

After David Fincher and Kathleen Kennedy came down from upstairs, the three of them drove to the Palais des Festivals separately.

It was only 100 meters away and we arrived in a flash.

Not only Martin, the crew also signed a sponsorship agreement with Cadillac, so they have to take a car to get there no matter how close the distance is.

Because many crews clearly could not win awards, there were significantly fewer crews walking the closing red carpet today, and there were more stars on the carpet.

Martin estimated that during the entire Cannes Film Festival, the organizing committee would have earned at least 6 to 7 million euros from selling red carpet tickets.

Plus various brand sponsorships, registration fees and transaction commissions...

The three major European film festivals have been enduring not only because of their brand and art, but also because of their strong financial strength.

The leading actress Cate Blanchett did not come, but Katharine Kennedy, David Fincher and Martin once again walked on the red carpet in front of the Lumiere Hall.

Compared to the high-profile opening ceremony, they moved very quickly and only took a brief photo in the media area.

Martin was very particular, and when taking pictures, his watch and mobile phone were all exposed.

Then, he came alone to the area where dozens of people wearing red T-shirts gathered, signed autographs for them, and raised Coca-Cola bottles together.

"Coke God Cult! Cola God of War! Long live Martin!"

The sudden shouts echoed throughout the entire seaside area.

Inside the hotel room, Harvey Weinstein sat on the sofa, quietly watching Martin walk up the stairs all the way up.

"This bastard!" The flesh on his fat face trembled slightly.

Quentin's reaction was relatively calm. He said, "He learned all your skills."

"It was mainly due to my negligence." Harvey reflected: "I didn't pay much attention to Adjani staying at the Provence Hotel. I even chatted with her casually when I met her. But it turned out to be a fatal flaw in my bid for the prize."

Quentin casually pointed at Martin on the other side of the stairs: "It means he has been watching us."

Harvey said: "I can be sure that Adjani is not of the same kind as him. I don't know how he sent Adjani to Provence."

Quentin shrugged. "We lost miserably this time."

"Inglourious Basterds" did not win any awards, not even the consolation jury award.

Xavi sees it clearly: "Once Adjani appears, we are not zero points in Huppert's eyes, but negative points."

Quentin looked at his watch and said, "It's almost time. Let's go back to Los Angeles." He knew that his old friend's heart was not as broad as his stomach, so he comforted him, "It's normal to win and lose in the lottery. Don't take it too seriously. You can win it back next time."

Harvey smiled and shook his head. The two of them were in different positions, so of course their degree of concern was different.

Quentin is only the director, screenwriter and producer.

As an investor, if he fails to win an award, it means that the funds invested in public relations and publicity will be wasted, and the subsequent market will also be affected.

But there was no other way now. Harvey couldn't just run to the award ceremony, drag Martin out, and shoot him for ten minutes.

It is estimated that he will be shot in the head by the other party before he can kill Martin.

Harvey had an account book in his mind, and he kept every note very clearly. He added Martin's new account to it. There would always be a day when the new accounts and old accounts would be settled together.

…………

In the Lumiere Hall, Martin walked along the aisle. When he turned from the fourth row, Mene, who was sitting next to him, waved to him.

"Boss." Mene didn't look very well, with bags under his eyes.

Martin came up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

Mene smiled and asked, “When are we going to Morocco?”

Martin said, "The flight is the day after tomorrow. The crew has arranged a press conference tomorrow."

Mene nodded: "We can stay for another day."

Martin saw Charlize smiling at him from the front and said, "I'm going to the front."

Menet didn't say anything more, but just felt a little regretful. This time he only spent time alone with Isabelle Huppert, and there are many older literary goddesses in France.

Sophie Marceau, Juliette Binoche, Emmanuelle Beart...

Menez suddenly slapped himself on the head, secretly cursing himself for being short-sighted and having too narrow a vision. He could have looked at the whole of Europe, like Monica Bellucci.

In the front, Charlize, wearing a fishtail dress, said: "Let me tell you a secret, I am the presenter of the Best Actor award."

Martin said seriously, "Can we wait until the awards ceremony is over before we talk?"

Charlize responded, "No problem."

Martin smiled and said, "I hope you will be my lucky goddess."

Charlize had a very positive impression of her neighbor and said, "I hope so."

Martin walked forward a few steps and sat in the second row.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere of the awards ceremony, David Fincher thought of the Oscars again and asked Martin: "Did the LAPD and FBI respond to what I said last time?"

Martin knew that he was asking about the adaptation of the Santa Monica Pier Incident, and said, "I have contacted them, and they have been saying that they are seriously considering it. Although we can adapt it without them, I think it would be best to get their support."

"Without them, we're missing an important link." David Fincher added, "I don't have much connections with either side, so I can only ask you to help keep an eye on them."

Martin responded: "I'll call and ask every once in a while."

The award ceremony started quickly. During the ceremony, many people spoke in French, which Martin could not understand at all. He could only wait patiently and occasionally get distracted.

The awards were presented one after another, from the Un Certain Regard unit to the main competition unit, and no single film was able to win two awards.

The three major film festivals pay more attention to dividing the pie than the Oscars.

After British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg won the Best Actress award, Charlize Theron moved from backstage to the podium.

The South African actress did not say anything, she just opened the envelope, took a look, her eyes fell accurately on Martin, and said with a smile: "The best actor is Martin Davis!"

Applause rang out, and Martin clenched his fists, looking excited and inspired. He stood up and hugged David Fincher and Kathleen Kennedy respectively, and high-fived several actors who reached out their hands to him, and strode onto the podium.

Charlize first handed Martin the Palme d'Or box containing the Best Actor award, and then handed him the certificate tied with red silk.

Martin opened his arms and hugged her, whispering, "Sally, you really are my lucky goddess."

Charlize smiled coldly but brilliantly: "Congratulations."

She took the initiative to step aside.

Martin placed the award box on the wooden table in front of the microphone, with the crystal glass side facing the audience. Holding the rolled-up certificate in his hand, he said, "Thank you to the organizing committee and the jury for recognizing me. Thank you to Director David Fincher and Ms. Kathryn Kennedy, and thank you to every member of the crew team..."

There was nothing special about his acceptance speech, it was just thanks from beginning to end.

After winning the Cannes Best Actor Award, it is only right for me to say something good about Cannes.

Martin thanked everyone around him one by one and walked backstage with Charlize.

The two sides are both neighbors and friends. They talk as they walk and it seems that they have a very good relationship.

The newly crowned Cannes Film Festival Best Actor will of course receive a lot of attention, and the camera lenses were always filming Martin, and Charlize was also filmed in passing.

The two went backstage and chatted with Charlotte Gainsbourg, who won the Best Actress award.

All the European actresses Martin knows are at the artist level. He has relevant memories of Charlotte Gainsbourg. In "The Female Ancestors" directed by Lars von Trier, Charlotte Gainsbourg made great sacrifices for art.

The general scale of European cinema films far exceeds that of Hollywood.

Martin did not leave the backstage for the time being, but watched the final award ceremony from the side.

The Grand Jury Prize went to the French film "The Prophet", while the Palme d'Or was unsurprisingly won by Michael Haneke, director of "The White Ribbon".

When Isabelle Huppert personally presented the award to Haneke, there was a lot of noisy noise at the scene.

The relationship between the two men destined the Palme d'Or to suffer huge criticism afterwards.

(End of this chapter)