The Versatile Master Artist

”By the way, go check the surveillance and see if there’s any footage of that little black girl after she got the illustration book, preferably with a clear shot of her face.”

Director Morgan slowly exhaled.

In his mind, he kept picturing the scene behind the two-way mirror, where the crying little black girl received the illustration and then broke into a smile.

This scene was just too symbolic.

If they could find the video footage... it would be a perfect advertisement clip.

A lot of the industry’s best, most enduring advertisements.

Besides the big-budget, high-return opulent spending like Chanel hiring Nicole Kidman for their No. 5 perfume and shooting an epic ad in the style of ”Roman Holiday,” which cost 60 million US Dollars for just a few dozen seconds.

Some ordinary scenes close to reality, unplanned, can also be just as impactful.

Like luxury car brands using surveillance footage showing their cars surviving serious accidents to promote vehicle safety, or the footage of football star C Luo moving a Coca-Cola can out of the way before an interview, both caused a huge stir on social media.

The principle is exactly the same,

it’s just that one is positive and the other negative.

”Understood, I’ll have the staff contact that mother and daughter to get their consent. Hmm... best to also reach out to the ad director and reshoot a few additional scenes.”

Osborne, enlightened by Director Morgan’s suggestion, brightened up.

What better representation is there than ”Illustration - makes a crying girl smile”?

Not only for the promotion of the ”Little Prince” book, but it would also make a great commercial ad for Scholastic Group’s annual campaign.

For use in a commercial ad, the black mother and daughter will need to give their consent, and they’ll need to be paid a sum as compensation.

No one would say no to being on TV, and one or two thousand US Dollars should be enough.

A professional commercial ad, the stage set alone would cost more than that, and it would lack this raw, unpolished impact.

”The supply chain arrangements are all set; if the timing’s right, the first batch of 300,000 copies can hit the book markets in Europe and North America before April... If we rush the printing a bit, we shouldn’t miss the Easter holiday book promotions by major book dealers.”

Vice Director Schubert was feeling quite pleased now.

He believed Detective Cat would win, but winning so decesively wasn’t something he had anticipated.

Especially seeing Director Charlie’s expression as if he’d swallowed a fly.

He felt even more delighted.

After being invisible for so long, he finally felt like he was making a mark; this satisfaction and sense of accomplishment couldn’t be replaced by any precise hit of a dart bullseye.

Schubert patted the shoulder of the Marketing Department head.

”The surrounding postcards and illustration books can start printing, right? The gift boxes should be made beautifully, to the highest production standards, don’t skimp on costs. Detective Cat’s illustrations are worth the expenditure,” he suggested.

For the same collector’s gift boxes, there are different cost standards even within the publishing house.

For instance, the 1999 edition ”Harry Potter” commemorative gift boxes listed for over ten thousand US Dollars on Ebay, with the cover letters Harry Potter genuinely printed with gold dust.

A few letters don’t consume much gold, but bit by bit, it adds up to a considerable expense.

The highest standard of gift box sets costs over ten Pounds to print, with a selling price exceeding a hundred Pounds, belonging to the category of premium collectible goods.

The Marketing Department typically wouldn’t spend such a hefty cost lightly,

if it doesn’t sell, it’s a substantial loss to sit on.

”We can. By the way, see if we can recruit Detective Cat to work in the Group’s Art Department. If she’s willing to work full-time for the Group, consider offering her some shares. If not, get her to sign a long-term contract, just don’t let her be poached by competitors.”

Director Morgan thought for a moment and made the decision.

”Don’t worry, Director, I’ll personally handle the Detective Cat line,” Vice Director Schubert nodded vehemently like a pecking chick.

The happier Vice Director Schubert was, the more restless Charlie felt.

It wasn’t just restlessness.

Charlie was even breaking into a cold sweat now.

The power struggle within the Art Department is a zero-sum game.

This market competition has stirred up such a storm that even the North American Headquarters in Los Angeles expressed concern, sending a director all the way to London.

Charlie simply couldn’t afford to lose.

He initially thought it was an opportunity to assert his authority, to cut off Osborne’s reach into the Art Department, to step on Vice Director Schubert, and sweep that damn Detective Cat out the door.

Unexpectedly...

Charlie could even hear the slow crumbling of the throne he had spent twenty years building in the Art Department.

A king who can’t have the final word is a king sidelined.

A lion king that can’t drive challengers of his authority to the brink is one too old to sit on the throne.

Vice Director Schubert might not yet pose a comparable threat to him in the Art Department,

but likewise,

everyone will quickly realize that the European Region’s Art Department is no longer his sole dominion.

Shit!

The more Charlie thought about it, the more frightened he became.

”Bang!”

He forcefully hurled the Gucci sunglasses in his hand at the wall, the expensive luxury sunglasses smashing to pieces against the wall, producing the sound of breaking glass lenses.