Volume 2: Knocking on Heaven's Door Chapter 63 Teaches Us to Maximize Benefits
"We have a very well-managed country."
Tommy was willing to change out of his T-shirt and beach pants and put on a formal suit. The golden retriever inherited from his father was also styled with hairspray. At this moment, he was standing outside the government building with a serious face, introducing the situation of the country to the children's variety show producer Elton Byrne and the small filming team he brought with him.
Although they had expected the country to be small, Elton and the small film crew were still a little surprised to see that the capital, Kingston, was not even as big as some of the bustling towns in the United States.
Moreover, local black people kept appearing suddenly and out of nowhere near these people, as if admiring animals in a zoo, staring at the group with their ignorant, fearless and curious big eyes.
"Haven't they seen any white people?" a crew member asked Tommy, looking at the black people looking in the distance.
Tommy shook his head. "No, it's not that they haven't seen white people before. They are just curious about your machines. This country doesn't have its own TV stations. There are only a few radio stations to convey news."
"Mr. Chief, the sugarcane fields in St. George Parish have been destroyed by wild boars! A large number of wild boars are destroying them right now! The parish police station asked us to rush for support!" A black policeman's voice came from the balcony on the second floor of the police station.
Elton and the others looked up and saw Dennis wearing a proper black British police uniform, a wide-brimmed police hat on his head, his left chest almost covered with medals and ribbons. He held the guardrail with both hands and looked into the distance with a deep gaze.
The most exaggerated thing is that this guy wore an Italian-style police cloak in the summer.
Just looking at the styling, it is really cool, especially the look of Dennis with a tense face and looking out over the railing, which has a bit of the German Gestapo vibe.
But adults like Elton were a little confused. After a few seconds, a crew member turned his head and asked his companion uncertainly: "Were those medals purchased from American souvenir shops? I recognize that most of them are American medals. How much whiskey does the Queen of England have to drink to do such a thing as awarding American medals to Commonwealth police officers?"
"Don't worry, everything is going according to procedure." Dennis turned around and looked at the black policeman who came to deliver the letter: "I have suggested that the country legislate for this as soon as possible."
The black policeman was completely stunned, and looked nervously at the chief, whom he had become familiar with. According to the plan, Dennis only needed to tell him about his previous plan to drive the wild boars to the American Embassy, but now, the chief got in the mood and changed his lines himself?
The black man stared, trembled his thick lips, and repeated uncertainly: "Legislation?"
"Yes, legislation." Dennis patted the other man's shoulder, very satisfied with the surprise in his eyes: "Legislation is required to prohibit wild boars from entering sugarcane fields without permission. After the legislation is passed, we can capture the wild boars that destroy the sugarcane fields."
The black policeman didn't react, and several members of the camera crew who heard the conversation on the street couldn't help laughing. They understood that the joke Dennis told was a mockery of a weird law in the state of Georgia, USA, which prohibits chickens from walking on the road.
"Did you turn on your camera just now? This is a good joke." The director of the crew asked the photographer.
The photographer carrying the camera nodded: "Of course, it's great as a joke for interesting news."
"But Mr. Chief, there's no need to go through so much trouble, just..." The black policeman was sweating profusely, and he almost said the line that , in order to get the plot back on track.
"This is the American way, it will definitely not be wrong, believe me." Dennis interrupted the other party and continued.
The subordinate tried hard to cooperate with Dennis's performance, but finally determined that he could not keep up with Dennis's train of thought, so he could only ask a normal question honestly: "Mr. Director, I want to say that wild boars cannot understand English laws. How did you want to catch it after the legislation? Maybe you can just catch it now in the same way?"
"That makes sense. It seems American chickens don't understand English laws either." Dennis said with a smile, "So what's your idea, Cora?"
The black man stared blankly with his eyes wide open, and tentatively said, "I don't know, Mr. Director. I've only been on the job for half a month, and I haven't encountered such a situation before. Maybe we can drive the wild boars to the American Embassy, so that the American Embassy will think it's been invaded, and send their Marines to deal with the invading enemy?"
After saying Dennis's lines himself, the black policeman lowered his head in shame and breathed a sigh of relief.
"What a great idea, Cora! You're such a genius!" Dennis laughed happily, but then his expression suddenly changed: "This country doesn't need to rely on other forces! Let me tell you how to deal with the wild boar! Gather all the hounds and men in the town! Follow me! Use the hounds to fight head-on, and we'll sneak up on the wild boar and kill it!"
The black man subconsciously stood at attention: "Yes, Mr. Chief!"
"Driving wild boars to the American Embassy, which organ in your body came up with this answer? You might as well drive the wild boars directly to the Falkland Islands. Not only will that solve the problem of wild boars in your country, but the Queen of England will also think that you are bringing the wild boars to fight for her. Maybe she will even award you and the wild boars a bunch of medals." Dennis shook his cloak and disappeared on the balcony.
The black policeman lowered his head, as if he was talking about an issue that could appear on TV. Chief Dennis seemed like a different person. After a conversation, he became a smart man, and he himself became a clown driving away wild boars.
"The temperature today is 28 degrees. Are you sure the child won't get a heat stroke?" The photographer asked in a low voice after Dennis disappeared. "The moment the cloak fluttered, it made me feel that the material was very thick."
Elton looked away and said, "Although the uniform makes me feel like a cross between Britain and Italy, his method is correct in the end. My hometown is in Missouri, and farmers there are accustomed to using hounds to confront wild boars head-on while they aim with guns at the side."
"I said that this country is well governed by us." Tommy said, "Next, you can go into the government building for a tour."
Elton and the crew spent the whole morning in the government building, watching a group of high school students handling various daily affairs in a serious manner. In the afternoon, they went to the beach to visit Prime Minister Maduf who was on vacation. After careful questioning, they finally believed that the old man in front of them really handed over this town... no, this country to a group of high school students to experience life, and these high school students did a better job than the previous officials.
When they returned to the conference room, Elton said seriously to Tommy, who had called Steve, the Minister of Finance and Trade, to accompany him to the meeting:
"Tommy, or Prime Minister Hawke, first of all, I think your summer camp idea is great, and it is more interesting and profound than most summer camps. Secondly, I am also willing to help you promote it, but if I produce a separate program specifically for your summer camp, the cost will be very, very high."
"Do you think we can't afford the fees?" Tommy stared at Elton and asked with a slight frown.
Steve next to him laughed and said to Elton, "I also want to know what kind of price would be described as very, very high by you, Mr. Byrne."
"I know you two. One of you founded this summer camp and is likely to make hundreds of thousands or even more money in one summer, which is more than many people make in ten years. The other is about to inherit an astronomical inheritance, but I always treat you two as adults. You are more mature than your peers. There is no doubt that when I was your age, I only knew how to write love letters to girls and ask them out to the movies." Elton smiled gently.
"I believe that you two mature and smart people will not waste money, right? After all, adults value maximizing profits."
Tommy nodded in agreement. "Of course, I always do that."
Then he glanced at Steve next to him and added, "We."
"You want to promote your summer camp and hope that Nickelodeon will help you produce a special program to record everything that happens here. No matter how great your summer camp is, you can only pay the TV station and be promoted as a commodity, just like advertising your own product on TV. I think it would be better to try a different approach. Instead of product and advertising promotion, I would like to persuade the channel to make a brand new summer program to record the story of this summer camp. Maybe there will be three, six or nine seasons, or even next year. In this way, both parties will pay to produce the program, instead of you paying for advertising alone."
After Elton finished speaking, Tommy and Stephen looked at each other, then whispered a few words, and finally Stephen shrugged uninterested:
"It sounds like you want to take our money to produce your own programs, and how do I know if the programs you produce are in line with our tastes? I still think that CSLS pays for it and you are responsible for the production. This can avoid disagreements during the production of the program and the situation where both parties are unwilling to give in. Now it is much simpler. We pay for it and you listen to us."
"If you two can authorize me the exclusive TV production rights of the summer camp program on behalf of CSLS, you don't have to pay the production fee. But after all, it's to promote the CSLS summer camp, so you don't have to think about us paying you. While we bear the production risk, we can also help you get the title of co-producer of this program, the title of producer of Nickelodeon. You two, you should understand that this is an honor that many high school students will fight hard to get. Whether you go to college or work after graduation, it will be a golden resume. It's no exaggeration to say that with this resume, if you study film and television in college, you can start your career as an assistant producer at major TV stations after graduation."
"Don't worry about my career, Mr. Bourne. I'm more concerned about how to resolve any disagreements." Tommy tried hard to keep a straight face and maintain the expressionless attitude of a prime minister, but he still couldn't control the slightest movement of the corners of his mouth turning up.
Elton said confidently, "As for the disagreement, we are just recording and filming how this country is governed by you. We will not participate in your actions, but I hope you can consider making the program look more exciting, such as arranging your students to do some work that can attract the audience. I mean, don't always look through documents at the desk. It's better to do some real things for this country like the police chief did. This will make the program look more vivid and the summer camp more convincing."
This time, Tommy and Stephen looked at each other and laughed. Tommy said, "If that's the case, of course we can cooperate . It's a good thing to save some publicity costs."
"I'll ask the legal department to draft a contract, which will be sent to your offices shortly." Elton also laughed, then stood up and took the initiative to shake hands with the two men: "It's a pleasure to work with you, Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer."
After Elton's men left, Tommy breathed a sigh of relief, unbuttoned his suit jacket, revealing the Walkman at his waist, pressed the play button, and Elton's voice rang out:
"But I hope you can consider making the show more exciting, such as arranging your trainees to do some work that can attract the audience. I mean, don't always sit at your desk flipping through documents. It would be better to do something real to help this country like the police chief did..."
Stephen handed Tommy a cigarette and asked with a smile, "We are simple and innocent, right?"
"Mr. Elton can tell you the answer, yes." Tommy took the cigarette and said, "I can't believe that a man in his forties who is still just a children's program producer is trying to teach us what profit maximization means."
