When the latest issue of Time magazine hit the shelves, Laila looked at her own image on the cover and gave a meaningful smile.
Though she had turned down Time's invitations for interviews and covers several times in the past, now that she had finally accepted—and officially become the cover star—she was, indeed, pleased. After all, this too was an honor. And who would ever complain about having too many honors?
No one dislikes genuine praise. And Laila was no exception.
She flipped through the pages and easily found her featured interview.
The interview had gotten off to a rocky start, but once Tommy stepped in, the irritation and anger she had been holding in miraculously dissipated.
She liked ambitious people and admired those who were always ready to seize an opportunity. Initially, when she saw Tommy take over the interview, she had planned to offer him a bit of gentle support and guidance. But she quickly discovered that this young man was not the trembling rookie she had imagined.
Of course, he wasn't exactly as seasoned as a veteran reporter—but the questions he'd prepared and the direction he pursued were remarkably good. Just looking at the final result, the Q&A session could be described as brilliant.
An interview is essentially a battle of wits between the interviewer and the interviewee. One side aims to uncover as much as possible, while the other tosses out what can be shared—while carefully hiding what must not be revealed. You can't just let a few clever questions trip you up.
Laila was already extremely adept at this sort of game. Especially after being interviewed by heavyweights like Anthony and NBC's Jimmy—people whose words could slice you apart if you weren't careful. Even in those situations, she had hidden what she needed to hide. So, when dealing with a rookie? That was nothing.
What surprised her was how quickly this "rookie" won her respect.
First of all, his questions were straightforward. He didn't use loaded language, double meanings, or tricky metaphors—none of the usual little traps journalists love. That meant he had no intention of twisting her answers or taking them out of context.
That was a sign of intelligence. Had he tried to play such games, Laila—with her wealth of experience—would've seen right through it. And who knows? He might've been the next person escorted out the door.
Second, the questions he asked were genuinely relevant. Most of them were about things the public truly wanted to know—or rumors that had been circulating but had never been confirmed.
Naturally, he also asked about her upcoming wedding—something people were very curious about. Laila had mentioned bits and pieces in earlier interviews: that the wedding would take place in October, that she'd be wearing a gown designed and handmade by her mother, and that Roy was in charge of all the planning, while she knew absolutely nothing else.
Tommy had clearly done his homework. He didn't repeat questions she'd already answered. Nor did he ask about things she'd said she didn't know—or even if she did, wouldn't talk about.
He focused on the most important topic: her film.
Laila's love for cinema was no secret.
Tommy understood this well. So he kept his focus firmly on matters related to film. That alone earned her appreciation—and made her more willing to open up, offering the young man a bit of encouragement.
Tommy asked, for example: How would the film's promotion be handled during her wedding period? Would the film's release conflict with the wedding schedule?—and other questions along those lines.
They were easy, casual questions, but ones fans were absolutely curious about.
When Laila finished reading the interview in the magazine and saw that none of her responses had been twisted or "interpreted" to mean something else, she smiled and set the magazine aside.
Tommy really hadn't let her down. And even better—he would be appearing at Moran Media's offices soon.
That's right—she poached him. A young person this interesting, this full of potential, this hardworking—how could she possibly let him go?
Just yesterday, he'd shared another piece of good news with her: the original reporter from the interview had been demoted to the bottom rung of the company.
That didn't surprise her. If someone under her had done something like that, she wouldn't just demote them—she'd fire them on the spot.
Offending a major director wasn't usually a huge deal for Time. But when that director happened to be the world's number one, and had Moran Media behind her as backing? Then some real consequences had to be delivered.
Put simply, if the Moran family had chosen to retaliate against Time over the matter, Time wouldn't even know where to start defending itself. And as for resisting? Who could stand up against tens of billions of dollars in force?
"Boss, do you have a moment?" Demi knocked and entered the office.
"Of course. What's up?" Laila waved her in.
Demi placed a stack of documents on her desk. "These are the new marketing plans for the film. They're hoping you can give some suggestions."
By "they," she meant the marketing department. Every time a film of Laila's was in the works, the marketing team would be on edge from day one.
The company had to promote a lot of movies each year, and the team generally did a solid job. But whenever their "solid" efforts were held up next to Laila's box office-smashing success, the results could only be described as… tragic.
It wasn't that they weren't trying hard. And they did have good ideas. But no matter how creative their plans were, the moment they compared them to the boss's work, they suddenly looked laughably weak.
Laila had set far too many records. Her marketing instincts were practically legendary in the industry. Many of the current staff in the marketing department had actually studied her campaigns as course material in school.
It was like trying to perform swordplay in front of Guan Yu. Or worse—like being a fan standing in front of their idol.
In short, they didn't have the guts to "plan" for the boss. So all they could do was submit their ideas and humbly ask for her feedback.
"I got it," Laila said, chuckling as she pulled the stack of plans toward her.
Typically, she preferred to handle the marketing of her own films personally. But her team's support was still essential.
If she had to sum it up, she always took the unconventional route, while her team followed the traditional path, handling things by the book.
This time, because she'd been busy with her honeymoon, she had handed off all the marketing duties in advance. But now that the traditional side of the job was done, they still felt the campaign wasn't impactful enough.
What then? She had told them to figure it out on their own.
After all, she was getting married in just a few days—surely she couldn't be expected to handle all the promo work herself?
That said, she had seen a lot of the initial promotional materials and was quite satisfied with their efforts. All the key platforms and channels had been covered. And with her film riding the momentum of just becoming the highest-grossing movie in history, getting attention for the next release wasn't going to be all that difficult.
Still, if the team wanted to go above and beyond, she had no objections whatsoever.