I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director (Type-Moon Fanfiction) - Chapter 38: A Rich Woman Wants to Support You, What More Do You Want?

In the early morning, Rin Tohsaka yawned as she got out of bed.

In May, Cannes was bathed in beautiful sunlight, with the sea, blue sky, and white clouds creating a picturesque scene. Unfortunately, Rin had no interest in admiring this beauty. Her spirit had been worn down by the battle between wakefulness and sleep, and she could only go through the motions of getting ready with muscle memory.

Due to the fact that in this world, her parents were still alive, Rin’s daily life was more regular than in other parallel worlds, at least she didn’t experience low blood pressure in the morning due to skipping breakfast.

However, even so, Rin’s struggle to get out of bed had not improved much. Every morning, this was the most challenging time for Miss Tohsaka.

By the time Rin had managed to get herself ready, the staff of Fate/Stay Night had already finished their breakfast and left the hotel.

Only the old man, Derek Ford, was leisurely sitting at a small dining table, with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper.

“Feel free to sit.”

The old man warmly invited Rin to sit across from him and called a waiter to order her breakfast.

“Thank you.”

Rin, who had just woken up, regained the elegance of the Tohsaka family. She sat at the table, enjoying a small breakfast of French bread and eggs.

“Tsk tsk, these Spaniards are really… they actually said that you and Miss Arturia didn’t take off your clothes, which made Fate/Stay Night lose its only highlight.”

Derek Ford threw a Spanish newspaper to the side with a disgusted look on his face.

Shrugging her shoulders while sipping her soup, Rin said indifferently, “They probably wanted to challenge the alternate version invaded by the Knights of the Round Table.”

During the film festival, major entertainment media from around the world had issued special editions in Cannes. Therefore, Rin wasn’t surprised that Derek Ford could get a Spanish newspaper. As for the criticism of Fate/Stay Night in the Spanish newspaper, Rin didn’t care.

As Shinji had said, Fate/Stay Night was originally aimed at the box office. No matter how harshly people criticized it in the newspapers, it couldn’t compare to the long lines of eager moviegoers outside the theaters.

Even though she wasn’t the main character of the movie, Rin felt a sense of pride when she saw the enthusiastic audience.

Moreover, the newspapers didn’t only contain criticisms of Fate/Stay Night; there were also some media outlets that gave a thumbs-up to this big-budget production.

For example, The Times in the UK praised Fate/Stay Night highly.

“The exhilarating plot of Fate/Stay Night is so satisfying that it makes people cheer. The director of this film, Shinji Matou, seems to have let his thoughts soar to the heavens.

“This masterpiece has created a feat that has never been seen in the history of cinema, captivating the audience with combat elements that no one had noticed before.

“Among them, the most outstanding aspect is Shinji Matou’s creation of the atmosphere and characters. With a narrative rhythm that doesn’t drag on for a moment, he tells the legendary life of King Arthur. He has left a lasting impression of this character on everyone who has seen the movie!”

Rin had finished her breakfast and was reading the newspaper while sipping her coffee when she came across the excessively flattering review of Fate/Stay Night in The Times. She couldn’t help but put down her cup and rub her arms, feeling goosebumps.

“I’ve never seen a newspaper praise our movie like this before.”

Rin’s words made the old man burst into a cute laugh. He shook his shoulders and handed another newspaper to Rin.

“If you think this is cheesy, take a look at The Daily Telegraph.”

Rin picked up the newspaper and, with a quick glance, saw phrases like “masterpiece,” “the most outstanding film in nearly 50 years,” “unparalleled achievement,” and so on. The excessive praise left Rin feeling embarrassed.

“The difference between this and newspapers from other European countries is just too big, isn’t it?” Rin exclaimed in surprise. “Do British media really dislike art films that much?”

Rin had learned the term “art film” from Shinji because the film market in this world’s abnormal development had not classified films into commercial and art categories.

Movies are undoubtedly a form of art; this is the industry’s political correctness.

“Well, after all, it’s the British media.”

Derek Ford winked at Rin, playfully curling his lips.

“Who do you think controls the British media?”

As a country that still retained its aristocracy, the influence of the British nobility extended to various aspects of the nation. The majority of the old magus families in the UK were aristocrats.

After all, during the feudal period, magus with individual skills far surpassing ordinary people were the ones who could rise to prominence. Although the circumstances of the two industrial revolutions and the decline of mystery had reduced the influence of magus, there was no problem with newspapers saying a few good words for their own movies.

This was significantly different from the magical world of Japan, where despite the high-ranking magus being just as prestigious as their British counterparts, they had never paid attention to the media industry. As a result, the influence of Japanese magus in this regard was almost negligible.

“Anyway, newspaper reviews and such are just clouds. As long as the audience can maintain this level of enthusiasm, our movie’s performance will definitely be outstanding.”

Rin looked out the window at the tranquil town, which had once again become lively.

“I wonder if the negotiations will conclude today?”

“I don’t know, but there will definitely be a result before the end of the film festival,” Derek Ford replied. “Now is the best time to release the movie on a large scale due to the movie-watching frenzy caused by the film festival. Once the buzz dies down, people’s attention will shift elsewhere.”

Rin raised her head and looked at the dazzling Cannes sun, whispering, “I wonder how things are going between Shinji and Miss Flora. Will they end up arguing?”

Thinking of the scene where the two of them negotiated and even pounded the table, Rin found it quite amusing.

In a commercial building in Cannes, Type-Moon Film and Television Company was in negotiations with international distributors.

The most important negotiations were for the distribution rights in Europe, North America, and Australia. These areas were the most influential film markets affected by the Cannes Film Festival, and they needed to be finalized quickly while the Cannes buzz was still in full swing.

As the absolute core of the film’s creative team, Shinji was naturally involved in the negotiations from start to finish.

However, the negotiation process did not leave Shinji satisfied, and as for the reasons…

“Shinji, your demands are a bit excessive,” said Cloris, seated at the other end of the long conference table, her chin resting on her hands, smiling at Shinji.

In this business negotiation, both sides knew that they needed to seize the opportunity and get the film into the market as soon as possible. Time was money, and the two parties were old acquaintances. They exchanged a few pleasantries and then entered into the formal negotiations.

However, the negotiations on both sides were not going smoothly.

Although Cloris personally appreciated Shinji’s talent and liked the movies he directed, as a magus, she was equally passionate about the various magecraft that appeared in the film.

But in the negotiation, this representative of the Time Group seemed to completely disregard all of the above. She was unyielding in the negotiations, fighting for every last cent of profit for her company.

Appreciating a movie was a personal matter, while business negotiations were a company’s business. These two could not be mixed.

If such an employee were on Shinji’s side, he would be very pleased. But if the person was on the opposite side, Shinji’s mood would become even more complicated.

Particularly when this person was Cloris, who was inherently a formidable opponent and three points stronger than Shinji, he found the situation even more challenging.

In any case, the negotiations on both sides were not going very smoothly.

On Shinji’s side, they only hoped that the Time Group would act as a regular distributor for Fate/Stay Night, just a straightforward collaboration for movie distribution. For this, Shinji even made slight concessions in the profit-sharing agreement.

Don’t think that Shinji was doing charity. At this moment, his focus was already on the future. As long as Fate/Stay Night performed well at the box office, future films produced by Type-Moon Film and Television Company would naturally become a hot commodity in the eyes of major distribution companies. At that point, it wouldn’t be Shinji begging these companies to distribute his films; it would be the distribution companies begging Shinji to entrust them with the distribution rights.

Of course, Cloris was no pushover either. She directly proposed to acquire all the film and TV rights for Fate/Stay Night in Europe and America. Furthermore, she went a step further, suggesting that the Time Group become the sole global distributor for Type-Moon Film and Television Company in the future, creating an impression that they aimed to swallow up Type-Moon Film and Television Company.

Such demands, not to mention Shinji, even Waver couldn’t possibly agree to. Kayneth, their teacher, had invested so much money and time in this project, and it wasn’t meant to serve as a bargaining chip for the North American magus.

But in the world of business, it was all about setting the bar high and then negotiating the terms when it came to the actual deal.

Both Waver and Shinji understood that Cloris was just putting her demands out there to create room for future negotiations.

“Lissy, I can’t sell all the rights to the Time Group. You know me, it’s simply impossible.”

Shinji’s fingers tapped on the table, his face showing his dissatisfaction.

It was really a headache, whether in life or in business, this woman always seemed to want to take everything for herself.

“Oh, when you need something from me, you call me Lissy, but after the negotiation, it’ll be back to Cloris, won’t it?”

Cloris covered her mouth, giggling, her face full of mockery.

“Don’t talk about these meaningless things.” Shinji raised his voice deliberately. “I’ve made concessions in the profit-sharing, showing enough sincerity to your company. If the Time Group continues to insist…”

“Heh.”

Cloris chuckled coldly, “Little Shinji, your so-called sincerity is nothing but bait to lure fish to the hook. I haven’t forgotten your grandiose promise to bring a thousand films to this world.”

“Who are you calling ‘little Shinji’?”

Shinji’s expression was about to burst.

“Lissy, if you really want to continue negotiating, please show an equal amount of sincerity.”

“Of course, I’m very sincere.”

Cloris said nonchalantly, “I have a lot of faith in you and your team, so I want to invest in your company. Isn’t that a normal thing to do?”

“I, the rich woman, want to take care of you. Little Shinji, do you have any complaints with it?”

Cloris laughed as brightly as a flower.