Behind The Spotlight Chapter 259
Jennifer and Shawn shook hands.
Shawn actually went for a hug as a show of closeness, but before he could spread his arms, Jennifer quickly extended her hand.
Left with no choice, Shawn shook her hand instead. The two sat down and started their conversation. The teleprompter was rolling and Jennifer was reading it. The writers had already prepared the questions, and Jennifer only had to deliver them in a natural way, which she was excellent at.
Suddenly, Jennifer glanced toward the corner of the studio, the area where the cameras couldn't capture.
Collin realized that Jennifer was looking at him. He nodded at her, and Jennifer started the interview.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Collin said to Salvador, who was standing next to him.
"Alright."
Collin walked out of the set... but he didn't go to the bathroom. Instead, he looked for Joel, the producer of the show. He quickly found him in the control room, watching the monitors that were capturing the interview. Next to him was Director Patrick.
A talk show was not a difficult program to produce, and the director mostly watched the feeds and switched camera angles once in a while. So, the director and producer were just sitting there, watching and waiting for the ratings to come in.
"Are the questions filtered?" Joel asked.
"The writers didn't write any questions that could incriminate Shawn. It's all good," Director Patrick replied.
"Alright. Does Shawn know about the questions? He prepared some answers, right?"
"His PR team briefed him."
"What if he forgets the answers?"
"He's an actor. He can improvise," the director replied.
Patrick didn't actually support Shawn. In fact, he had found him disgusting since a decade ago. Back when Patrick was first signed by Salvador, Shawn was already an action star and incredibly arrogant. He didn't even bother to speak to or shake hands with Patrick, treating him as if he were nothing.
Things only changed when Patrick's first game show became a success. Shawn treated him better after that, but the actor remained arrogant. It didn't help that Patrick had witnessed Shawn harassing a new actress in one of his movies... Salvador had worked hard to bury that scandal.
The only reason Patrick was helping Shawn this time was because Salvador had asked for a favor. If not for Salvador, Patrick would never have agreed to have Shawn as a guest on their show.
As for Producer Joel, he didn't care about Shawn. All he wanted was a high rating. Morning with Jennifer was up for renewal next month, and he wanted more leverage to convince the TV network to invest more money and grant a longer timeslot.
Joel turned around and noticed Collin standing there.
"Collin, why are you here?"
"I have something to talk to you about."
"Is it serious?"
"Yes."
Joel looked around. Aside from them, there were other crew members responsible for monitoring each camera feed. It was awkward to talk in the control room.
"Alright, let's talk outside."
The two went out into the hallway.
"Is it about the contract renewal? Collin, don't act too fast. I know that Season 2 is already confirmed, but we need to plan for the budget. The best I can do is give Jennifer $50,000 per episode. It's not that bad, right?"
"This is not about the salary. I'm asking for a favor."
"Okay, what is it?"
"No matter what happens, make sure the live broadcast doesn't stop."
"... Collin, what is Jennifer going to do?"
"Nothing dangerous. But it will give the show much better viewership."
"..." Joel narrowed his eyes and stared at Collin. He couldn't read him at all.
Well, stopping a live broadcast would cause serious trouble, and the higher-ups from Nation TV and the viewers would surely berate Joel if he cut the feed, especially when the average viewership of the show was eight million.
Unless something truly catastrophic happened, Joel wouldn't stop the live broadcast.
"Collin, I'm warning you. Don't do something stupid. Or should I say, don't let Jennifer do something stupid."
"I promise you, she will not." Collin wasn't entirely sure, but he decided to trust Jennifer.
"... Alright." Joel returned to the control room. As long as the show itself wasn't negatively affected, Joel had no problem with a bit of drama. Besides, the production team could always put the blame on Jennifer. She had the least influence in the production.
"Is it about Jennifer's salary?" Director Patrick asked Joel.
"No, he's saying that we must not stop the broadcast no matter what."
"... I see." The director nodded and glued his eyes to the monitor. Now, he was curious about what Jennifer was going to do.
Collin didn't return to the corner where Salvador was waiting. He found a different spot to watch the show.
"So, Shawn. You said that you met the grandparents of those two poor children who died, is that right?"
"Yes, I apologized and even begged them for forgiveness. I was so distraught. I know that it was an accident, and their child and grandchildren died, but it still haunts me." Shawn wore a depressed expression... but he wasn't really good at acting. Despite being an actor, his expressions were stiff.
"Did they forgive you?"
"Yes." He nodded. He recalled that his team had initiated a settlement with the parents of the husband who died in the car accident. He believed they had already finalized the deal.
"Is that so? Why don't we ask them about that? Can Mr. and Mrs. Diaz stand up?"
Suddenly, two elderly people in the audience stood up. They glared at Shawn with deep, burning hatred. They had been sitting through all of his charades, the old man was clenching his fists, tightly controlling his anger. As for the old woman, she had been in tears from the very start. The audience had simply assumed she was getting emotional because of Shawn's sincerity.
The audience murmured in shock at the sudden development of the episode.
[Thank you guys for your support.]