Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Boycott

By late July and early August, *Glory* was scheduled for release.

It wasn’t a primetime satellite TV series, but Jessie Sterling was quite content.

’What if it performs well? It’s a hot-blooded ensemble drama with a novel theme. Maybe someone important will take notice, and after its run, a satellite network might pick it up!’

Jessie Sterling told the marketing department not to be stingy with the promotional budget.

In today’s age of information overload, the old saying that “a good product sells itself” was practically obsolete.

Viewers had too many choices every day. If you didn’t actively put your product in front of them, who would ever see it?

She couldn’t let the artists under her banner, who had worked so hard for over two months, and the post-production crew, who had pulled all-nighters editing, have all their efforts go unnoticed just because she was reluctant to spend money on promotion.

Yvonne Rhodes sent Jessie Sterling messages both after the series wrapped filming and after it was scheduled for release.

Although selling the rights to Apex was technically a one-time deal for Yvonne Rhodes, her full involvement in reviewing the script showed how much she cherished her work. Even with a screen adaptation, she wanted it to be the best it could be and satisfy the manga fans.

Yvonne Rhodes also promoted *Glory* online, and around the same time as the production team, she released the pilot trailer on the internet.

It had to be said, Jessie Sterling’s decision to spend money on the sets to improve the overall quality of the production had been the right move.

The moment the pilot trailer was released online, it sparked intense discussion within a small circle.

The first explosion of comments happened under Yvonne Rhodes’s Weibo post.

While Yvonne Rhodes’s million-plus Weibo followers might seem paltry compared to a celebrity’s, they were all active fans. Almost all of them had read the manga that originally made her famous.

That was why the discussion about *Glory*’s pilot trailer first erupted under the video Yvonne Rhodes had posted.

“Whoa! I can’t believe the shonen manga I was obsessed with in high school is getting a live-action adaptation! And it looks really good! This takes me back!”

“I saw some leaked behind-the-scenes photos before and thought they looked decent. This pilot trailer makes me want to watch it right away.”

“As a fan of the manga, I have to say, it looks pretty faithful to the original. Each member of the main group looks a lot like their manga counterparts. I’m definitely going to watch.”

“It’s Ms. Rhodes’s first manga to be adapted to the screen. I have to watch it, no matter what.”

“I don’t think I recognize any of these actors. They look pretty good, though. This is a shonen manga, so they should be using young actors.”

…

The response under the video Yvonne Rhodes posted was quite positive.

As fate would have it, just after *Glory* secured its release date, *Youth Handbook*, a series previously filmed by Thorne Pictures, also announced its release date.

The two series were not on the same streaming platform.

Although Nina Walsh’s online reputation had taken a nosedive before, it had to be admitted that Thorne Pictures had some skill when it came to cleaning up a celebrity’s image.

By August, at least, Nina Walsh’s online reputation seemed to be on an upward trend, showing signs of recovery.

Nina Walsh had a cat-like face, with long, narrow eyes and a somewhat round, short face. It was a look that was quite popular and very photogenic on camera.

In the trailer for *Youth Handbook*, which was only a few dozen seconds long, Nina Walsh looked quite good.

While Jessie Sterling was in her office, she received a WeChat message from Serena Lynch.

[Serena Lynch: I saw online that you guys at Apex are going head-to-head with Thorne Pictures. How’s it looking? Are you confident?]

The “head-to-head” Serena Lynch was talking about wasn’t just about the two shows being scheduled one after the other, both aiming for the summer vacation primetime slot. It was also about the feud between Apex, Thorne Pictures, and Leo Goodman.

During the period when the series was moving forward, the friction between Apex and Thorne Pictures had not disappeared.

Arya Thorne still wanted to bail Leo Goodman out. Netizens have limited attention spans. They might have been interested in the PowerPoint presentation Apex leaked at first, sparking discussion, but as time went on, after venting their anger, they wouldn’t spend any more energy or attention tracking the follow-up.

Thorne Pictures wanted to take advantage of the public’s attention gradually shifting to new events to completely bury the Leo Goodman affair.

But that was not what Jessie Sterling wanted to see.

Fortunately, Leo Goodman’s backer, Ronan Yates, had recently come under investigation by a disciplinary inspection team.

Rumor had it that a scene of Ronan Yates accepting a bribe had been secretly filmed.

In the past, Ronan Yates and Leo Goodman were in cahoots. Even soliciting prostitutes wasn’t a big deal for them.

Issues of personal conduct couldn’t shake Ronan Yates’s position.

This time, however, the amount of the bribe Ronan Yates accepted was enormous. After being reported, he could hardly spare a thought for Leo Goodman.

Once Ronan Yates was under investigation, many of his past wrongdoings were uncovered. With that, he was in even less of a position to help Leo Goodman.

After Jessie Sterling learned that Ronan Yates was being investigated, she muttered about it to Victor Morgan.

’Other people might not know, but can’t I see that Ronan Yates was set up? I just don’t know who was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.’

Victor Morgan was sitting up in bed, one arm around Jessie Sterling’s shoulders, letting her lean against him more comfortably. He held a philosophy book in his other hand.

Hearing this, Victor Morgan didn’t even bat an eye. “Isn’t that perfectly normal? He’s committed quite a few offenses, so naturally, there are plenty of people who want to take him down. Just wait. By the end of the investigation, there’s no way he’ll get away.”

For those who held private grudges against Ronan Yates, this was the perfect opportunity for revenge.

“When a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a shove.” The saying was applicable at any time.

Sure enough, not two days after Victor Morgan said this to Jessie Sterling, Ronan Yates was taken away for formal investigation.

The moment Ronan Yates was taken away, Leo Goodman naturally lost his protector.

Previously, the police had held off on a real investigation and arrest due to Ronan Yates’s influence over Leo Goodman’s case. But now that the situation had changed, how could Arya Thorne possibly stop the prosecutor’s office?

Apex and Thorne Pictures were both media companies, and both were very skilled at manipulating public opinion.

After Leo Goodman was taken away, Arya Thorne immediately had her people control the online narrative, attempting to make the company cut all ties with him.

But how could the people at Apex possibly let such a perfect opportunity to strike at their rival slip by?

The more Thorne Pictures tried to suppress the news, the more Apex worked to make it known to everyone.

So, the PowerPoint that Apex had originally exposed quickly re-entered the public eye. This time, Apex also paid off paparazzi to follow and film Leo Goodman’s arrest.

Once that was exposed, it carried much more weight than the arguments presented in a digital PowerPoint.

The latter was just “evidence gathered by civilians.” Whether to believe it or not was a matter of personal judgment.

But when the justice department got involved, when the prosecutor’s office filed a public prosecution and it became a criminal case, how could it possibly carry the same weight?

For a time, public opinion was like waves in a storm, one after another, each bigger than the last, nearly crashing down and destroying the entire reputation of Thorne Pictures.

At the same time, it seemed only natural that the public would spontaneously boycott *Youth Handbook*, a Thorne Pictures production.

Even Jessie Sterling hadn’t expected events to develop this way.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep