Chapter 175: The first exclusive interview
Gavin Hunter frantically tried to button his briefcase shut, but as he rushed, the buttons wouldn't cooperate. After a few failed attempts, he simply gave up. Glancing at his watch, he realized there were less than five minutes left until the appointed time. He had no time to worry about his briefcase.
Before leaving, he had been watching "The Pacific". In preparation for today's interview, he had spent last night organizing information about Renly. However, the information available online was truly scarce. Eventually, he decided to watch the entire TV series. He had just finished the eighth episode before leaving, feeling somewhat unsatisfied and having lost track of time.
He sprinted into the hotel and made it into the elevator just before the doors closed, finally giving himself a brief moment to catch his breath. He lowered his head and flipped through the folder in his hand, confirming his list of questions and related materials. Before he could even let out a sigh of relief, the elevator had already reached the floor.
Gavin hurriedly stepped out of the elevator and was about to continue when his footsteps involuntarily halted. He even took half a step back. The entire hotel corridor was packed with people. Roughly estimating, there were at least thirty individuals present. For a hotel that was usually quiet and serene, this was unbelievable. It felt as though someone was throwing a party in the hotel rooms. However, it was still only ten in the morning. Who would be hosting a party at this hour?
Seeing the surging crowd unexpectedly, Gavin's reflex made him wonder if he had ended up on the wrong floor. But upon closer observation, he realized the truth: these people standing in the corridor were all carrying cameras, briefcases, and press badges. They were hushedly conversing, occasionally accompanied by soft laughter.
Evidently, they were all journalists who had come to interview the "Buried" production team, or more accurately, to interview Renly. Just like him.
Such scenes were quite common at film festivals. Some popular production teams might have to endure interviews from as many as thirty media outlets in a single afternoon. Some interviews were conducted in groups, with five or six media outlets participating together. Others were exclusive interviews, where significant media outlets earned their own dedicated time slot. While the production team was being interviewed, other media outlets waited in the hotel corridor.
However, for an independent film like "Buried", this was exceedingly rare.
Gavin hadn't expected this turn of events. He thought that having five media outlets to interview would be quite impressive. However, reality seemed to deviate from his expectations. Gavin couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had reserved his time slot for the interview ahead of the "Buried" screening. Otherwise, given the professionalism and authority of Us Weekly, with his position in the industry, which he had held for less than two years, it would be nearly impossible for him to secure an exclusive interview ahead of these other media outlets. Judging from the current situation, they might not even make it into the first two groups for a group interview.
Hesitating for a moment, Gavin took a step forward. Instantly, everyone in the corridor cast their gazes towards him. The weighty stares revealed a mix of speculation, inquiry, doubt, and various complex emotions. This made Gavin feel weak in the knees. He nervously walked forward, as though traversing a road through hell. The sinister specters on either side cast predatory looks, ready to seize and consume any mistakes.
A pathway of less than twenty yards, Gavin traversed it with his back drenched in sweat, his face flushed. He wasn't sure whether it was the consequence of his sprint to arrive here or the negative effects of the immense pressure he felt within.
His steps halted at the hotel room's entrance. He cleared his throat with a cough and wiped the sweat from his palms. Then, he knocked on the door. Instantly, all eyes turned into sharp knives, piercing into Gavin's back. Everyone was wondering: who exactly had secured an exclusive interview with Renly?
What Gavin didn't know was that after the "Buried" screening, at least thirteen media outlets had attempted to schedule an exclusive interview with Andy. If the pre-screening requests were added to the count, the number of interview requests surpassed thirty.
Exclusive interviews were different from ordinary promotional interviews. In regular interviews, whether with a single media outlet or multiple outlets together, the questions tended to be simpler, mainly revolving around promotional content. Such interviews were more like social activities and, to put it simply, contained less substantive information. In contrast, exclusive interviews were much more professional. They delved deeper into both the promotional project and the interview subject, including behind-the-scenes stories, actor anecdotes, rumors, controversies, and more comprehensive content.
The same question might be sidestepped by the interviewee in a regular interview, but in an exclusive interview, journalists would be relentless, often pressing until the answer was extracted. Sometimes, the interviewees were caught off guard, leading their PR team and managers to rectify any negative aftermath, avoiding the escalation of issues, or perhaps the matter was simply reported outright.
These two types of interviews were worlds apart. Additionally, exclusive interviews were more frequently featured in magazines, while newspaper exclusive interviews were relatively rare.
Previously, when "The Pacific" production team was interviewed by Vanity Fair, that was a typical regular interview. Although Daisy Lucas's questions were slightly more in-depth, only a limited part of the interview was published. After all, the real stars were Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, not some unknown soldier.
Even at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the number of exhibited films was substantial and the presence of stars was remarkable, exclusive interviews were limited in quantity. However, this time was different. "Buried" was already standing out on the international stage of the Toronto Film Festival, drawing attention. Coupled with its previous mystique, journalists realized that, until now, Renly had never granted an exclusive interview to any media outlet.
This caused quite a commotion. Requests for exclusive interviews flew around like scraps of paper. However, the first exclusive interview slot from 10:00 to 10:30 AM was seemingly impossible to secure. The New York Times managed to schedule the second slot, and Hollywood Reporter secured the third. Both of these outlets were at the pinnacle of the industry, but neither had managed to secure the first slot. This thoroughly baffled the major media outlets. Now, people were even more curious: who had triumphed over these two media giants?
A reporter recognized Gavin and quickly approached him, patting his shoulder. "What are you doing? Everyone here is queuing up, waiting for the media outlet that's going to secure the first exclusive interview. Don't come over here and make trouble."
Gavin turned to look and surprisingly, it was Cornell McGregor from Entertainment Weekly. "If you want to schedule an interview now, you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow. I came here today just to see if I could stir up some chaos during the group interview. The whole production team is scheduled for a group interview this afternoon, and they've set aside three hours. We're likely going to have to wait a long time."
From Cornell's perspective, Gavin clearly didn't have the qualifications. Us Weekly was authoritative in the realm of entertainment news, but it wasn't given much attention at the Toronto Film Festival.
Gavin was about to explain when the hotel room door suddenly opened. Standing within his line of sight was none other than Andy Rogers, a top-tier industry agent with whom many had crossed paths. This one sound interrupted the conversation between Gavin and Cornell. Both turned their gazes towards the door. Cornell was about to pull Gavin back, but Andy unexpectedly spoke up, "Gavin Hunter?"
Gavin quickly nodded and handed over his press pass. Andy glanced at it, nodded, and maintained his smile. He jokingly quipped, "You're late."
Gavin immediately felt embarrassed. Waves of envy emanated from the corridor, almost melting him away.
Andy didn't say much more. He nonchalantly stated, "Wasted time is your own, not Renly's." In any case, by 10:30 AM, the New York Times reporter would come in to cut short the interview. Then, Andy opened the hotel room door and made way.
Gavin immediately became nervous. He patted Cornell's shoulder, not having time to say much, and directly entered the room. Cornell helplessly watched as Andy, with a smile on his face, closed the door. He was utterly stunned, his face displaying utter confusion. What... what was going on?
Gavin strode into the lobby and immediately spotted Renly, who was seated on a couch, reading a book. He was wearing a navy blue polka dot tennis shirt with light gray casual trousers. A wine-red knitted cardigan rested on the armrest, and his simple attire exuded an indescribable elegance. Gavin naturally associated him with the style of institutions like Cambridge or Oxford.
"Sorry, I'm late. Gavin Hunter." Gavin approached in big strides. Renly stood up and extended his right hand. The two men exchanged a simple handshake. Gavin quickly set down his briefcase and materials, feeling a bit flustered. This caused Renly to chuckle. "Don't worry, this is my first exclusive interview, so I'm even more nervous than you."
Gavin couldn't help but chuckle. He caught a glimpse of the book on the table next to Renly—Jean-Henri Fabre's "Book of Insects". "Is reading one of your hobbies?"
"Oh, no, it's just to pass the time." Renly waved his hand. "You know, when you're waiting for a plane or a subway, a book can make time go by a bit faster."
Renly's relaxed tone eased Gavin slightly. "I thought you were someone passionate about reading because you give off that kind of vibe."
"Perhaps that can help cultivate a favorable public impression of me, but I don't want to carry the burden of that image. It's too tiring." Renly's teasing tone made Gavin chuckle again. It reminded him of Natalie Portman; her Harvard education was always emphasized in her PR campaigns. Similarly, Emma Watson, who enrolled at Brown University last year, was seemingly planning to follow the same path.
Gavin was somewhat surprised yet not entirely. In their interactions over the past few days, he had only gleaned a small part of Renly's personality, hadn't he?
"Well, I'd better start by getting to know the basics. Who exactly are you?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shallowman
Shallowman On the first reading, I thought it was Conor McGregor. As if the author was exploring the possibility of the now infamous fighter, this time going into journalism instead, and not a respectable and rigorous kind like The New York Times, but Entertainment Weekly to add salt to injury.
The song of the chupster is "The Glitch Mob - Warrior Concerto"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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