TV School 2 (The Dark side)

This is a continuation of an earlier post to start at the beginning start here.

On the other side of town, Daniella Blair guided her electric blue Lamborghini into her reserved parking space. She exited the vehicle in a perfectly coordinated blue dress. Upon entering the building she traded her Zero Halliburton briefcase for a folio and some excellent Colombian. Proceeding directly to the conference room she was greeted by well-groomed employees nervously straightening bulging files.
"All right, shoot. Who's found our school?"
There was some nervous throat clearing until Robert McNair stood to his feet.
"We've prepared three reports, but my preference is a hybrid plan. We can structure our presentation any way you'd like."
"Let's hear the hybrid plan."
"We've scouted several schools and found that tough academic schools are camera shy, and camera eager schools are not the kind we're looking for. Our best bets are St. Aloysius, Pembrooke, and Sonrise. St. Aloysious is almost an impossibility; the alumni and parent pressure is the only thing going for us. Pembrooke is willing but they're just so 'public school.' We haven't officially approached Sonrise, because they may be closing. Despite that I think they are our best option. Sonrise is prestigious, eccentric, and slightly desperate. Their enrollment is almost negligible which allows us to "cast" the show. Sonrise is peculiar enough that our needs won't seem too out of the way, and I'm sure they'll be thrilled when we boost their enrollment to levels they haven't seen in a decade.
This approach gives us the best of both worlds--an established, respected school, but we choose the students for the show. We'll probably need to cast some new teachers as well, which could be tricky. Sonrise has very high standards which explains their tiny faculty."
Daniella Blair never wasted time. "Sonrise it is, make it happen."

Janet Michelle reached out to stroke the noble, yet friendly lion that guarded the entrance to the school. The lion was paired with a great owl, whose beaky face was very wise.
"Sharp will love all this!" she exclaimed.
Carved above the entrance was the greeting "Welcome all who seek to know." The school, at least, was definitely camera-ready. The headmistress was another matter entirely.
Philanthropia greeted them in the front hall wearing an orange felt jumper with 100 black felt bats randomly dripping from it. Her socks were embellished with jack o'lanterns and an ancient pair of Birkenstocks. "Welcome back to Sonrise. You still didn't bring your children! We're having a lovely time today with some summer drop-in students. They've gotten interested in bats. I've been learning the most amazing things, not the least of which is how hard they are to get out of school attics. How old did you say your children are again?"
Robert got straight to the point. "I'm afraid Miss West that we were not completely honest about our purpose for visiting. Here's my card. I'm Robert McNair of Blair Productions, and this is..."
"Janet Michelle, head of casting, you have an incredible school here. The architecture makes the school almost a character in its own right."
Phil was feeling unusually confused. Robert took the floor.
"We're here because we'd like to create a television show about your school. We think it would increase the public's understanding of pioneering educational curriculum and broaden the use of your unique approach to teaching."
Philanthropia sat down. Her well-rehearsed tour of the school and eager thoughts about new students became suddenly entangled with a large number of previously improbable thoughts. She decided to sit down, which was convenient, given that she was already sitting.
"We are sold on your admixture of love and curiosity as the foundation for an excellent education. We feel your graduates and their very distinguished careers speak volumes about the virtue of your system, and we'd like to set this school up on a TV hill to shine its light for others to follow." It was an uncharacteristically fanciful sales pitch, but Robert was secretly in love with what he was saying.
The rest of the meeting was quite dull as Phil largely sat there open-mouthed, nodding occasionally. The final outcome was a handshake, and another meeting scheduled for next week.
When they'd gone, Phil reached for the forgotten cup of coffee and swallowed it cold. Its bitterness reminded her that she'd forgotten cream and sugar as well. It didn't really matter; she needed the caffeine. After mulling it over, she decided to ask the faculty for advice.


This story continues here.