Hollywood Director 1992

"Strange, I smell a familiar scent."

In the Miramax Films office, Harvey Weinstein frowned as he looked at the news in the newspaper.

"What smell?"

Bob Weinstein sniffed, catching a strong, pungent odor. His eyes involuntarily drifted to the space beneath the desk, where a pair of unshod, decaying feet emitted a faint heat.

"Damn it, that's not what I'm talking about."

Harvey glared at him, pointing to the newspaper. "Before 'Paranormal Activity' was released, Link used the media to publish many supernatural news stories, including the Blair Witch. Now, newspapers and television are suddenly filled with these stories, somewhat similar to the situation before 'Paranormal Activity' was released."

"You mean, this is Link hyping things up, promoting his next movie?"

Bob asked in surprise, then shook his head. "Impossible. Since the end of last year, Link has been busy with book signings. He hasn't had time to film a movie. Even if someone is hyping a movie, it wouldn't be him."

Harvey stroked his chin thoughtfully. Link's whereabouts could be tracked through the media. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, he was promoting his new book, leaving him no time to film a movie.

Besides, his third film, 'Final Destination,' is in preparation and is expected to start filming in March. It's unlikely he'd start another movie in the middle.

Judging from these points, it doesn't seem like his movie.

"Maybe someone is using 'Paranormal Activity' as a reference to promote their movie."

"Very likely. After the success of 'Paranormal Activity,' many film companies are following suit and filming similar movies. It's estimated that there will be dozens of such films this year. Should we invest in them?"

"Let's wait and see. The success of 'Paranormal Activity' had a lot of luck involved. It won't be so easy to succeed by following suit."

Harvey Weinstein said, squinting.

"Bro, can you put on your shoes? Your feet really stink, like dead rats."

Bob rubbed his nose and said.

"Shut up!"

Harvey raised his foot and rubbed it with his hand, showing no intention of putting on his shoes.

As the news about the Blair Witch increased in the media, not only the Weinstein brothers but also many people in the industry noticed that the current public opinion atmosphere was not quite right, very similar to the situation before the release of 'Paranormal Activity' last year.

Many people suspected that a film company was using the 'Paranormal Activity' distribution model to market a new movie.

Hollywood film companies began to investigate, wanting to see which company's film project it was. However, the other party's security measures were very good, and they couldn't find out after a long investigation.

Some people also suspected Link, but not many. Link is now a great writer, and he has been holding book signings around the world recently, so he doesn't have much time to film a movie. This movie shouldn't be his work.

"Link is really cunning."

Ben Affleck said, looking at the newspaper with admiration.

"Are you praising him or scolding him?"

Matt Damon asked.

"Of course, I'm praising him. Before filming 'The Blair Witch Project,' he handed the crew over to Sophia and went to other places to hold book signings. At first, I thought he really didn't care about the crew and let Sophia do whatever she wanted.

Who knew that in between book signings, he ran to the set to film the movie.

Now it seems that this was all his plan. He deliberately filmed the movie during the book signings, using the book signings as a cover to prevent people from suspecting that he was related to the movie.

This trick is really clever."

Ben Affleck took out his notebook and wrote down Link's approach, perhaps he could use it when he became a director in the future.

"Does doing this work? I'm talking about Link. Whether a movie is good or not has two criteria: one is the box office results, and the other is the recognition of film awards or professional film critics. 'The Blair Witch Project' doesn't look like a movie that can win an Oscar.

To prove that this is a good movie, the only way is through box office results. Will this movie do well at the box office? If the box office results are average, everything Link has done in the past and now will be in vain, and our efforts will also be in vain."

Matt Damon said.

"Don't worry, Link is a smart guy. Since he arranged it this way, he must have the confidence to succeed.

Besides, you chose this movie, and I was dragged by you to participate in the audition. Now that the movie is about to be released, and you're starting to worry about whether our efforts will be wasted, isn't it too late?"

Ben Affleck said, winking.

"This is the first movie we've starred in. Aren't you worried?"

"No worries. A movie with a cost of less than $100,000 can't lose much even if it flops."

Ben Affleck said indifferently.

In February, the American media continued to promote news about the Blair Witch. HBO TV programs began to broadcast several videos of tourists filming the 'Blair Witch'.

Due to the recent high level of discussion about the Blair Witch, and the fact that several videos were filmed relatively frighteningly, the average viewership of the program reached over 12 million people.

The popularity of Blair Witch-related news remained high in the American media.

When everyone was guessing which film company's promotional campaign it was, the 'Los Angeles Times' published a news article revealing the mystery.

The 'Los Angeles Times' reported that three students from the University of California went on an adventure to Wilton Town last year and mysteriously disappeared shortly after, and their whereabouts are still unknown.

In January, tourists accidentally discovered a damaged camera while searching for traces of the Blair Witch in Wilton Town. The camera had stopped working because it had been exposed in the wild for too long.

Fortunately, the tourists found a backpack near the camera. There were three videotapes in the backpack.

The owners of the backpack and videotapes were the three missing college students.

The videotapes recorded the entire process of the three students from their departure to their disappearance, and even involved some occult knowledge.

Now the families of the three missing college students have sold the videotapes to Triangle Entertainment.

Joe Feller, president of Triangle Entertainment, said in an interview that the three videotapes were well-preserved, and the company is currently in post-production, adjusting the videotape format.

If all goes well, everyone will have the opportunity to see in theaters what the three students encountered before they disappeared.

After the 'Los Angeles Times' reported the news, the media reprinted it one after another. In less than three days, many people learned about the incident through the media, and everyone was curious about the videotapes taken by the three college students.

Some more righteous media also came forward to reveal the truth, claiming that the rumors of the Blair Witch were false, and the 'videotape incident' was also false. Recent media reports about the Blair Witch were Triangle Entertainment promoting the release of a new movie, and please don't believe it.

Although the purpose of these media articles was to criticize Triangle Entertainment's approach, they mentioned the Blair Witch in their reports, which also allowed more people to learn about the 'Blair Witch incident'.

In mid-February, Triangle Entertainment publicly announced that 'The Blair Witch Project' had been scheduled for release on February 26th.