Hollywood Director 1992

“Cut!”

On the beach set in Cancun, Mexico, Link stood behind the monitor, frowning as he reviewed the shot he had just filmed.

He took off his headphones and waved to Sandra Bullock and Matt Damon in the distance, signaling them to come over.

“Link, is there a problem?”

Sandra Bullock immediately walked over from the filming area.

She was wearing a simple white tank top, paired with denim shorts, and sandals on her feet.

The sea breeze blew her long, loose curly hair, making her look casual and sexy.

“Sandra, Angela is a computer geek who hasn't had much contact with the outside world.

When she comes to a strange environment, she will show strong curiosity, like to ask questions, but also be very alert and lack a sense of security.

You should pay attention to this when you perform, don't play the role too perfectly.”

Link said with a serious expression.

Although Sandra was his woman, and they were honest with each other every day, they were colleagues on set.

When giving Sandra pointers, he said whatever was on his mind and wouldn't let personal relationships affect the film's shooting.

Sandra listened to his words, tilted her head slightly, and thought for a moment, “I understand, it's my problem.

I don't understand the character of Angela deeply enough, maybe I should find someone of the same type to understand her carefully.”

“That's not necessary.

I referred to your personality when designing Angela, such as being frank, cheerful, seemingly rough but actually meticulous, and disliking pretentiousness.

You only need to pay attention to some things when you perform, and it's not difficult to play this role well,” Link said.

Sandra blinked and smiled slightly, “So that's the kind of woman I am in your heart?

Hmm, sounds pretty good.“

“Go get ready.

If there's anything you don't understand, come back and ask me tonight.”

“Okay!”

If you have time, chat with Mr. Matthews more and learn more from him.

I believe you can do better,” Link instructed.

Matthews was one of the art directors hired by the crew.

He had worked for the FBI for more than 20 years and was very experienced.

His job was to teach Matt Damon how to play a good agent.

Matt Damon nodded.

After instructing the two actors, Link waved his hand and shouted to the crew: “Each group continues to set up the set, we will shoot the extras' scenes first!”

The set immediately became busy.

The lighting engineers adjusted the reflectors, the props team rearranged the scene, and the photographers checked the equipment.

The atmosphere on the set was busy but not chaotic, each performing their duties, and everyone was preparing for the next shoot.

This was also a reflection of Link's leadership as a director.

Link stood behind the monitor, his eyes sweeping over every corner of the set.

After confirming that everyone was ready, he gestured to the stage manager.

Click!

The stage manager clapped the clapboard in front of the camera.

The 'Cyber ​​Nightmare' crew, like a precisely structured instrument, operated in an orderly manner under Link's flexible scheduling.

Thousands of miles away, in Hollywood, the entertainment center of North America, the North American summer season competition was still in full swing.

'The Butterfly Effect' grossed $18.12 million in its fourth week, with a cumulative box office of $99.93 million, ranking third in the weekly box office.

The first place was the fantasy film 'Casper', produced by Universal Pictures and supervised by Steven Spielberg, with a first-week box office of $25.51 million.

The runner-up was 'Die Hard with a Vengeance', with $20.71 million and a cumulative total of $53.63 million.

Fourth place was 'Apollo 13', with $11.40 million.

Fifth place was 'Braveheart', with $9.15 million.

Sixth place was 'The To Die For', with $6.52 million and a cumulative total of $15.91 million, with an estimated box office of $40 million.

Although many people called 1994 the golden year of film, the films released in the 1995 summer season were actually no less impressive.

Whether it was 'Apollo 13', 'The Butterfly Effect', 'Braveheart', 'Casper', 'Die Hard with a Vengeance', or the upcoming 'The Bridges of Madison County', 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'Pocahontas', 'Waterworld', etc., they were all good movies.

The concentration of good films also led to increasingly fierce competition in the summer season towards the end.

In the first few weeks of the summer season, the seven major film companies still had the strength to jointly deal with 'The Butterfly Effect'.

By June, the eight major film companies were fighting fiercely for the box office.

Guess Pictures + the seven major film companies' film promotions were overwhelming, which also caused all the films released by other film companies to suffer, with almost no heat during the summer season.

Including New Line Cinema's 'My Family' and 'Friday', Miramax's 'The Bride', 'Gordy', and 'The Lover on the Hill', Standard Pictures' 'Stalingrad', Samuel Goldwyn Films' 'It Takes Two', etc.

The box office was all below 10 million, some only a few tens of thousands of dollars, and after more than ten days of limited release, they ended their screenings hastily.

'Total Film' claimed in its report that 'The films of the eight major film companies dominate the summer season, which has greatly affected the films released by independent film companies.

The ecological environment of the North American film industry has deteriorated.

It is expected that more than five medium-sized independent film companies will face bankruptcy after this summer season, and dozens of small film companies will collapse in place.'

To this end, Standard Pictures President Bernard Greynete blasted the seven major film companies and Guess Pictures on a CNN program.

He claimed that the eight major film companies were frantically fighting for the box office during the summer season, buying up almost all the media's promotional space, which led to an increase in film distribution costs.

Small film companies are not like Guess Pictures, which is rich and powerful and can spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars to promote films.

Without sufficient exposure and screening rates, films released by small film companies cannot achieve good box office results.

Bernard Greynete shouted loudly on the TV program.

He strongly demanded that the Motion Picture Association of America stand up and stop the eight major film companies from frantically promoting films.

This practice is no different from the eight major film companies joining forces to monopolize the entire film industry half a century ago.

If the Motion Picture Association of America does not interfere with this, in a few years, there will only be eight Hollywood film companies left, independent film companies will disappear, independent films will also disappear, and the diversity of films cannot be guaranteed.

This is a major blow to the entire film industry.

After the program was broadcast, Bernard Greynete's speech received the support of many independent filmmakers.

Robert Redford, the Coen brothers, Harvey Weinstein, director Rob Reiner, Quentin Tarantino, and other famous filmmakers publicly expressed their support for independent films and opposed industry monopolies.

After these celebrities spoke out, the matter escalated.

Guided by unscrupulous media outlets, mainstream media suddenly published many negative reports targeting Link.

On June 11th, the Los Angeles Times published an interview with Rob Reiner, former president of Castle Rock Entertainment, by one of the newspaper's reporters.

The article claimed that the reason the summer film season had become so competitive was mainly due to Link and Guess Who Productions.

Link originally came from the independent film scene and grew into a major Hollywood director with the support of independent film fans.

However, after becoming the number one person on Hollywood's power list, he not only failed to reciprocate the help he received but also maliciously cut off the paths of other independent filmmakers, turning from a dragon-slaying hero into a dragon.

The New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington News, and other media outlets reprinted this article.

Filmmakers such as Fred Olen Ray and Sean S. Cunningham also publicly accused Link, saying that he had received a lot of help from independent filmmakers in the beginning to grow from a small director step by step.

Now that he has become an important figure in the film industry, with more power and resources, he should play a more active role in this position and help independent films grow.

Instead of just making movies and earning more at the box office, making movies to make money like he does doesn't make him a true filmmaker.

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Producer Fred Olen Ray called on fans to boycott Link's movies, give him a lesson, and let him know that without everyone's support, he is nothing.

Affected by these negative reports, "The Butterfly Effect"'s box office was slightly affected, dropping from over two million a day to over one million.

"Haha, Harvey, your idea is great. If we had used this trick earlier, 'The Butterfly Effect' would have earned tens of millions less at the box office."

Michael Ovitz excitedly patted Harvey, the great contributor, on the shoulder.

Harvey forced a smile. It was his idea to have independent filmmakers stand up and accuse Link.

Originally, he had hoped to use this method to suppress Guess Who Productions' films after "The Butterfly Effect" finished its run.

But Michael didn't listen to the advice and couldn't wait to use it.

Now that "The Butterfly Effect"'s box office has declined, Miramax will also earn a lot less money.

However, the thought that Guess Who Productions was losing even more made Harvey feel much better.

"Michael, don't be too careless. These negative news reports are not very aggressive, and the impact on Link won't be too great. After Guess Who Productions starts its PR campaign in a while, 'The Butterfly Effect's box office will probably recover quickly."

"I know. As long as this matter disgusts Link and makes things difficult for him, I'll be very satisfied."

Michael Ovitz chuckled.

Harvey looked at his expression and showed a puzzled expression. "Michael, CAA and the Big Seven studios have joined forces and have a lot of resources. Isn't there a better way to deal with Link?"

Michael Ovitz slowly restrained his expression. After a few seconds, he spread his hands.

"No! Link is very good at making movies. Almost every movie can be a big hit. He is a billionaire with strong financial resources, and he has many talents under his command to manage the company well for him. In addition, he often brings bodyguards when he goes out, so there is no chance to find someone to beat him up."

Harvey frowned, feeling disappointed.

He had heard people say before that Michael Ovitz was well-connected and a remarkable person, but after a few encounters, he found that this was not the case.

This guy is in charge of the behemoth that is CAA, and with the help of the Big Seven studios, he has repeatedly failed against Link, who is fighting alone, and now he can only use some small tricks to deal with Link.

This kind of performance is too incompetent.

If he were to be the president of CAA, with so many resources, he would only need to lift a finger to make Link lose his reputation and beg for mercy on his knees.

Michael Ovitz also noticed Harvey's expression. Not wanting to be looked down upon by Harvey, he took a puff of his cigar and said, "Of course, we also have other ways to deal with Link, and we have already succeeded. It's just that that method is not easy to implement and will only take effect next year. Next year, you will know how brilliant my method is."

He was talking about "The Rock", which has been approved by Guess Who Productions and is scheduled to be filmed within the year, with a production cost of over seventy million.

When this movie fails at the box office, everyone will know how brilliant his plan is.

Harvey Weinstein was skeptical of his words.

But out of respect for Michael, he didn't question him on the spot.

Harvey put aside the topic and brought up the purpose of his visit to CAA. He had a film project, "Very Bad Things", and wanted to work with Cameron Diaz, but CAA replied that she was too busy recently and didn't have time to film.

Harvey hoped that Michael could help adjust things.

"Cameron Diaz? Why are you looking for her? CAA has so many actors. You can change to another one."

When Michael Ovitz heard the name, he immediately remembered Link's ridicule on the phone, thanking him for sending CAA's beauties to his side, and how Cameron Diaz told him how infatuated she was with Link, preferring to be blacklisted by CAA rather than leave Link.

In a fit of anger, he ordered someone to blacklist Cameron Diaz, preventing her from taking on any roles.

"Is there something wrong with Cameron?"

"She is Link's woman. After that bitch climbed into Link's bed, she dared not listen to me. I had someone blacklist her."

"The rumors are true? She is also Link's woman!"

Harvey frowned. Because he didn't want to conflict with Link, he tried not to use Link's girlfriends when filming. He had searched for a long time and finally found a beauty, but he didn't expect her to be Link's woman again.

He has almost monopolized the beauty resources in Hollywood.

Harvey scratched his crotch, and his hostility towards Link increased.

"Don't worry about these things for now. Continue to find people in the independent film circle and have them stand up and speak out, criticizing Link for cutting off other people's development paths. This time, even if we can't make Link's movies lose money, we must affect his reputation."

Michael Ovitz patted Harvey's fat shoulder.

Harvey nodded silently.