Hollywood Director 1992

"Link, welcome back to the ‘Billy Watches Movies’ show. Did you know that you are the first filmmaker to appear on this show twice in one year since its inception?"

In the TNT television studio, host Billy Crystal smiled.

"So, I accidentally broke another record?"

"Haha, yes, since your debut, you have continuously broken numerous film history records, including the highest box office-to-budget ratio in film history, the lowest budget to create the highest box office record, the youngest billionaire-dollar director, the highest box office record in the last five years, the highest horror movie box office record, the highest preview box office record, the most consecutive weeks at number one, the most box office comeback records, and so on. This is amazing."

Clap clap clap!

The audience applauded and cheered.

Link waved to express his gratitude.

"Link, after the release of ‘Paranormal Activity,’ it continuously broke several box office records, many of which were previously held by your last movie, ‘Buried.’

Some media outlets have praised you as an expert in this area, very knowledgeable about the market and the audience, and skilled at making movies that audiences love. Other media outlets believe you are a lucky director, and the success of ‘Buried’ and ‘Paranormal Activity’ is all due to luck.

Regarding these two evaluations, after the success of ‘Buried’ and ‘Paranormal Activity,’ do you think technical skill played a larger role, or was it mostly luck?"

Billy Crystal asked.

"It should be luck."

"Oh?"

Billy Crystal was visibly stunned. "I thought your answer would be half luck, half skill."

"You asked which factor played a bigger role in the movies' success, and my answer is luck."

Link said, gesturing with his hands, "In Hollywood, there's a fact we must acknowledge.

During filming, technique dominates. A director without technique cannot make a good film.

But after the film is released, luck plays a bigger role. Lucky films become box office dark horses, like ‘Paranormal Activity.’

Unlucky films encounter setbacks after release, like ‘Dances with Wolves.’

That movie was great, and the November release date two years ago was also good, but no one expected it to encounter two dark horses: ‘Home Alone’ and ‘The Addams Family.’

These two movies didn't have high budgets, and technically or artistically, they were far inferior to ‘Dances with Wolves,’ but they were loved by audiences after their release, creating amazing box office results.

If it weren't for these two movies, ‘Dances with Wolves’ would have had a very high probability of becoming the box office champion of the year.

This also shows that luck is extremely important after a movie is released.

When ‘Paranormal Activity’ was released, the summer season was coming to an end.

Blockbusters like ‘Batman Returns’ were nearing the end of their run, and there weren't any breakout hits like ‘Home Alone’ or ‘The Addams Family’ released at the same time, so ‘Paranormal Activity’ accidentally became a hit.

It's hard not to say that this is a kind of luck."

Link spoke eloquently in front of the camera.

"This guy is really cunning."

Sophia said, watching TV from the sofa.

"Why do you say that?"

Milla Jovovich asked.

"Billy Crystal asked him whether his movie's success was due to skill or luck. No matter whether he answered luck or skill, he would be criticized by his peers afterward. But in his answer, he avoided the important and dwelled on the trivial, telling everyone that all successful movies have an element of luck, and so does ‘Paranormal Activity.’ This is equivalent to saying nothing at all."

Sophia complained.

"Isn't that how you're supposed to deal with the media? My agent said that when answering reporters' questions, you can say correct nonsense, but you can't say incorrect truths. Saying the wrong thing is a big problem."

"I know, but Link is only 20 years old, and he's acting so cunning during interviews. He doesn't seem like he's 20 at all."

Sophia snorted softly.

Milla Jovovich stared at her face and smiled, "Sophia, you've mentioned Link frequently recently and paid attention to his movements. Do you like him?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I admire his talent, not him as a person."

Sophia hugged Milla to stop her from saying anything more.

On TV, Billy Crystal continued to ask, "Link, we know that ‘Paranormal Activity’ is your second movie, and also your second movie to become a hit. If we say it's luck, isn't your luck a little too good?"

"It seems like that's the case. After ‘Buried’ became a hit, many people said it was luck, that I was a lucky director, and that's why my first movie was a hit, but my next one would definitely fail.

So, before filming ‘Paranormal Activity,’ I was also prepared to lose money. It's just that after the movie was released, the box office results climbed steadily, even better than ‘Buried.’

That's when I realized that Lady Luck seemed to still be favoring me."

Link joked.

"Damn it, this bastard is showing off again. So he made a movie that grossed over a hundred million dollars, what's so great about that? There are seven or eight movies that gross over a hundred million dollars every year. What's one movie?"

In front of the TV, Robert Downey Jr. drank whiskey and cursed drunkenly.

"Link is too arrogant. I really hope his next movie suffers a big loss."

"It's best if he goes bankrupt."

"Haha, that's right."

Kiefer Sutherland, his face flushed from drinking, clinked glasses with Robert Downey Jr. with a wine bottle.

Julia Roberts shook her head at the sight of the two and got up to leave Kiefer Sutherland's apartment.

No mistake, one first, one first, one inside, one face, one at, one look!

On TV, Billy Crystal continued to ask, "Link, you said the success of ‘Paranormal Activity’ was due to luck, but some people don't think so. Some people think the movie's success was due to skill."

"Really? I've seen too many articles criticizing me in the newspapers these days. Are there also people who admit that my filmmaking skills are not bad?"

Link asked with interest.

"Yes!"

Billy Crystal said, looking at the information, "Aaron Kouch of ‘The Hollywood Reporter’ wrote in the latest film special issue that we all underestimated Link. The success of ‘Paranormal Activity’ is definitely the most perfect combination of filmmaking techniques and film marketing techniques.

Mr. Aaron Kouch said that you are a very bold, very smart, and very creative new director. In the movie ‘Paranormal Activity,’ there are your thoughts and explorations on new-style movies, including many new elements, which is also the reason for the success of ‘Paranormal Activity.’

And other directors can't make this kind of movie because they have been influenced by Hollywood for too long, have already accepted the fixed model of Hollywood movies, and have long lost the creativity and courage to innovate.

Mr. Aaron Kouch believes that old directors should learn from you, learn to innovate, and try boldly."

Billy Crystal said.

"That's a very insightful comment."

Link smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, there's more. Mr. Aaron Kouch also commented on your film marketing techniques. He mentioned in the article that Guessing Game Pictures invested tens of millions of dollars in publicity funds before and after the release of ‘Paranormal Activity,’ which is a very bold approach.

Equally bold is your way of promoting the movie, including arranging a lot of paranormal news reports before the movie's release to create the illusion that ‘ghosts’ really exist."

"Wait, Billy, that's not an illusion, that's a fact, because you can't prove that ghosts don't exist."

Link said.

"Okay, let's not discuss whether ghosts exist for now, let's talk about Aaron Kouch's evaluation first.

Mr. Aaron Kouch said that after the movie was released, Guessing Game Pictures continued to vigorously promote the movie, using the Murrieta case and several accidental deaths during movie screenings to market the movie, so that ‘Paranormal Activity’ maintained extremely high popularity during its release.

He believes that this is the key to the success of ‘Paranormal Activity.’ Without these marketing strategies, it would be difficult for ‘Paranormal Activity’ to break 100 million at the box office. Do you agree with this statement?"

Billy Crystal asked.

Hearing Billy Crystal ask this question, many viewers in front of the TV perked up, wanting to see how Link would answer.

Because there was a trap in this question.

In the past few days, many people have criticized Link for marketing his movies in improper ways, eating human blood buns.

If Link agrees with Aaron Kouch's statement, it is equivalent to publicly admitting that he used this method to market the movie.

He will inevitably be criticized by the media afterward.

If Link denies it, it will be difficult to deny that these incidents have been identified by the media as being related to Link.

Link is in a dilemma.