My Hollywood System

Chapter 38:

Karen Jansen took out the envelope with a smile on her face. Her gaze lingered on the directors and actors sitting below the stage, and she couldn’t help but smirk.

As an actress, she very well knew how they were feeling; Anxious, worried, and hopeful.

She looked down at the envelope and saw the name of the movie that had won the award, and she couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘I haven’t seen this one.’

She had gone through the screenings of many movies but not the one written on the envelope. Ignoring her thoughts, she spoke on the mic.

“So, the name of the movie which has won the award for the ‘Most innovative idea’ is [The Blair Witch Project]!”

As soon as Karen announced that, wild applause rang out from the crowd. All the eyes of the directors, actors, and other important individuals gathered on Will.

“What is [The Blair Witch Project]? Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“That camcorder movie? I can’t believe it won an award!”

“I saw the screening of it. It was really scary, but it’s not a real movie. The jury has really gone mad!”

“Who’s the director of it?”

People talked in hushed whispers, but their gazes were lingering on the table, which was occupied by Will, June, Marcus, Zach, and George.

‘We won… we really won.’

Will couldn’t believe that the movie he had directed had really got an award at a prominent film festival.

[The Blair Witch Project] didn’t receive any awards in his previous world. But it was well-received by the audience, even though the movie still couldn’t rake in any awards.

So, this was a shock to Will.

But it was a genuinely good one. For a moment, Will wasn’t even able to hide his emotions, and a bright smile unknowingly crept on his face.

“June, did we really win an award?” He asked, turning towards June, who was looking up at him.

“Yes, yes, we did! You really did it, Will!”

She said excitedly, thinking back to the time she had decided to accept Will’s offer to play the lead. Who would have known that a movie shot on a camcorder in 10 days would get an award?

On the other hand, George had an expression that said he was finally not regretting choosing a movie like Blair Witch to distribute.

Marcus and Zach just looked at each other in disbelief and shock.

Slowly coming to terms with reality, they walked up to the stage with Will and George leading the way.

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As Will walked towards Karen, she whispered.

“Congratulations! Are you really the director?” She asked with a flicker of surprise in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m the one.”

“I haven’t seen your movie, but now I’m interested in it. Again, congratulations on winning!”

Saying this, Karen presented Will with the award. He picked it in his hands and looked down at it.

It was the first movie award he had won in his life.

Will glanced at the award, then at the audience. At that moment, George nudged him a bit on his shoulders.

“Will, you should speak on behalf of the team.”

He nodded his head and stepped towards the mic. Looking down at the prominent figures in Hollywood who were eyeing him with curiosity, he spoke.

“Hello, my name is Will Evans, the director of [The Blair Witch Project] – A horror movie made in 10 days and shot with old video cameras. Funny, right?”

Many people in the crowd still haven’t seen [The Blair Witch Project], so his words caused a bit of stir. Although it got a lot of audiences, the screening time ended before it could spread to more people.

Anyway, horror movies are ignored by most people until they’re really exceptional.

“When I started this project, even I had thought that I was acting crazy. But it was my only option to be a filmmaker, especially after I dropped out of EUC – A dream I have had since childhood. I wanted to make something that is unique in its nature, and I think I’m satisfied with the product that we have managed to make. In the end, I want to thank the committee overseeing the Annual film festival for giving me an opportunity to show my movie here.”

As Will ended his speech there, loud applause rang out. Several fellow independent directors in the audience were impressed by his calm attitude.

His words were short, but he had managed to relay a bit of his journey. Even Karen, who was standing beside Will, was a little impressed.

She felt like the young man standing in front of him would one day be a great director.

After that, they just shook hands with the jury that had selected the movies for awards and met some other people who introduced themselves.

“Haha, Will, you are brilliant. Your movie is brilliant!”

George slapped his hand on Will’s shoulders when they were moving towards the parking lot after the ceremony was over. He seemed to be ready excited as he hadn’t expected Blair Witch to win an award.

“Thanks, George. To be honest, even I didn’t expect an award.”

“Take it as a sign that your movie is capable of impressing people. We got an excellent response during the screening too. Now, with an award behind the movie, I think we are ready?”

George said, hinting at something and Will’s eyes widened hearing that.

“You mean a proper release?”

“Yes, let’s release it in a month. There were no big movies released around that time. So, our competition would be less, and I’m now more than confident that [The Blair Witch Project] would do really well at the box office.”

“That’s the best thing you have said today, George.”

Will laughed, and behind him, the three leads of his movie high-fived each other. All of them said congratulations to Will.

Like that, the official release of the movie was finalized.

***

The following month was pretty gruesome for everyone attached to [The Blair Witch Project]. It was due to the fact that Wheel Work was going all out with the marketing campaign.

In the past month, they have created a MeTube channel and a website according to the instructions given by Will.

On it, the marketing team was regularly posting small clips and behind the scene footage. Aside from that, they have also made a 2-minute trailer, and it has already crossed 200k views.

They were also posting interviews with the cast and some fictional facts about the Blair witch.

Wheel work had even made two of their older employees work as the parents of Heather and give out an interview. Obviously, all this was fake, but their performance was good enough to make people believe in it.

He even felt like the two employees deserved awards for the performance they gave in a 5-minute clip.

All this, coupled with the small amount of hype they have gotten due to the film festival, was enough to make some people interested in a horror movie shot on a camcorder.

To maintain the hype till the release, Wheel Work even hired a legion of keyboard warriors – the formidable fighters whose jobs were to go to every movie-related forum and social media channels and talk about [The Blair Witch Project].

For a while, even Will joined them to help out.

All this made Wheel work and Will hopeful about the movie’s official release. Will very well knew that even if the opening was not big, the movie would spread due to word of mouth.

More and more people would be attracted to it every day, and in the end, it would make more than 100 million dollars in the North American market alone.

Today was the day that the [The Blair Witch Project] was released.

The first show was actually starting on over 800 screens all over the United States in just thirty minutes from now.

‘I hope at least some people come to see the movie after reading these articles.’

Will thought as he went through some articles. He was currently on his way to the theatre to watch the movie.

He had been waiting for this day since the last month. This was going to be the first movie directed by him. Even though he was almost sure that this movie would probably be a hit, he was still nervous about the results.

In fact, he hadn’t even slept properly last night, and by the time he closed his eyes, it was almost morning.

After sleeping for the whole day, he woke up pretty late, and as soon as he felt the first ounce of consciousness, he opened his eyes and immediately sat up on the bed.

The first thing he checked was the time. It was still about an hour before the first show of the movie.

Removing the blanket, he stood up, and the first thing he checked was his phone.

There were quite a lot of messages, and a few missed calls, too, from Jeffery, his Uncle Ben, and June.

He decided to dial back to them one by one.

Starting with his Uncle Ben.

-Hello, Will. Is that you?

“Yes, Uncle, it’s me.”

-Oh, I called during the day. Were you busy?

“Ah… I just fell asleep. Today the movie I directed will be released. So I couldn’t even sleep properly last night.”

-Haha, that’s normal. I also called regarding your movie and another thing. First thing, I am happy for you, and isn’t there a saying… ah yes, I hope that this movie breaks the internet.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

-Hm, also, don’t be discouraged even if this one doesn’t perform well. In fact, I will be going to watch it today. I missed it during the screening event because of my schedule, but I won’t miss it today. In fact, I am just about to leave. Where are you? Why don’t you join me? I also have a surprise for you; I think it will be better if I tell you in person.

“Oh, you don’t have to trouble yourself, Uncle. Just tell me the Cinema hall name nearby, I will come over.

-Um, I think it’s the Arclight Cinemas. It’s near my office building. Should I send a car? The show will start in one hour.

“I will be there, Uncle. In half an hour at most.”

-Alright. I will see you there then.

Will nodded and put down the phone as the call came to an end.

‘I will talk to the others later. I need to hurry.’

Within the next five minutes, Will freshened himself and wore a tailored blue suit jacket paired with a white shirt and black dress pants…

Since today was the movie’s first day, he couldn’t help himself but wear a suit to enjoy the movie.

Though he was sure that he would be getting a few looks because it’s not every day people see a guy going to watch a horror movie wearing a fancy dress.

It took him about twenty minutes to reach the cinema hall in a taxi and five more minutes to find his Uncle.

“You’re here,” His Uncle called him, “Come, tickets will be here soon.”

Will nodded as he walked towards his Uncle and asked, “How have you been, Uncle?”

“Ah, my schedule has been hectic for the last few months. And you’re the one to be blamed for it.”

“Me? What did I do?”

“You gave me an amazing script.”

“Oh…”

“Yes. The company loves your [17 Again] script, in fact, they are not even planning to make too many changes; it just feels kind of perfect. In fact, someone might call you pretty soon regarding this project. And you better pick it up; maybe that call might change your life.”

“Oh?” Will was surprised by this, “Who would be calling me?”

But before his Uncle could reply, someone approached them and spoke.

“Dad, here’s the ticket.”

Will’s smile froze for a moment, and regaining his composure at the moment; he turned around.

In his sight appeared a young lady, who also turned towards him. She wore a yellow gown with a large flared skirt and yellow-coloured floral embroidery on the bodice, revealing a pair of flawless and fragile alabaster shoulders.

She was Uncle Ben’s daughter, Jennifer Charles.

…

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