Hollywood Director 1992

Back in West Hollywood, Link continued his part-time jobs at Burger King, Chinese restaurants, and pizza places to earn some food and transportation money.

The next afternoon, he passed by New Line Cinema and visited the blonde woman at the front desk with a small gift, inquiring about news along the way.

The blonde woman regretfully informed him that the videotape was still in the archive, and President Robert Shaye was busy with other matters and had no time to organize a viewing.

Link left with regret and returned to the restaurant to continue working.

While delivering pizzas to the set of "Bram Stoker's Dracula" next street over, he ran into Matt Damon and Ben Affleck again.

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Unlike the previous two times, the two men were accompanied by two hot girls.

Link asked Matt Damon if his audition went well.

Matt Damon spread his hands and said he failed, the role was taken by a seemingly ordinary newcomer, and he still didn't understand why he lost to the other person.

"Haha, don't be discouraged, at least you guys didn't come for nothing."

Link looked at the hot girls beside them, smiling ambiguously.

"Okay, you're right. How's your movie going? Has the release date been set yet?"

"Still in negotiations, I believe you will see this movie one day."

"We will remain expectant."

Matt Damon bumped fists with him, and he and Ben Affleck continued strolling with the two hot girls.

Link looked at the backs of the two men and two women. To be honest, he was a little envious, but he couldn't be envious for the time being.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck came from wealthy families, attended prestigious schools, and had some connections in the entertainment industry.

Coming to Hollywood was not a desperate choice, but a purposeful pursuit of dreams in the entertainment industry after having a sufficient material foundation.

Their path to stardom was also destined to be much smoother and wider than Link and the dreamers in the youth apartment.

Link carried the takeaway food and pedaled his bicycle vigorously, speeding on Hollywood Boulevard.

---

The next afternoon, Link came to New Line Cinema again to inquire about the videotape's situation from the blonde woman.

The blonde woman told him that the distribution department had watched other directors' videotapes today, and according to the order, he would have to wait a few more days, telling him not to worry.

As he was leaving, the blonde woman asked him if he wanted to have a drink together.

Link looked at the woman's more exquisite makeup than yesterday and politely agreed.

After drinking a few beers in the bar in the afternoon, Link took the blonde woman back to the small apartment.

The blonde woman had well-maintained skin and a good figure, but her alcohol tolerance was relatively low.

If it weren't for Link's regular exercise, plus a 10% physical bonus, he might have been defeated by the other party's plump buttocks.

In the morning, after seeing off the blonde woman, Link came to Burger King to work and heard Chris Bauer, who was working with him, say that Quentin's movie "Reservoir Dogs" was released this Friday, asking Link if he wanted to go see it together.

Link had seen it during the Sundance Film Festival and didn't agree to go with Chris Bauer and the others, moreover, a movie ticket was $8, which was worth a meal for him.

He was not so rich now that he could go to the cinema for entertainment.

All day long, Link was working part-time in several stores, running around, and didn't have time to inquire at New Line Cinema.

The next day, while working at the Burger King, the blonde woman called here and told him that President Robert Shaye had just transferred his movie and should be reviewing it at this time.

"Chris, help me take over the shift."

Link took off his apron, handed over the work in his hand to Chris Bauer, and rode his bicycle to New Line Cinema.

After arriving at New Line Cinema, he greeted the blonde woman and sat in the lounge to wait.

In less than 10 minutes, the blonde woman came over with the "Buried" videotape.

She regretfully told him that President Robert Shaye and the others had not watched the entire videotape. Their opinion was that the scene was too monotonous, there was only one actor, and it was an Asian face.

This kind of movie has no market in the United States.

"Link, don't be discouraged, President Shaye also praised that the overall concept of this movie is good, and the camera control ability is also very strong, calling you a promising director."

The blonde woman comforted him.

"Thank you, at least there's some good news."

Link was a little disappointed, but not discouraged. He smiled and said goodbye to the blonde woman, and left New Line Cinema with the videotape that he had been separated from for several days.

The next day, on the day "Reservoir Dogs" was released, Link took the videotape to the headquarters of Touchstone Pictures.

Touchstone Pictures is one of the subsidiaries of Disney Pictures and also one of Hollywood's famous independent production companies.

It had produced blockbuster movies such as "Splash" in 1984, "The Color of Money" in 1986 in collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, and "Good Morning, Vietnam" in 1987, etc.

Its production and distribution capabilities are not inferior to Miramax Films.

This time Link was relatively lucky. At the company gate, he met Kenny Bates, a major producer at Touchstone Pictures. Link took the initiative to introduce "Buried" to the other party, successfully arousing Kenny Bates's interest.

However, after Kenny Bates watched the movie, he also did not look favorably on the market value of this movie, and suggested that he go to a videotape publishing company to release the videotape version of this movie, which might have some sales.

Link could only leave with regret.

In the next few days, he first took the salary he earned and re-copied 6 copies of the "Buried" videotape at a printing factory in Burbank.

After having a backup, he took the videotape to visit other independent film companies.

Including Castle Rock Entertainment, Trimark Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Carolco Pictures, Miramax Films, Good Machine, and more than twenty other independent film companies.

Without exception, all refused.

Some film companies, after watching the film, raised some questions and refused to cooperate.

Some directly rejected him.

The film companies' opinion was that the film was well-made and had some novelty, but it had no market potential and would definitely lose money after its release, making it not worth investing in.

Those with sharper tongues, after watching the film, said to Link's face that if such a film could make money after its release, they would do a handstand and drink urine.

Link had also considered seeking cooperation with the Hollywood Big Seven.

Currently, the Hollywood Big Seven film companies are Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia-TriStar Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists.

The Big Seven film companies are the seven film companies in the world that produce the most films, with each producing an average of 15 films per year, and they also have the highest box office and peripheral profits.

The main purpose of the Big Seven film companies in making movies is to make money, focusing more on the commercial attributes of the film, with artistic attributes secondary.

《Buried》 has a niche subject matter and plot, and even independent film companies are not optimistic about it, let alone the Big Seven film companies.

After repeated rejections, Link entered a dilemma.

If he gave up, the film had a 4x box office subsidy, and giving up would be a great loss.

If he didn't give up, no film company was willing to distribute it.

Link began to consider whether to delay it for a few years, and when he became famous and had box office appeal in the future, he would release this film, and it would not be difficult to distribute it then.

He just didn't know if the 4x box office subsidy had a time limit.

"Link, give up, don't run around, your movie is too weird, no film company will distribute your movie."

In the small bar, Chris Bauer put his hand on his shoulder and persuaded him.

Link leaned against the bar, looked at the dancing girl twisting on the round platform in the middle, took a sip of beer and said:

"Don't worry, it's just being rejected dozens of times. Many world-famous books have been rejected by publishers dozens of times before publication, such as 《The Diary of a Young Girl》, 《Animal Farm》, 《Lord of the Flies》, etc. This is nothing."

"How can movies be compared with famous books? Those movies that are not favored by distribution companies really, really have problems. It's useless to continue to be rejected. Besides, you have already visited all the film distribution companies you should visit. Who are you going to cooperate with next? If no one cooperates, are you going to distribute it yourself?"

Chris Bauer said.

"There are hundreds of Hollywood film companies, and there are many companies that haven't been tried yet. Wait, I'll distribute it myself? Distribute it myself? Hey, that seems like a good idea."

Link squinted his eyes and looked at the dancing girl's constantly shaking hips, and suddenly felt that this method was feasible.

Film distribution is similar to publishing novels.

For works with potential, publishing and distribution companies rush to buy the copyright.

For works without potential, people who want to gamble can distribute them at their own expense.

For example, American famous writer Herman Melville's representative work 《Moby Dick》 was submitted to dozens of publishers, but no one was willing to publish it. Later, Herman Melville paid for the publication of 《Moby Dick》, and 《Moby Dick》 sold well after its release and was called 'the greatest American novel'.

The same is true for film distribution in the United States. Not all films need to be reviewed and rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) before distribution.

Many art films are not submitted to the MPAA for rating before distribution.

These types of films have more restrictions when they are released and cannot be released on a large scale.

And now the problem 《Buried》 is facing is that it cannot be released.

If there is a movie theater willing to show 《Buried》, even if it is only one theater, and it is only shown for one day, according to the 4x box office subsidy regulations, the box office results will not be too bad.

As long as the box office results are good enough when it is released, for the purpose of profit, the theater chain will definitely be willing to extend the screening period, and even attract the attention of film distribution companies.

Link took a big gulp of cold beer, calmed down, and secretly pondered the feasibility of this matter.

After repeated thinking, he found that this matter could be done, skipping the distribution company and directly negotiating with the theater chain.

After thinking clearly about these things, Link decided to try it.

"Hey, Link, I heard that you are still looking for a film distribution company. You have looked for dozens of them, asking them to distribute your film. Have you succeeded?"

Several young men and women living in the youth apartment squeezed over from the crowd, carrying beer bottles.

"No, success is not that easy, but I am on the eve of success."

"Haha, we guessed it long ago. It's not that easy for you, someone who has only been an extra for a few months, to switch careers and make movies. If you can do it, thousands of people in Hollywood can do it."

A young man with a flower arm tattoo laughed.

"Link, come back, be an extra first, practice for a few years, maybe one day we can become big stars, like Tom Hanks, Schwarzenegger, living in luxury houses, driving sports cars, earning millions of dollars for one movie, wow, that's so cool."

"Yes, Link, it's too difficult to be a director, it's better to be an actor."

"Link, let's be actors together, we are still waiting for you to help me guide my acting skills. You are very good at guiding people in acting."

Several young men and women said.

"Sounds good, I will seriously consider everyone's opinions."

Link took the beer bottle and gestured to the others.