Hollywood Director 1992

"Is this the new project for the second half of the year?"

"Yes, the production department has reviewed a total of six projects."

Link took the documents and looked through them. After the intense filming in the first half of the year, five films had been successively completed, including *The Mask*, *The Butterfly Effect*, *Rumble in the Bronx*, *Good Will Hunting*, and *The Man from Earth*.

There were also three films currently in production: Richard Linklater's *Before Sunrise*, Ang Lee's *Sense and Sensibility*, and Frank Darabont's *The Shawshank Redemption*.

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The six newly added projects for the second half of the year.

Link's new film, *The Sixth Sense*, *Paranormal Activity 2* in collaboration with Columbia Pictures, *Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls*, *Hachi: A Dog's Tale*, the crime comedy *To Die For* acquired from Castle Rock Entertainment, and *Runaway Bride* in collaboration with MGM Studios.

The budgets for several of these projects are relatively high. *The Sixth Sense* has a budget of $40 million, with Link's directing fee for this film being $12 million. Before the film secures financing, he can take a smaller fee, but after financing, the fee must be higher, and he should also receive a share of the profits.

*Hachi: A Dog's Tale* is planning to invite a top male star to play the professor, with a budget of $40 million.

*Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls* will continue to invite Jim Carrey to play the male lead. At his suggestion, Jim Carrey's personal salary has reached $20 million, making him the highest-paid male star in the industry and UTA's flagship talent.

Jennifer Aniston will be invited to play the female lead. Currently, *Friends Season 1* has not yet been released, and Jennifer's salary is not high.

The film has a budget of $38 million.

*Paranormal Activity 2* will have Link as the screenwriter and producer, and Curtis Hanson, the director of *The Hand That Rocks the Cradle*, will direct. The plot continues the story of the first film, with the protagonist becoming Katie's sister and her husband and children. The main plot is that Katie gave her sister Kristi a necklace before disappearing. After Kristi moves into a new home, she discovers that the necklace has mysteriously disappeared. To find out the reason, she and her husband install cameras in the house, and the results record terrifying footage again.

Apart from Monica's cameo appearance, all other actors are newcomers, and the budget is not high, at $2.2 million.

*To Die For* is a film project that Liz Glotzer brought from Castle Rock Entertainment, and it is planned to star the beautiful Nicole Kidman. The film has a budget of $22 million, which is relatively high.

Link has read the script for *To Die For* and feels that it is quite average. In the same type of film, it is not as good as *Gone Girl*.

However, out of respect for Liz Glotzer and Nicole Kidman, he can invest and try it out. If it loses money, he will consider it a way to balance his luck.

*Runaway Bride* has a budget of $25 million and plans to invite Gus Van Sant, a director who is relatively good at this type of film, to give it a try.

The total budget for the six film projects reaches $167 million.

Not long ago, Guess What Films and Columbia Pictures signed a cooperation agreement. Columbia Pictures invested $500 million to co-produce 10 films in the next three years. Guess What Films will produce them, and Columbia Pictures will be responsible for distribution. If the box office exceeds a certain number, Guess What Films can get a larger share.

Link plans to add the middle four films to this cooperation agreement to share the company's pressure on production costs.

After reading, Link signed the documents.

"Daniel, when choosing a director for *To Die For*, you can contact Sofia first. Forget it, I'll call her in a while and ask if she's interested. If she's not interested, then look for someone else."

"Okay. When are you planning to shoot *The Sixth Sense*? Do you have a plan? If you shoot it soon, our production department needs to prepare in advance to avoid clashing with other projects."

Daniel DeVito asked.

"No hurry. I am the producer and editor of *The Shawshank Redemption*. After finishing the work at hand, I have to go to the set to work. *The Sixth Sense* will be filmed at the end of the year. The background of the story in the script is also in autumn and winter."

"Okay. Then we'll prepare other projects first."

Daniel DeVito put away the folder, his large fat ass squeezing the chair as he left.

Link shook his head, picked up the phone, and called Sofia to ask her where she was and what she was doing.

Sofia said she was in the recording studio, watching the actors do post-dubbing. She wanted to finish the post-production of *The Man from Earth* as soon as possible so that the film could be released earlier.

Link asked her if she was interested in directing a new film, which was a film with female themes.

Sofia said she wanted to see the script and asked him to bring the script back when he got off work. She would also go to the Mid-Levels Villa tonight.

After hanging up the phone, Link went to the film production center to take a look at the post-production of *The Butterfly Effect*.

This film has a lot of special effects, and it is expected to be completed in August.

Ring! Ring!

While watching the animation special effects, the phone rang a few times. Link didn't want to disturb other people's work, so he went outside to answer the phone.

The call was from Winona Ryder.

After a night of communication and understanding, Winona had become a soft girl, and her voice had become delicate and weak.

"Link, where are you?"

"At the company, what's wrong?"

"Can you come to my house tonight? I can go to your place too."

Winona Ryder had rested for a day, but she didn't seem to have recovered, her voice was sweet and hoarse.

"Tonight?"

Link thought of Winona's soft figure and tactful voice, and his heart warmed. Suddenly, he thought that Sofia was coming tonight, and Milla Jovovich would probably follow.

He didn't have time to go out tonight.

"I can't tonight, I have things to do in the evening."

"Hmph, then when do you have time? I want to see you, chat with you more, okay?"

Winona Ryder asked.

"Tomorrow, I'm free from three to four in the afternoon, I'll go to your place."

"Okay, tomorrow afternoon, it's a deal, rain or shine."

Winona Ryder immediately cheered up.

He could feel her joy even through the phone.

Link felt that something was wrong. Could it be that Winona had developed feelings after their one-night stand?

He called Michelle Pfeiffer to get a sense of the situation.

Michelle Pfeiffer laughed non-stop when she heard this, saying it was likely true, and that Winona was a girl who easily took things seriously. If she wasn't interested in him, she wouldn't have pretended to be drunk and gone home with him from the club.

Link shook his head, asking Michelle Pfeiffer to say bad things about him in front of Winona, and to advise her not to fall for a playboy, let alone invest too much emotion.

Michelle said that wouldn't work, because he was too amazing. After meeting him, other men became unattractive, and no woman would want to leave him.

Link asked her to try to dissuade her as much as possible, and they would talk again if it didn't work.

After hanging up, Link returned to the production center to check on the production work.

In the evening, Link brought the script back to the hillside villa. Sophia, Milla Jovovich, Monica, and the newly moved-in Liu Xiaoli and Liu Qianqian were all there.

After the family had dinner, Monica and Liu Xiaoli cleaned up in the dining room, Milla Jovovich accompanied Liu Qianqian to walk the dog on the villa's lawn, and Link and Sophia went to the study to read the script.

After Sophia read the script, she commented that it was just average.

《To Die For》 tells the story of a female host who, after becoming famous, discovers that her husband has become an obstacle to her career. In order to get rid of her husband, she uses her beauty to seduce three rebellious youths and asks them to help kill him.

Sophia said she didn't like the story of the heroine, couldn't empathize with it, and had no interest in directing it.

Link didn't force her.

Directors are also artistic creators. The most important thing in creation is to like the story of the script, and to have the desire and passion to film this story and show it to the audience. This is the internal driving force.

Creation without passion is painful, and the films produced will not be very good.

Link is a director and understands this point.

"Suit yourself. There are many good scripts in Guessing Game Pictures' script library now. You can take a look when you have time and choose a few scripts to practice with,"

Link said.

Sophia put down the script, turned around and sat on his lap, "If 《The Man from Earth》 does well at the box office, I plan to continue directing low-budget films, like you, starting with low-budget films, and then directing big productions after I have enough experience."

"Not bad. How is the post-production of 《The Man from Earth》 going? When will we be able to see the finished product?"

Link asked, holding the girl's slender waist.

"It will probably take another half a month. How much longer will the post-production of 《The Butterfly Effect》 take?"

"More than a month."

"It's not much longer. I feel that my movie might be a hit. Do you want to bet on whose movie has a higher box office? If we lose... how about we go on a roller coaster?"

Sophia smiled as she leaned against him.

"Wouldn't that be too childish?"

Link frowned, pretending to be embarrassed.

"Of course not, it's settled then."

Sophia kissed him happily, not letting him refuse.

After talking about the script, Link and Sophia came to the gazebo outside the villa and chatted with Monica and Liu Xiaoli while eating fruit. Looking at the brightly lit Los Angeles that never sleeps below the mountain, they had a sense of leisurely detachment from the mundane world.

The only thing that felt out of place was that Milla Jovovich was teaching Liu Qianqian to speak Russian next to them, chattering away.

When it was time to rest at night, Liu Xiaoli took Liu Qianqian to live in the side villa instead of staying here. Although their relationship was basically public, Liu Xiaoli still couldn't let go in front of outsiders, and Link didn't force her either.

It was another lively night. The next day, Link got up early to exercise. Because he had increased his physical fitness many times, not only did his physical fitness become stronger, but his rest also became more efficient. He could become energetic after sleeping only four or five hours a day, unlike Quentin and Ben Affleck, who would be listless for half a day after watching a striptease show.

In the morning, Link and Milla Jovovich, who loved sports, ran five kilometers on the mountain road, and after returning to the villa's gym, they exercised for more than an hour.

After working up a waterfall of sweat and taking a shower, he felt refreshed and clean again. Looking in the mirror, he felt that he had become a little more handsome, and even his facial features had become more prominent and angular. Compared with three years ago, the similarity was less than 40%.

When Sophia woke up yawning, she saw that he was so energetic and said excitedly that he had sucked away their energy, so his condition was so good, while she had no strength in her whole body.

Link advised her to exercise more.

Of the people in the family, Milla Jovovich originally liked to exercise, and later, at his suggestion, Milla started practicing martial arts and would take time to exercise every week, and her physical condition was also good.

Monica and Liu Xiaoli run, do yoga, and do aerobics every day, and regularly maintain their skin, so they are also in good condition.

Only Sophia is relatively lazy and has no interest in exercise.

After breakfast, Link and Liu Xiaoli went to work at the company, and the others made their own arrangements.

After dealing with some work, in the afternoon he brought gifts to Winona Ryder's house, chatted with her about work and new scripts, and said some happy things.

Winona is actually relatively introverted and has a sensitive mind. In addition, the competition in Hollywood is relatively fierce. People with her personality are more prone to depression and autism.

Link didn't want to cause her any stimulation because of his own reasons, so he was more patient with her.

After finishing his official and private affairs, Link flew to Ohio on Thursday to join the crew of 《The Shawshank Redemption》, which was being filmed, to serve as the film's producer and editor, and sometimes also as the art director and photographer.

In order to increase his participation, he even made a cameo appearance as a Chinese prisoner.

Tim Robbins was very moved when he saw this, saying that a big director like him was willing to work as a handyman in the crew to support this film, which was very friendly. So when filming the scene where several criminals were drinking beer on the roof, he also had a bottle of cold beer.

Drinking alcohol in prison while wearing a prisoner's uniform was a first for Link.