Hollywood Director 1992

[Chapter 18: Things Were Looking Up]

"Link, you're so cool! With all those reporters around, how did you even walk down the red carpet?"

"Please call me the warrior."

Link joked, having attended countless movie premieres and walked numerous red carpets in his long career as a director. To him, this was just a small event.

"I'm sorry, Link. I was too nervous to follow you."

"It's okay. I understand."

...

Link and Chris Barnes entered the AMC theater, where they bumped into Jerome Preston, who wore a suit and had his arms behind his back, smiling at them.

"Link, I just made a bet with someone about whether you would dare to walk the red carpet. I won!"

"Jerome, thanks for setting this up. This premiere is saving me a lot on promotional costs."

"Anytime! I also wouldn't want my theater to be empty, but is it really just the two of you?"

"Yeah, this is Chris Barnes. The rest will probably arrive later."

...

After saying goodbye to Jerome Preston, Link and Chris Barnes made their way to the ticket booth and bought two tickets, entering Theater 16, one of only two screens showing Buried that day.

Theater 16 was a small screening room with only 80 seats. When Link and Chris walked in, only 13 people were in the seats.

The screen displayed the trailers and advertisements for Buried. The trailers were short clips that Link had edited himself. Originally, he had planned to play them on TV after signing the distribution contract with the studio but that hadn't worked out.

After the trailers ended, two minutes of advertisements played. During the commercials, around twenty more people trickled in, filling about half of the audience.

...

"Michael, over here!"

As the movie was about to start, Chris waved to the front row. The usher, Michael, brought a girl with him from the front row to sit beside them in the back.

"Why are you all so late? Where's Justin and the others?"

"I don't know. I checked with them; they might come later."

"They really should have come earlier. Buried is actually pretty good."

"Link, Chris says you wrote, directed, and starred in this? Is that true?"

"Yep, the movie's starting. You can see for yourself."

...

As the film began, a beam of light appeared followed by the dusty face of Link, gasping for air.

The movie told the story of a businessman who was mistaken for a Soviet spy and buried alive in an unknown sand pit. With just a cell phone, a lighter, a flashlight, a glow stick, a small knife, and a pen, he had to figure out how to save himself.

"Hello, this is 911!"

"Hi, I'm buried! You have to save me; I can't breathe!"

"Sir, please slow down."

"I'm trapped in a coffin -- I think. Please send someone to get me!"

"What's your name?"

"Dawson! Paul Conroy!"

"Okay, Mr. Conroy, can you tell us your location?"

"I don't know! I'm in a coffin or something that looks like a coffin. Please save me!"

...

On the screen, the main character clutched the phone, his face reflecting panic and desperation.

"Link, you're acting pretty well! You don't seem any worse than a professional actor," Michael remarked.

"Thanks! I practiced for this role," Link shrugged.

...

The movie continued, showcasing the character's hope as he called for help from the police, friends, and family, waiting in vain for a rescue that never came. Eventually, despair set in as the police claimed they couldn't find him.

The protagonist's hope turned into a frenzied fight for survival. This part of the film, while seemingly simple, carried reflections on the international political climate of the past few years, demonstrating how mismanagement by government authorities, distrust, affected countless innocent lives during the Cold War.

It stood as an anti-war film. Link didn't know if this version of Buried would do as well as the original, but he had given it his all, betting everything he had. He just hoped the system wouldn't be a bust.

...

Clap! Clap! Clap!

As the film ended, a few scattered applause erupted amongst the audience, with Chris Barnes echoing loudly, while Eric whistled from the back. Others joined in, clapping half-heartedly.

...

"Thank you!"

Link walked to the front, "Thank you for your applause! I'm Link, the director and lead actor of Buried. If anyone has questions after watching the film, feel free to stick around for a discussion."

"Director Link, does the protagonist ever escape the box?" a middle-aged man raised his hand to ask.

"Unfortunately, no!"

"Doesn't that ending feel too bleak?"

"That's reality! During war, many have faced despair much worse than being buried alive. It's that despair that fuels a desire for peace. The protagonist's death here is meaningful."

More applause erupted from the audience.

"Link, you nailed it!" Chris shouted.

---

After the premiere at The Grove, Link left Chris Barnes and took the subway up to Burbank to check out how the film was doing there.

Burbank lay just north of Los Angeles and belonged to the larger Los Angeles area, serving as a satellite city and industrial hub. Many world-renowned media and entertainment companies had branches here, including Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., NBC, Viacom, and PBS, earning Burbank the title of "Media Capital of the World."

While the area might not have had the same crowd as downtown Los Angeles, it had a thriving media scene, although competition among theaters was not as fierce. Showing Buried here was a decent opportunity.

Unfortunately, Link didn't have money, connections, or fame, and without any star-studded guests or media interviews, the premiere felt extremely underwhelming.

When ticket sales began, only Link and the theater manager, William Mason, were at the entrance. William was a gentleman in his sixties, adorned with a white beard and dressed impeccably in a suit with a bow tie, resembling an old British nobleman.

"I've worked in this theater for thirty-three years, and it's my first time witnessing such a quiet premiere. At this rate, I doubt we'll have more than 100 viewers today."

"It's fine. A few people are better than none. My movie screening is already half the success."

"Ha! You've got a good attitude. I hope you can hold onto that."

William stood at the entrance for a moment, noticed no one was entering, sighed, and went back to his office.

...

Link sat on a bench outside the theater. This cinema was part of a shopping center, although it didn't compare to the bustling Grove. The foot traffic was low, especially after renovations had closed it for a brief period.

Link waited on the bench, and after half an hour, around fifty customers passed by. Five people stood at the entrance looking at the poster, but no one had purchased tickets.

Link began to feel anxious, questioning if the system he had experienced was just a fever dream. His insistence on screening Buried stemmed from the promise of a fourfold box office bonus from the system.

That was both his confidence and his motivation.

If this system was indeed just an illusion, did everything he did even matter?

...

An hour passed, with the entrance still empty and no one buying tickets. The ticket seller even dozed off at the counter.

However, during this hour, Link came to a realization -- as an outsider, his greatest advantages were foresight, directorial skills, countless classic scripts, and decades of life experience.

Even without the system's help, he would be fine.

If this turned out to be a hallucination, he could still sell scripts or work on other sets to build funds and reputation, eventually directing other films.

Though the road to success might be slower, it would still be far faster than the average person.

...

Stretching his arms, feeling both hungry and restless, he ambled over to a nearby fast food joint, grabbing two hot dogs and a cup of hot cocoa. When he returned, he noticed a middle-aged man walking into the theater.

Today, the theater was only screening Buried, meaning anyone entering could only see that film.

Ticket count +1.

After the man entered, a couple walked in as well.

Ticket count +2.

Not too shabby.

Things were looking up.

Worried that his luck was poor and sitting at the entrance might block his fortune, Link settled onto a bench across the way, eating while keeping an eye on the theater door.

It was Friday, and by four in the afternoon, traffic in the shopping center increased, and the audience numbers transitioned from single digits to over twenty.

However, some spectators left after watching half of the film, criticizing the sparsely populated screening room for showing a horror film that felt a bit chilling.

By five o'clock, traffic surged again, with more guests entering to watch the film.

By six, more than sixty people filled the theater, and by seven, the number surpassed one hundred, exceeding William Mason's predictions.

That was a good sign.

*****

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