Sheena Boone continued to look at the phone directory, then dialed the next number.
The directory didn't just list the names of the contacts it also included their preferences, taboos, and more. It could be said the investigation was quite thorough.
Gilbert didn't know much about Oscar PR work, but he had people who did. He simply handed these tasks over to professionals.
Sheena Boone made a round of calls and finally finished.
Gilbert handed her a glass of water. Sheena Boone gulped it down in one go, then finally caught her breath and stretched.
"The communication went very well. They all agreed to support you," Sheena Boone reported.
Gilbert nodded and said to her, "Thank you. I really appreciate your hard work these past few days."
"It's not hard. It's my job," Sheena Boone paused to catch her breath and then continued, "These influential jury members can sway the votes of those around them.
But the Italian and Jewish jury members—I'm afraid you'll have to contact them personally."
"I already did," Gilbert gave her a reassuring look. "I've already spoken to Director Coppola and Director Spielberg. They're both on my side."
Director Coppola's daughter, Sofia, was working at Gilbert's Melon Studio and had recently taken Scarlett to shoot Lost in Translation.
For the sake of his daughter, and for the strength of the Italian faction in Hollywood, Director Coppola would definitely support Gilbert.
As for Spielberg, that went without saying. He was truly Gilbert's mentor. Without his help, Gilbert couldn't have found his footing so quickly.
Now that he's aging, the Jewish power bloc in Hollywood also needs a new figure to lead the industry. That person is Gilbert, so Spielberg would surely back him.
Although Martin Scorsese had also called Spielberg, hoping to get his support…
Spielberg could only say sorry this year, he really had to support Gilbert. Anything else would be inappropriate emotionally or logically.
With these two legendary directors putting in a word within their respective circles, the jury members who held voting rights would naturally cast their votes for Gilbert.
There are over 6,000 Oscar jury members. It's impossible to sway them all.
But these 6,000+ members are mostly grouped into a few major circles. If you can win over the leaders of those circles, or at least communicate well with them, your chances of winning increase dramatically.
PR expert Marco Wald suggested, "In addition to working on the jury side, we should also make a media push. I suggest the media start highlighting your achievements."
Gilbert adopted this suggestion. Media outlets under Disney and Time Warner, along with those he had good relations with or outright controlled, openly or behind the scenes began to take action.
"In Hollywood history, it's hard to find a genius-level director like Gilbert. He is God's gift to Hollywood." —The Hollywood Reporter.
"Calling Gilbert the key figure in Hollywood's globalization may be a bit of an exaggeration, but without his films, Hollywood's global strategy wouldn't have progressed so smoothly." —Variety magazine.
"Having been in the industry for over eleven years, Gilbert has delivered numerous outstanding films—Saving Private Ryan, The Matrix, Chicago, The Lord of the Rings series.
He's been nominated multiple times for Best Director at the Oscars and won once. His films revolutionized Hollywood and became models for others to emulate. His contributions to the industry are indelible." —Los Angeles Business Daily.
Every awards season, the media buzzes with activity.
Gilbert also lingered in Los Angeles for a while, attending various events and parties to build rapport with the jury members and make himself familiar to them.
This was a necessary part of the job. After all, if you want to win an award, you can't act aloof.
The Oscars may be proud, but they never like people who act high and mighty. If you approach the awards with such an attitude, the Academy will be furious.
However, this year, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King seemed almost unstoppable. After all, the previous two films had laid a solid foundation. If the Academy still didn't give it the recognition it deserved, the public backlash would be enormous.
After wrapping up these crucial PR efforts, Gilbert returned to the Pirates of the Caribbean crew to finish post-production work.
Next, Gilbert had two tasks at hand: one was to continue PR efforts for the Oscars, and the other was the post-production of Pirates of the Caribbean.
The first trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean had already been cut and was scheduled to air during the Super Bowl halftime.
However, due to the busyness of the Oscars and post-production, Gilbert wouldn't be able to attend the Super Bowl in person to experience its charm.
Not that he minded aside from the halftime show, he didn't really understand the game itself.
For this Pirates of the Caribbean score, Gilbert once again collaborated with his old friend Hans Zimmer.
Nowadays, Hans Zimmer is already a top-tier film score composer in Hollywood, having established his own studio with a thriving business.
The score he composed for Pirates of the Caribbean isn't much different from the one in the previous life, especially the piece He's a Pirate.
Upon hearing that track, Gilbert could only say that the familiar feeling was back.
After Gilbert listened to the score, Hans Zimmer quickly asked, "How does it sound?"
Gilbert expressed his satisfaction: "Very good. When I hear this piece, I can already picture Captain Jack's entrance. Your music really has strong imagery."
"That's great," Hans Zimmer let out a sigh of relief. As long as Gilbert was happy.
Although he's one of the top film score composers in Hollywood, Gilbert is one of the most elite directors in the industry. Opportunities to work with a director of this caliber don't come by every day.
That's why Hans Zimmer greatly valued this collaboration.
In addition to the soundtrack, Gilbert was also keeping a close eye on the visual effects being produced by Orange Studio, which are now mostly complete.
After honing their craft on multiple films, Orange Studio has now become one of the top-tier visual effects companies in Hollywood. They can even compete with Digital Domain and Industrial Light & Magic for projects.
But in reality, despite being established for several years, Orange Visual Effects Studio has yet to turn a profit.
The reason is simple: the VFX industry evolves with the times. In recent years, thanks to advances in computer hardware, the VFX field has entered another phase of rapid development.
Innovation and development of new technology, however, require substantial investment.
So Gilbert has been increasing R&D investment into the VFX studio, pouring both funds and talent into Orange Studio.
At the same time, Orange Studio has also partnered with hardware companies to jointly develop new hardware.
For instance, NVIDIA. The company's invention of the GPU significantly improved computer graphics processing. Orange Studio directly formed a partnership with NVIDIA.
At this point, NVIDIA was still a unicorn in the IT industry though not yet a very large one.
NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang had once rejected investments from multiple parties, including Gilbert and Bill Gates, choosing instead to grow the company independently.
However, the burst of the internet industry bubble also affected NVIDIA, whose main focus was still hardware.
Lately, Jensen Huang has been seeking new directions for expansion, aiming to develop the next generation of GPUs, and is therefore open to new funding. He accepted a $450 million investment from the Fruit Company, making it one of NVIDIA's shareholders.
David had given a detailed report on that investment, but Gilbert hadn't been involved.
Still, it's a good acquisition. From now on, when playing games, he'll never have to worry about graphics cards again. After all, he's a shareholder surely he can get a GPU or two, right?
But the idea that GPUs could assist with VFX production was something Gilbert had considered a long time ago.
He had previously told the head of Orange Studio to keep an eye on hardware development. Who knows what new technology might emerge to keep visual effects evolving?
One day, VFX will look better and more lifelike than ever before.
But for now, the image quality of live-action footage is still something that visual effects can't quite match.
.....
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