It has been three months since the team started working on "Your Name," and it's finally done. It's finally ready to be released to the public, although it's not time yet. There will be a screening of the movie with the top positions of the FAMD. If they approve that the movie is worth releasing in cinema halls managed by FAMD, only then will it have a theatrical release. Otherwise, Arwin will have to release it back online.
This, in turn, can cause a lot less profit or exposure for the film. These were things that Arwin had discovered before coming to FAMD. Surprisingly, he remembered that only very high-quality movies are ever given a chance to be released in theaters.
In the Nebeska Galaxy, 80% of the theaters are controlled by the FAMD, while 20% are privately owned by big studios.
Even those big studios look for as many chances as they can get to acquire the FAMD-controlled theaters for screenings of their own movies. Still, because of all these strict regulations, 99% of the movies end up releasing online on either some big studio's page or on an OTT platform.
Arwin did not want to miss this chance. This was an opportunity that could push him and Vault Studios multiple steps ahead for their future plans. Although a universal theatrical release was not possible at the moment, this galaxy-wide theatrical release could be a start toward that goal.
Also, the theaters are not how they were back in Arwin's time. These are virtual theaters, each capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people at a single time.
As a transmigrator, Arwin questioned why people would go out to these theaters if all they are is just a virtual space, which they can create at their own home as well.
Arwin imagined maybe there would be some grand reason as to why people in this world still prefer to go out, like some sort of exclusive technology that improves customer experience or something. But the answer he got was way different from what he imagined.
He discovered that people just like to go out. Yes, just for that, no other reason. People's lives here are monotonous; they live for thousands of years, and watching a movie in a public space is a way for them to socialize, even if it's in virtual reality.
Over the years, theaters should have died, but instead, they became more popular as they gave people a chance to experience life.
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Ceylne Voss, a production coordinator assigned to Arwin, was preparing for the screening of Arwin's movie. The screening will be attended by 30 members of the top echelons of the FAMD of Nebeska Galaxy, even including the Nebeska branch head himself, the person who originally suggested that Arwin participate in this competition during the selection meeting.
Ceylne was secretly hoping that Arwin's movie could impress those people. Even though she doesn't want to admit it, she admired the young man for his hard work. He was working on two movies at the same time, switching between "Your Name" and "Interstellar."
She herself was looking forward to seeing what this new movie would entail. Would his hard work succeed, or was Doraemon just a fluke?
She knew that all of these questions would be answered in a few hours when the screening starts.
Arwin had already sent her the movie and asked her to prepare for the screening. Almost all the preparations were already done; now it was just waiting for the appointed time.
Except for the FAMD personnel, Arwin and his employees will also be joining the screening. Also, Torin Zane had expressed his interest in joining them this evening, as he had also worked on the music of this film. All of these things just made her more eager to watch the movie, as she was already a fan of Doraemon.
She even had the urge to watch it right now, before anyone else, as she already had the movie in her hands. But thankfully, she managed to control herself.
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Inside the virtual space, right before the screening.
It was almost time for the screening of "Your Name" to start. Arwin and his employees had just arrived, but there were already many people inside.
As soon as Arwin spotted Ceylne, he went toward her. "Good evening, Ms. Ceylne," he greeted her from a little distance away, waving his hand as he was walking toward her.
"Oh, good evening to you as well, Mr. West. I hope you are ready for this event," she returned the greetings and asked him a question in return.
"Yeah, I believe the results will be positive," Arwin answered her with a smile, feeling confident in his work.
"That's very good to hear. I myself want to see you succeed as well, since I am the one responsible for you and 'Interstellar' in this competition. It would be a pity if you were to lose just because of some petty rivalry from a studio," she said in her usual stoic tone.
"Well, I have done everything I can, and I just hope that I can succeed," Arwin said while scratching the back of his head.
As both of them were chatting, someone else joined them; it was none other than the branch head himself.
He came toward Arwin with a smile on his face. "Good to see you are doing well, young man," he said with a laugh.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Arwin extended his hand for a handshake, which the old man took with a never-ending smile on his face.
"I heard about the trouble you ran into with that Starglow Studios. If it was any other studio, I would have done something about them, but alas, they are a subsidiary of one of the biggest studios in the entire universe," he said with a little remorse, as if his hands were tied.
"You don't need to worry about that, sir. I am confident in this project of mine," Arwin said, trying to reassure the man.
"That's good. Anyway, I loved your previous series and movie of that character named Doraemon. Although I have to say, I have never seen someone use the concept of time in a movie before. Your imagination is really enviable. Same with those gadgets he uses; I think about when we will have those things here in our world," the old man said with a look of acknowledgment in his eyes.
"I'm glad that you liked it. Now I'm sure that you will love this movie as well," Arwin said while accepting the praise.
"Haha... is this one also based on humanity's birthplace?" asked the old man.
"Yes, sir, this one is also based on Earth. But this one is not scientific; it's more on the mystical side," answered Arwin, giving some clues about the movie.
"Ah yes, mysticism. In the times of our ancestors, I believe, people loved the concept of magic or mythology. Alas, we have lost all those things now. All we know now is that anything that's not logical or scientific but still similar to a miracle can be regarded as magic," said the old man.
"Well, then I guess it's time for me to make our ancestors proud," Arwin said with a cheeky smile.
"Haha... good spirit, young man, keep it up," laughing, the old man left for his seat.
After the old man went away, all of the other guests, who were the higher-ups of FAMD, came by and gave a few words of encouragement to Arwin. As most of them had high expectations of him. In their eyes, even if Arwin failed right now, he still had a very bright future ahead of him. So, they still wanted to leave a good impression on him.
Arwin also accepted their show of goodwill with a smile on his face. Diana and Eden were left on the side by themselves.
As both of them were just standing there, an elderly lady came toward them. Although she looked old, her posture was completely upright, without any slouch. She looked like a strict teacher in her formal attire.
"Are you two the ones animating that series called Doraemon?" she asked them a question out of nowhere, almost startling Diana.
As Diana was about to say something, which might not have been pleasant, Eden spoke up, thankfully interrupting Diana.
"Ah, yes, ma'am, we are the animators for Doraemon," Eden replied.
"Hmph, you guys should have kept working on that one. Why did you have to gamble your careers on this meaningless struggle against that studio?" she said with a haughty voice. Then she continued, "That series might have worked on a fluke, but do you think it's that easy to make successful movies that you are here now?"
Hearing her words enraged Diana; she would have erupted on the woman by now if it was not because of Eden suppressing her by squeezing her arm, trying to reassure her with his eyes.
"Well, I believe we will know if it's a success or not in a few hours," Eden replied in a dry tone, devoid of any emotion.
Hearing his tone, the woman looked toward Eden as if he had committed a grave crime against humanity. Then she just left as fast as she came, muttering things like "youngsters these days" and such.
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After more than half an hour, everyone was finally ready and seated for the movie to start.
Arwin was in front of the screen with Eden and Diana; they were looking at around 30 people present in the audience, including Torin Zane, who had just arrived a few minutes prior. As soon as he had arrived, he was almost swarmed by the rest of the audience; thankfully, the branch head was there, so he controlled the situation and managed to seat everyone.
Now it was time for Arwin to give a speech.
"Hello and welcome, ladies and gentlemen. As you all know, I am Arwin West, and I am the founder and owner of Vault Studios. Today, we are gathered here for the screening of my studio's latest production called 'Your Name.' Now, it might seem like I'm bragging, but I want to assure you that this experience will be unlike anything you guys have experienced before."
"Do you even know who you are in front of?" the old lady who disturbed Diana and Eden before now interrupted Arwin in mid-speech.
"Um... excuse me?" Arwin asked, a little puzzled by her intervention.
"Well, what I mean is, every single person here has seen everything a movie can offer, and you are here spouting nonsense like this, what can you even show that we, in our hundreds of years of experience, haven't seen yet?" continued the rude lady, glaring toward Arwin.
Hearing her question, Arwin was momentarily silent; then a grin appeared on his face. He looked the woman in her eyes and asked her a question, "Madam, have you ever cried while watching a movie?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Why would I cry watching a movie?" she said as if offended by Arwin's question.
"Then you will today," Arwin said this and then no longer paid any attention to her. He then continued with his speech, thanking Diana and Eden, and even Torin Zane for the music. Soon, his speech ended, and they were ready to finally start this screening.
A/N: I was going to upload this one yesterday, but got home pretty late after work. So here it is now, enjoy.