Hello. This novel is a Spanish translation of my original work, "Hollywood: DC King." I apologize in advance if there are any grammar or comprehension errors.
...
The dawn sun's glare streamed through the window, hitting his face directly. Lying on the couch, someone hopelessly took one last drag on their cigarette before finally putting it out in the ashtray resting on their stomach.
Matt looked around the almost empty room, the packed boxes and bags. It was obvious someone had just arrived or was leaving the property permanently. The boxes on the floor were all closed, all except one that caught his attention just by being open.
Matt stared for a while until he decided to stand up and finish what he started. Crouching among the large boxes in the small living room, he took his California Academy of Art diploma from inside the open box. He looked at it for a few seconds. The gold seal in one corner was beautiful, beautiful but useless for the moment. He sighed, then threw it back inside. He took the tape to seal the box, ready to be sent back to Santa Monica the next day.
"What does it matter if you graduate from film and video studies with straight A's before all your classmates?" His murmur barely escaped his tightly pressed lips.
"There are tens of thousands of people who go to Hollywood looking for opportunities every year, and yet..."
"How many of them actually manage to break through and achieve their goals without much trouble?"
Matt spoke to himself to reaffirm his resolve, dropped the tape on the old couch, and returned to the bedroom, ready to change and leave.
As he undressed to shower, he had a moment of weakness and began to remember several things. Matt sat down in a chair, and those memories returned to him once more. There were some things that could never be completely forgotten even if you pushed them aside and tried to ignore them.
He's lived in the Los Angeles area for 20 years, from birth to the present, mentally, but he can't forget the actual experience that happened on the other side of the world just a few hours ago.
In his previous life, after graduating from the directing department of a famous film academy, he spent time in the entertainment industry but didn't receive much recognition or the expected glory.
In an effort to rise step by step to his dream film director position, he worked on various crews to accumulate qualifications, and even worked as an assistant on the props and pyrotechnics team. With his hard work and investigative spirit, he worked for four years at a time.
He worked hard, struggled, and became a well-known photographer and technician in the industry, as well as someone competent in action and storytelling, until he finally landed the position of assistant director for a low-budget war film at age 30, in charge of shooting one of the big explosion scenes.
However, before enjoying the joy of initial success, he was affected by a filming accident on set that snuffed out his life, incinerated his body, and turned him into what he is today: an intelligent young man enthusiastic about the world of cinematography.
Matthew Goldman.
Matt Gold.
In the unfair real world, he lost the opportunity for possible success, but... he also gained the life of this new Matt, a good life to enjoy.
Matt Gold was now from another land he wasn't born in, a new world, and he knew it from his memories with his new mother in a single-parent family. Like most intelligent Jews, his mother, Sara Gold, owns her own fashion and sewing business.
Something completely different from his orphan status before this second awakening.
His mother's wealth, while not great, has a net worth of at least a few tens of millions of dollars, and most importantly, her advertising agency, which has close business ties with Hollywood.
Incredibly, back in the 1970s, when George Lucas hadn't made his fortune, the two had been close friends since she was a young design enthusiast.
In this life, Matt is no longer poor and neglected—well, his mother isn't.
He clearly knows what he wants and has been working hard for it. His family environment has also provided him with sufficiently favorable conditions.
During his teens, he regularly frequented Lucas Films and even watched the filming of a couple of scenes.
On set, he observed the Hollywood-style production model and is familiar with everything that exists in the global film industry.
In normal times, besides participating in various sports that interest him, he devotes most of his time to his passion for film knowledge, screenwriting, photography, editing, coordination, and even acting, which are all fundamental elements of success.
Matt is like a sponge that absorbs water for over ten years, absorbing knowledge that is useful to him. After graduating from high school, he didn't choose the business school his mother recommended; instead, he enrolled at the California Academy of Fine Arts, which is closely associated with Hollywood and the film industry.
With the help of a broader family relationship, he moved back and forth between the many crews as extras and temporary workers to increase his practice and experience, but his time hadn't come yet.
Matt was a bit stubborn, as others would have blatantly taken advantage of the situation, but not him. He was generally responsible for his living expenses and other expenses, except for tuition fees.
He tried hard, but it was truly complicated; the directing process is actually an expensive one. He had hopes, but even after graduating from college, his financial situation hadn't improved, and his credit card balance had been in negative territory.
"What should I do next?" was the question.
Returning to his home in Santa Monica, he was able to take advantage of his mother's food for a while, but he urgently needed a proper job.
In his previous life, he struggled for over ten years before becoming an assistant director.
"Do you still need such a long process?"
Matt has been waiting for 20 years—50, in fact, if you add up his years of living in Alma. What he urgently needs now is the opportunity. The opportunity to make real movies with everything under his control. An opportunity to showcase his talent, and now that he's self-aware, he's going to take advantage of the advantages at hand.
If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that he wasn't immortal. This rare opportunity straight out of fiction couldn't be wasted by being stubborn. His dreams and his own happiness came first.
'I have to be the greatest of all time.'
'Even if it costs blood and sweat.'
'Even if I have to embrace my mother's fortune to get started.'
Thinking about this, Matt stood up and opened his closet, took out his formal clothes, and approached the full-length mirror.
'Maybe Lovett can help me out a little?' A new name came to mind.
Lovett, his agent. Unlike Matt's career as a temp, which hasn't improved for a few years, Lovett is good at camping. After several years of hard work, he's now the younger generation agent CAA pays the most attention to.
Matt is very clear about what CAA means to Hollywood today thanks to his memories.
Even though this was a different world, there were certain immutable points that remained beyond space.
The meeting with Lovett would also serve to discuss a possible contract renewal; after all, he can use CAA's power to help him grow to a certain extent. While he's a little unhappy with this agent who doesn't do much for him, it's also the best place to start.
Matt took off his baggy loungewear and put on a navy suit. He looked at himself again in the mirror. As a well-educated person, he didn't want to make mistakes in such an important meeting.
His black hair, slicked back, inherited from his mother. A pair of blue eyes show a depth and introversion different from his actual age.
"Maybe it's easier to be a vase man in a commercial film."
Seeing his seemingly mixed-race appearance, combined with his height of 1.90 meters, he couldn't help but think about his appearance before his reincarnation.
"Luck of the reincarnated, I guess."
"But I must be the person in charge or one of the main actors on stage, not just a beautiful porcelain vase."
In his mind, it was more than clear, and his decision couldn't be changed, much less in a world that didn't know several of the works his mind knelt before in the other world.
"The positives are simply too many."
Matt left the rented apartment, locked the door, and went downstairs. He pulled his secondhand Chevrolet to the side of the road and drove toward the California Institute of Art.
The location Lovett designated was a café near the town center.
Matt found a parking space on the side of the road to park the Chevrolet, dodged a running pedestrian, and opened the café's glass door.
As he walked through the door and turned left, Matt saw Lovett in the quiet corner at the end of the hallway, but it was different from what he'd initially thought: there was another person next to Lovett.
"Why's he here?" he murmured.
Frowning slightly, he approached the table. Lovett saw him too and nodded in acknowledgment.
"Hi, Lovett."
Matt greeted him familiarly, opened his chair, and sat directly across from Lovett, then extended his hand to the other side.
"Hi, Rick Solomon, I didn't expect to see you here." The other party wasn't planning on shaking hands at all, but simply waved his hands, dismissing his greeting as if shooing away an annoying person.
Withdrawing his right hand, Matt ignored the gesture, or tried to. The vein in his forehead suggested something else, but he was patient and ignored it too.
This person is in his class at the California Academy of the Arts. He didn't come here to fight each other; he didn't care about this guy in the slightest, although he had to admit he was curious about his presence.
Matt looked directly across the room. Like all professional Hollywood agents, Lovett was dressed in a smart suit, his expression sly and indifferent.
"Lovett."
Seeing that the other party didn't want to talk, Matt had no choice but to speak first.
"About the contract renewal..."
"Sorry, Matt!" interrupted the older man, putting his coffee cup aside.
"Some things weren't clear on the phone." He paused before continuing to make sure he had Matt's attention.
"I came from Valencia this time primarily to negotiate a brokerage contract with Mr. Solomon..." he finally said unceremoniously.
"CAA will evaluate each artist under its umbrella with special care, but Matt, your acting skills are very poor and you haven't progressed."
"Regarding what you said about becoming a director, I'm sorry. Seeing no prospect of success, neither CAA nor I will renew a new contract with you."
Hearing this somewhat unexpected comment, Matt raised his eyes slightly and looked at his agent in a slightly surprised manner.
"We're very sorry," the agent apologized, his words evidently indifferent.
"The company's management has officially invited me to be one of the partners."
"Next, I will cross-manage some well-known artists."
"The work and resources at my disposal will increase, and there will be no extra energy planning for the future for those who have no... hope or talent..."
Although Lovett's voice remains astute and straightforward, Matt is no inexperienced person, and you can sense the uncontrollable joy in the other party's tilted eyes and upturned lips.
Matt's surprise disappeared, and he returned to his original expression, saying nothing, listening silently.
"You know, Matt." Lovett and Solomon stood up.
Lovett patted him on the shoulder as he passed and said condescendingly.
"I'm so disappointed in you. In five years, you've played small roles, but your career hasn't progressed at all."
"And whose fault exactly is it that you're not getting good roles?" Matt was overcome with anger, but he remained calm, the vein on his forehead about to pop.
"Take my advice, you're not cut out for this industry. You'll only waste your time and energy if you continue."
After saying that, Lovett walked toward the cafe door without looking back, without looking back at his partner of five years, as if he wanted to use this method to express his attitude of giving up completely.
"Have you heard that you're not cut out for Hollywood?" another voice reached Matt's ears for the first time.
"That annoying voice," he remembered well.
Matt shifted his eyes and saw Solomon still standing by the table, looking at him mockingly.
"It was a pleasure watching you fall, Goldman," the young man smiled and turned to leave like an inelegant turkey.
Still sitting at the table, Matt sighed helplessly and then smiled, exhaling through his half-pressed lips.
"I guess he's still hurting that I slept with the girl he liked in school." That was one of Matt's amusing memories.
"Classic villain arcs, his and mine, right?" he said to himself.
Matt remembered how he always defeated the weak Solomon in every sport. Apparently, the little one had good contact, or Lovett had really lost his mind. This kid was practically the last in his class.
"Anyway," he muttered, standing up, ready to leave as well.
"I guess it couldn't have been that simple in the beginning." His thoughts were already searching for solutions.
On the way back to the car, he considered several options, but for the moment, only the most appealing and simple came to mind.
"I have to see Mom after all."
This time, with a smile on his lips as he remembered his mother and ignoring the monologue of his former agent and partner, Matt drove carefree through the streets, calmly looking out at the city.
After all, it's not every day that you die and return to life on the other side of the ocean with a new face and an open bar of ideas and stories.
A new life was now beginning. The legend of the greatest of all filmmakers in history.