Zane's idea to invite Bill McNichol to be the president of Wald Pictures wasn't a sudden, crazy decision. He had been planning for days to find a really good, experienced president to run the company.
Victor was now the CEO of the whole Golden Dawn Entertainment Group. He had way too much work to do and had to think about the "big picture."
And the current vice president of Wald Pictures, Kevin Fiege, was still too young. He was only 26. He wasn't the powerful boss who would one day create the whole Marvel movie universe... at least, not yet. He still needed time to grow.
Zane knew this because, in the first half of 1998, Wald Pictures had only released two movies that they had bought. This was way less than the year before. Kevin was still being a little too timid.
But Bill McNichol was different.
Even though he'd been fired from 20th Century Fox, it didn't mean he was bad at his job. It was just because of mean, internal power struggles. If he was a bad CEO, he never would have been brave enough to make a giant movie like Titanic.
Most importantly, Bill had tons of experience and knew everyone in Hollywood. He could help Wald Pictures in so many ways. Plus, he was an older man. He could work for a few years, and by the time he was ready to retire, Kevin Fitch would be all grown up and ready to take over.
It was a perfect, seamless plan.
"I'm such a genius!" Zane thought, feeling extremely pleased with himself.
After he and Bill made up, Zane became the star of the party. Everywhere he went, people greeted him warmly and wanted to talk to him.
...
A few hours later, Zane and his team went back to the hotel.
"Hey, Mr. Blackwood, you're back so early?" his director, Christopher Nolan, joked. "This isn't your usual style. I saw a lot of beautiful celebrities at that party."
This showed how much more comfortable Nolan felt around Zane. A year ago, he never would have dared to tease his billionaire boss!
"My friend," Zane said, putting on a very serious, righteous face, "I am a gentleman. A model of goodness for everyone to look up to. I would never do anything my conscience wouldn't like."
But inside, he was totally frustrated!
His "helpful" act at the party, where he'd "saved" Bill McNichol, had made everyone think he was a perfect, moral hero. He couldn't just ruin that new reputation so quickly!
Oh well, he thought, even if I am usually shameless, I guess I have to play the part for now!
"Alright, buddy, it's getting late," Zane said. "Let's get some rest."
Nolan nodded. He understood. He knew Zane better than most people.
Was Zane really here just for the short film contest?
No! Of course not!
Winning the top prize for his short film would be nice, but it was just "icing on the cake" for Zane.
Zane's main purpose for coming to the Cannes Film Festival was to get a good reputation and to build connections. He wanted this to be the first step in building his global movie distribution network. Even if it only helped a little, it was worth the trip.
May 13th. The 51st Cannes Film Festival.
The festival officially kicked off. The city of Cannes had spent 15 million euros to host the big event.
Of course, no one runs a business just to lose money!
That 15 million euro investment wasn't just for a party. The city and the local businesses were looking to make way more money from all the visitors.
For 12 days, the festival brought in thousands of filmmakers and tourists from all over the world. The money they spent was a huge boost to the city.
In the late 90s, the festival had 2,000 exhibitors and showed 700 movies every day. By 2020, that number would be huge, with over 16,000 filmmakers coming.
And it wasn't free! You had to pay to be in the festival.
So, just from the sign-up fees, the festival made millions. Not to mention, over 4,000 movies were bought and sold there, with sales reaching $1 billion.
The huge amount of money it brought in made all the filmmakers and movie companies want to come!
And, of course, the local hotels and restaurants loved it. Their prices went up by at least 30%.
There was no doubt: the Cannes Film Festival was a giant business, just hidden inside the wrapper of "Cinema Art."
As one of the 16 films chosen for the short film contest, Zane's movie, The Tuner, was set to be shown on the second day of the festival.
Did anyone care? Was anyone paying attention?
Everyone was paying attention!
This was a film directed by the famous billionaire, Zane Blackwood. Of course it attracted all the reporters, filmmakers, and movie fans.
On May 14th, the movie theater was packed. Reporters from all over the world were there, their pens and cameras ready.
Even the boss of the Cannes Film Festival, Gilles Jacob, and the head judge, Martin Scorsese, came in person to show their support!
"Oh my God!" one reporter whispered. "Even the big movies in the main contest don't get this much attention! And all the judges are here... for a short film?"
A colleague next to him just laughed.
"My friend," the colleague sneered, "why do you think we're here? In this world, money is power. If you have money, you can do whatever you want."
The first reporter was embarrassed.
After a short welcome speech, Zane announced that The Tuner was officially starting!
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