Behind The Spotlight Chapter 294
The story of Wyatt Bray being discovered at the Cannes Film Festival was completely fabricated, Uni-Versus Pictures had cooked up that narrative purely as a promotional stunt for Frightening Movie a few years back.
"We should focus on screening our movie here first before worrying about visiting the US. Dude, I only have a temporary visa to visit Canada anyway. Once we return to Australia, we can apply for visitor visas to enter the US," Dong replied.
"You've got a point."
"Huh?"
Collin stood there bewildered as the two men simply brushed past him and walked off. He hadn't even had time to pull out his business cards.
Despite the abrupt rejection, Collin was determined to sign them. Having overheard their conversation, he knew for a fact they lacked a talent agent, which only fueled his resolve.
He quietly tailed them toward Tent #3.
"Dude, he's still following us," Forest muttered to Dong, stealing a quick backward glance at Collin.
Dong scowled. He harbored a petty grudge against handsome men, in his mind, good-looking guys got all the girls while average guys like him got left in the dust. In fact, his ex-girlfriend had dumped him for a handsome college frat guy just a few months ago, and the wound was still fresh. Both Dong and Forest were fresh graduates from the Sydney Film School.
"Ignore him. Let's just focus on setting up our film," Dong said.
"Right."
Reaching Tent #3, the duo presented their credentials and paperwork to the technician running the projector.
Normally, three to five team members would present a film to an audience, but only Dong and Forest had been able to afford the trip to the Toronto Film Festival. The rest of the cast had jobs and couldn't fly overseas.
Grabbing the microphones, Dong and Forest stepped up to introduce themselves.
"Um... I'm Dong, the writer of the movie."
"I'm Forest, the director. We hope you enjoy the film."
Both were visibly anxious, keeping their introduction as brief as possible. Scanning the modest tent, they counted barely ten audience members, three of whom were already dozing off, while the rest hardly paid attention.
'He actually came in,' Forest noted, spotting the talent agent from earlier sitting in the back row. He was the only one in the tent genuinely listening to their intro.
On cue, the projectionist loaded the heavy film reels into the projector, and the screening commenced.
...
...
...
Producer Balthazar Harper stifled a yawn. The previous screening had been an absolute snooze fest, some slow-burn indie flick about a man trapped in an elevator for two days waiting for rescue. It was boring and he couldn't see any profit from it.
Balthazar was the producer behind Passionate Island and a former executive at Sonya-Collapse Studio, though he had been ousted from his position there. Since then, he had launched his own independent production studio, Harper Studio, and business was surprisingly decent. Buying up indie films on the cheap yielded more than enough return to keep the business going.
Harper Studio possessed North American distribution network, allowing Balthazar to release films across American and Canadian theaters and pocket substantial profits.
His strategy was simple: acquire promising indie features for $1 million or less, then roll them out across 500 to 700 screens nationwide. He routinely doubled his investments, and the subsequent home-video DVD market reliably delivered seven-figure returns.
Browsing the Toronto Film Festival, Balthazar was on the hunt for cheap, high-potential titles. So far, nothing had caught his eye.
"Hmm?" Balthazar noticed a new screening starting up. Two young guys stepped forward to introduce the film, though Balthazar gave them little thought.
'Should I stay or cut my losses?'
After a moment's hesitation, he decided to give it thirty minutes. For a fat guy like him, wading through the crowded festival grounds in the heat was a chore anyway.
Judging by the opening tone, the film was a psychological horror-thriller.
"A death game?" The opening scene thrust two captives into a horrific dilemma: cutting their own flesh on a scale, where whoever sacrificed the heavier weight of flesh survived.
Balthazar was instantly hooked. Gore-heavy thrillers commanded a rabid, dedicated fanbase, making them a goldmine for independent distributors.
The movie, titled Sawed, revolved around a sadistic mastermind named Jigzaw, who trapped victims in elaborate death traps to test their will to live.
Throughout the 90-minute runtime, the visceral gore caused a few weak viewers to walk out mid-screening. Balthazar, however, was thoroughly captivated, admiring the creative prop design and sharp cinematography.
'The production doesn't look cheap or amateurish, the director clearly knows his craft. And those death traps... my God, they're wildly creative. Who comes up with this stuff?'
When the climax hit, Balthazar was blown away by the final twist.
'WHAT!? The mastermind was in the room the entire time?! That body on the floor WAS Jigzaw?!' Balthazar hadn't seen it coming at all. As the corpse slowly stood up from the puddle of blood, goosebumps broke out across Balthazar's arms.
'I have to buy this! This is a cash cow!' Recognizing the commercial potential, he could already envision building an entire franchise out of it.
As the credits rolled, crediting the small crew behind Sawed, Balthazar immediately pushed out of his seat and approached the two filmmakers.
"Excuse me! Are you two the creators of this masterpiece?" Balthazar offered a warm, greasy grin.
"Ah, yes. I'm Dong, the writer, and this is Forest, the director."
"Wonderful, wonderful! Do you have five minutes to spare? I'd love to discuss a business deal—"
"Balthazar, fancy meeting you here. It's so dark in this tent I almost didn't recognize you," Collin interrupted, stepping up beside them smoothly.
Balthazar's grin faltered. He recognized that voice instantly, despite having only negotiated with him once before. Turning around, he found Collin offering a calm, courteous smile, looking far more refined and approachable than Balthazar ever could.
"Collin? What are you doing here? Don't tell me these guys are your clients?"
'Fuck! This just got ten times harder!' Balthazar masked his rising frustration. Though they had only clashed over Lawrence's salary on Passionate Island, Balthazar knew firsthand what a ruthless negotiator Collin could be. The man knew how to leverage every ounce of his clients' value to wring top dollar out of studios.
[Thank you for reading this novel.]