[Chapter 710: A Historic Mont]
Peter Jackson had dread of making the Lord of the Rings series since childhood, but after a lot of ups and downs, he finally saw his dream co true as he approached forty.
Through the television in the Firefly Group headquarters' dining room, Eric saw a younger, slimr Peter Jackson dressed in a poorly fitting black suit, with ssy hair and a tense expression.
There was little doubt that the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay would go to Braveheart, and as soon as Peter's image was cut from the broadcast, it left behind only a silhouette of disappointnt.
In fact, even if Braveheart hadn't won, it still wouldn't have been the turn of Heavenly Creatures, as the scripts of subsequent films like Saving Private Ryan, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Bullets Over Broadway were all much stronger; Heavenly Creatures rely took advantage of its biopic subject matter.
To Eric, the reason for its nomination was quite simple: its distributor, Miramax.
Since they had successfully penetrated the industry, Eric believed that good things would eventually co their way, so he hadn't reached out to Peter Jackson.
After the Best Original Screenplay, a few inconsequential technical awards ca and finally arrived at the climax of the ceremony; only the Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture awards remained.
Everyone in the restaurant perked up.
The nominees for Best Actress included Jodie Foster from Nell, Winona Ryder from Little Won, Susan Sarandon from The Client, Miranda Richardson from Tom & Vis, and Jessica Lange from Blue Sky.
Jodie Foster and Winona Ryder definitely had no chance, while Miranda Richardson was another outside contender, given that Tom & Vis was also distributed by Miramax. The Weinstein brothers weren't likely to change their nomination-selling strategy anyti soon.
The remaining contenders, Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, both represented heavyweight acting talent in Hollywood; each had garnered at least three Best Actress nominations, making it a close race.
Eric recalled that Susan Sarandon's Oscar-winning performance had co in the following year's Dead Man Walking, aning that this year's Best Actress was undoubtedly going to go to Jessica Lange.
As expected, after an introduction, last year's Best Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, read Jessica Lange's na with grace, and the crowd erupted into applause.
After the Best Actress was announced, a few minutes later, last year's Best Actress winner, Holly Hunter, walked onstage in a stunning red gown to present the Best Actor award.
This year's Best Actor was nearly a foregone conclusion, as indicated by the audience's reaction. When Holly Hunter read off the nominees and reached Tom Hanks's na, the applause from the audience was noticeably louder.
At the sa ti, the television screen showed l Gibson's awkward, stiff smile; his nomination for Best Actor was purely the result of the Weinstein brothers' aggressive PR push, aiming to undermine his Best Director nomination.
Watching Tom Hanks embrace the mbers of the Saving Private Ryan crew while walking up to the stage amidst the audience's cheers, Jeffrey Katzenberg, sitting across from Eric, asked, "Eric, do you think we have it this ti?"
Eric understood Katzenberg was referring to Kathryn's Best Director nomination and he nodded slightly, smiling, "If she doesn't win Best Director now, then the Academy really is beyond belief."
To promote Kathryn's nomination for Best Director, Eric had tapped into all the connections he had built over the years. Big nas like Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola had privately supported Eric as well. As for the many directors who had worked with Firefly, they were undoubtedly on board.
With Saving Private Ryan's awards eligibility beyond question and the Weinstein brothers agreeing to step back from the competition, Kathryn's chances of winning exceeded ninety percent.
Of course, Eric also knew that he should only use this kind of influence for vote-pulling this one ti; if he overdid it, the Academy would surely push back against him.
Feeling confident, Eric began instructing people to prepare the car for the celebratory dinner. ...
anwhile, Kathryn, seated among the Saving Private Ryan team in the grand auditorium, felt imnsely anxious; her fingers gripped the armrests tightly as she focused on last year's Best Director winner, Robert Altman. Although Eric had taken her to several PR parties, he hadn't shared much more than that with her; she had no idea she was incredibly close to winning the award.
"And the nominees for Best Director in the 67th Academy Awards are Robert Redford for Quiz Show; Woody Allen for Bullets Over Broadway; l Gibson for Braveheart; Krzysztof Kieslowski for Three Colours: Red; and Kathryn Bigelow for Saving Private Ryan."
Robert Altman took his ti introducing the five nominees for Best Director this year. He nonchalantly opened the envelope in his hand, glanced at it and, with a smile, raised his voice, "Well, the historic mont has arrived..."
At seventy, Robert Altman spoke at the pace of his film's gentle long takes, pausing significantly after his statent. Countless eyes turned toward Kathryn, who was desperately attempting to suppress her urge to cover her mouth with her hands, trembling slightly as she patiently waited.
After creating suspense, Robert Altman continued, "And the Oscar goes to Kathryn Bigelow for Saving Private Ryan. Let's congratulate this lovely lady, the first woman to ever win the Oscar for Best Director."
The applause erupted.
Noticing the tall figure in the fifth row, dressed in a light gray gown, covering her mouth and swaying as she stood, the applause grew even louder, and a few people also rose to their feet, cheering.
The Oscars, at its sixty-seventh ceremony, finally welcod its first Best Director female winner -- a truly historic mont.
Even as Kathryn embraced the entire crew on her way to the stage, the applause did not cease, lasting almost two minutes. Only when Kathryn finally regained her composure, taking several deep breaths, did the applause gradually quiet down when she stood at the microphone.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you all," Kathryn said, her words sowhat disjointed as she expressed her gratitude. Once everyone settled down, she couldn't help but scan the audience, seeing countless familiar and unfamiliar faces, but she noticed one missing. As she saw the cara crane slowly turn toward her, she rembered that even if he weren't in the audience, he was likely watching on television. She instinctively turned her gaze to the dark lens.
...
Back at the Firefly headquarters restaurant, Eric also gazed at the wall-mounted television. In that mont, he could clearly sense the search in Kathryn's eyes; her emotion seed almost too apparent. Even Katzenberg, sitting opposite him, gave a mischievous grin, beaming at him.
On the screen, Kathryn quickly regained her composure and began her acceptance speech. Although her tone was sowhat awkward, her excitent masked it well, Eric could still catch her rehearsed hints. He smiled, thinking it was sowhat unfair to put soone up on stage who didn't even know how to position herself.
The rest of the awards ceremony proceeded without much interest. Braveheart undoubtedly took ho Best Picture, and l Gibson was able to take the stage this ti as a producer, wedged between two other winners. The audience seed drained of emotion from the earlier Best Director award, responding less enthusiastically.
As everything wrapped up, Eric watched the final shot of guests in the grand auditorium rising to leave, prompting him and the Firefly executives to stand. Saving Private Ryan had won five awards, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Editing, so the Firefly executives still needed to be seen at the celebratory party.
...
On the other side of Los Angeles, over a thousand guests slowly exited the auditorium and made their way to waiting cars, scattering off. Older attendees might head straight back to hotels or their hos, but most would be off to various parties that night.
Due to the three-hour ti difference between the coasts and to accommodate East Coast viewers, the Oscars had always started at six in the evening on the West Coast and ended at nine. Though it was already past midnight on the East Coast, it was still pri nightlife hours on the West Coast.
Firefly's celebration party was arranged at the Sunset Towers Hotel, where Eric and Katzenberg arrived early, finding the party hall still relatively empty.
However, within five minutes, Sunset Towers was buzzing with activity as countless luxury cars lined up outside.
Eric soon learned that Fox was also holding their celebration party at the sa venue.
Because she needed to conduct interviews after the Oscars, Kathryn would arrive a bit later, but the rest of the mbers of Saving Private Ryan's crew had already shown up. anwhile, Elisabeth and the Weinstein brothers had also arrived early. The two parties were on different floors, and Eric understood that Fox's event would certainly be much livelier. Elisabeth didn't co over to say hello at that mont.
As more and more people filled the party hall, the Victoria's Secret Angels, who were there to present the Best Visual Effects award, gradually arrived, along with various mbers from other films that had received scattered Oscar nominations. Eric even spotted most of the crew from Leon: The Professional -- still petite Natalie Portman, who hadn't yet gained weight, and a casually dressed Jean Reno.
Leon: The Professional had been released last year but didn't fare too well in the U.S. box office. Critics had condemned Luc Besson for his overly sexualized portrayal of Natalie Portman's character.
However, the film had found great success in Europe and Asia, and Eric knew that in a few years, with the rise of the Internet, it would be increasingly cherished.
Even though Leon: The Professional had not gained the critics' favor and received no Oscar nominations, young Natalie Portman had indeed made her first real step in Hollywood. Following the film's release, she had even snagged a small role in Warner Bros.' ensemble film Heat, portraying Al Pacino's daughter. However, whether she would have future opportunities like landing the role of Pad Amidala in the Star Wars prequels was sothing Eric did not concern himself with.
...
About ten minutes later, Kathryn finally appeared at the door.
"Congratulations, Kathryn," Eric said, noticing the little gold statue in her hand, stepping forward to embrace her.
Kathryn, already feeling overwheld, beca excited once more upon seeing Eric. She hugged him tightly and said, "Thank you, Eric."
"You're welco," Eric smiled and nodded. With so many people around them, they didn't have ti for a lengthy conversation, and Kathryn was soon surrounded by others.
As Eric watched the lively crowd, he turned to Katzenberg, asking, "Aren't Roger Allers and the others planning to co?"
Roger Allers was the director of The Lion King. While The Lion King hadn't received a Best Picture nomination like at the Golden Globes, it had garnered three for Best Original Song and one for Best Score, which turned out to be a decent showing. Although the hand-drawn animation departnt had transitioned to Paramount, the majority of The Lion King's rights still belonged to Firefly, which was unlikely to forget inviting them to the celebration party.
Katzenberg shook his head and replied, "They won't co, their celebration is over at the Four Seasons Hotel; they definitely want to go there."
Eric smiled and asked about the situation with Disney's animated film Monsters, Inc. After chatting for a bit, he spotted the young girl breaking through the crowd, making a beeline for him.
In such settings, she certainly couldn't miss out; Eric grinned as she nestled against him at first. He gently pulled her away and then nodded at the twin girls trailing behind her before asking, "How are your films coming along?"
"Ugh, so boring, why talk about work now?" she rolled her eyes in response.
*****
/Sayonara816.
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