Chapter 10

After viewing the footage, Chris-Paul remained silent, bowing his head. It was a low-budget film, crudely made.

As usual, he would transfer it directly onto videotape, without even considering a theatrical release.

Both the theatrical cut and the videotape cut required different focuses and separate editing.

"How would you like to edit this film?" Rubbing his temples, Chris-Paul finally felt a bit relieved. After watching over 200 minutes of footage, even he felt a bit dizzy.

"Keep the content as concise as possible, cut out all unnecessary dialogue, make the film appear like a pure documentary rather than a deliberately shot movie."

"Also, pay attention to the camera shake; it shouldn't be too intense. Highlight more of the horror and mystery atmosphere."

"Of course, this isn't a real horror film, and it shouldn't be edited as such. It just needs to create enough horror and mystery atmosphere. The entire film shouldn't be too long, preferably not exceeding a hundred minutes."

Regarding the camera shake, Ryan felt helpless. Apart from the issue of handheld cameras, wanting the film to look more like a real story required a certain amount of shake, but too much shake would make people dizzy, creating a contradiction.

"You mean you want it to look like a horror film, but not quite a horror film!" Chris-Paul asked, seemingly understanding.

He didn't quite grasp Ryan's meaning and found the idea of editing the film in such a way somewhat strange.

"No, no, that's not what I mean."

Ryan paused for a moment, organizing his thoughts, and said, "I mean the film should give viewers the impression that it's a real documentary, not a movie, like it's shot by the protagonist himself."

Facing an editor, it was difficult to maintain absolute secrecy, so Ryan revealed some information. Anyway, when the film premiered, he would understand it firsthand.

As for confidentiality, Ryan wasn't too worried. As a professional editor in Hollywood, there were rules to follow, and he wouldn't speak to the media without the consent of the production team unless he wanted to face hefty lawsuits and completely leave Hollywood.

Neither big nor independent film crews in Hollywood liked such people, just like Ryan himself a while ago.

"You mean to make the audience think it's a real event, not a movie!"

Chris-Paul looked at Ryan in disbelief. He hadn't expected the young and unconventional director in front of him to come up with such an idea.

Having been in Hollywood for many years, how could he not understand the implications? It was simply about marketing, to entice the public into theaters.

Many Hollywood film companies had done similar things before, but the person in front of him seemed to have even fewer boundaries.

When the film premiered, it would drag down the already low standards of Hollywood film companies and distribution companies even further.

"A great editing plan, but this film is obviously shot, so it's a bit difficult to achieve the effect you're talking about."

"I need a professional editing room, a qualified assistant, and at least a week."

Chris-Paul's eyes lit up with excitement. A film like this would definitely cause a huge sensation when it premiered!

For him, it was a great opportunity, perhaps even a chance to escape his current life and return to mainstream Hollywood crews.

A professional editing room and an assistant!

Ryan hesitated for a moment but agreed readily, saying, "No problem."

Of course, he wouldn't hire an assistant. He would have to do it himself.

And as Chris-Paul said, the public wasn't stupid, nor were the media or film critics. It would be difficult to achieve the desired effect.

So, the key was in the promotion, to make people feel at first glance that it was a real story.

Such a promotional strategy was a one-time opportunity. It would be hard to succeed if they tried something similar in the next few years.

Moreover, as the public became more aware of being deceived, it would only backfire.

That day, Helen contacted a professional editing room, one under Lucasfilm.

From this, it could be seen that Helen's parents had a closer relationship with George Lucas than Ryan had imagined.

A whole week passed, and Ryan and Chris-Paul, both looking exhausted, walked out of the editing room.

At the same time, the first thing they did was to contact Helen, asking her to inform the distribution company to hold a small screening.

Early the next morning, Helen and Ryan, along with the sample film and publicity plan, went to Lucasfilm to meet George Lucas. After exchanging a few greetings, they went upstairs to a not-so-large screening room.

During this time, Ryan hardly said a word, leaving the socializing to Helen.

In essence, it was just a social screening, only held because of George Lucas's face, and the people from 20th Century Fox distribution had to come.

Such social screenings were almost daily occurrences in Hollywood.

However, with George Lucas present, even if the people from 20th Century Fox distribution had some thoughts, they wouldn't dare to express them.

The top brass of 20th Century Fox had always been in contact with George Lucas, hoping he would restart the Star Wars series, with 20th Century Fox handling the investment and distribution channels.

Naturally, they didn't dare to offend George Lucas now.

In no time, seven or eight people from 20th Century Fox began to arrive.

Although there were no top executives from 20th Century Fox present in the screening room, Ryan wasn't disappointed at all; rather, he was somewhat nervous.

For him, meeting the selection personnel from 20th Century Fox wasn't a small matter; usually, it was difficult to even get a chance.

Furthermore, without the investment of Lucasfilm, the scene before him was already due to Helen's connections.

It could be imagined that if Ryan didn't have Helen as his agent, he would have to go to each distribution company with a copy, or find professional buyers.

Most of the 20th Century Fox selection personnel showed no interest in the film about to be screened, considering it a waste of time. They had decided to just arrange a few theater screenings, and if the results were poor, they would directly release it on videotape, maybe even earning a few tens of thousands of dollars.

Ryan's publicity plan was almost ignored.

Including the high-ranking 20th Century Fox executives who didn't come, it seemed that everyone had the same idea: to get closer to George Lucas.

As for the film being screened, it was of little consequence.

However, there were one or two professional selection personnel who were glued to the screen, occasionally glancing at the publicity plan in their hands, their expressions changing constantly.