Chapter 37

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

Continuous applause resounded throughout the screening theatre as clarity finally returned to the audience.

One by one, people got up from their seats as some were still shaking from fear while some were from excitement.

"Woah….I actually nearly pissed myself. Damn, that was good."

"Yeah, dude, the ending where the witch suddenly appeared almost gave me a heart attack."

"I especially liked the parts where the tents were shaking, and it didn't feel like the actors were actually acting. It felt as if they were genuinely scared."

"I will definitely show this to Lina. She always says horror movies are boring and are not scary at all; I want to see her reaction, haha, it'll be priceless. Maybe I'll record her reactions too."

Some of the audience who had come with their friends or acquaintances started talking and discussing the movie heatedly.

Will, who was listening to the earlier conversation, couldn't help but smile contentedly. His movie was getting talked about, and he felt a sense of accomplishment build-in inside of him.

Just beside him, a cameraman, who was appointed by Carl, started shooting the audience' reaction. They would be able to market the movie by leaps and bound if they caught and advertised using the reactions from the film festival.

Writers and critics that chanced upon the movie, including Nick, started jotting down their opinions about the movie.

As the audience started to calm down, a few of them started looking for the director of the movie, and so, George invited Will to the podium to talk with the audience. When the audience met Will, they gave different types of reactions.

Some were surprised that such a young man was the director, and they almost fainted when they learnt that he was the screenwriter and producer too.

Some old folks told him that they were jealous of him, while some people acted like total fans and looked at him with reverent eyes.

Will felt refreshed at the types of reactions he got from different people. Sometimes, George and Carl would chime in to praise the young director as they were extremely pleased with everything related to him, from his movie to the marketing strategy provided by him.

Soon, as the audience got more engaged in their questions, as this was the first screening of a fairly unpopular movie, there weren't many writers or critics present.

Nick Fernandez, who was the first to ask questions, brought the crux of the matter first.

"What about the missing posters you're distributing outside? Have the leads of the movie really gone missing? If so, how do you plan to find them or compensate their families?"

He barraged Will with tons of questions at once as he smiled inwardly as this was something where most newbie directors would start stuttering and losing confidence.

Most independent and new directors were still like rough diamonds that needed a lot of polishing. And most of them weren't prepared for interviews or abrupt questions that directly impacted their future popularity.

On the other hand, Will just calmly smiled as he answered with ease.

"Oh, no, there is no such thing as actors going missing, I take very good care of my team. That was just a movie poster that we distributed outside. Didn't you watch the movie? It started with the news of 3 missing friends. Behind the missing poster is the normal movie poster too, for making things clear."

Nick was dumbfounded at that answer and immediately took out the folded movie poster from the front pocket of his blazer. Indeed, there was a normal movie poster behind the missing poster, which he seemed to have missed earlier to the rush.

He just chuckled at the absurdity of the situation and asked,

"So this was merely a publicity stunt? Aren't you scared of people reporting it to the authorities that you made fake missing posters and played with people's emotions?"

"There is nothing fake in it, it's a movie poster, and the committee of the annual festival gives full freedom to promote our movies inside the venue. I don't know what you're talking about….Mr. Fernandez."

After that, many others started asking questions about the movie and its shooting. The questions mainly were like how Will got the idea of such a movie and how he used a shooting technique that was thought to be dead.

"Can I get Heather's number?"

One of the guys from the audience asked jokingly, whereas Will simply replied.

"Oh no, she has got a boyfriend."

Visible lamentations could be heard from the young buds in the audience. What they didn't know was that the boyfriend he talked about was Will himself.

Will replied to every relevant question while avoiding any questions aimed at himself or his personal life.

The first day of the Annual Film Festival concluded just like that.

***

As the day ended and the second day of the Annual Film Festival started, the festival participants began receiving information about the first person horror movie.

It wasn't like wildfire, but word of mouth kept spreading around, and as a result, the audience on the second day of screening was even more significant than the first day. There were even some people who had come to re-watch the movie.

Will, who didn't plan on repeating the same movie, again and again, had invited the cast to join the screenings from the second day onwards. His marketing tactic was a success, so there was no need to keep hiding the movie's leads.

Although only the two male leads attended the screening, the female lead was missing.

June was taken around by Will to enjoy other movies. There was a movie screening which was named [Alien? Lover?].

The movie was directed by a famous director and starred Nick Maddie, the famous rom-com actor.

It followed the story of an alien that got stranded on earth because he missed his trip back to his planet. He saved a girl who would fall from a hill and missed his chance to return home.

The alien looked perfectly human-like and had a cynical personality. He never ages and is forced to change his identity every ten years. Four hundred years after being stranded, he meets a crazy Hollywood actress as the plot begins.

It's mostly a romantic comedy with a light theme but still had its emotional moments. June was crying during many parts of the story, and it was clear that the movie actors had done an outstanding job at playing their characters.

What Will was confused about was that the story was a complete copy of [My Love From The Star], a popular Korean drama back in his previous life.

This opened up new possibilities for Will as he contemplated that there could be movies that already exist but with a different name. There can even be actors with other names.

Although all this would still not cause any real threat to Will as he had the Hollywood System with him.

Will and June enjoyed their time together in the rest of the film festival days in the same fashion. [The Blair Witch Project] started becoming a hot topic on the third day and famous critics attended the movie from the fourth day onwards.

In the meantime, Will and June watch another movie together, directed by John Carry, a famous director who mostly did sci-fi movies.

The movie's name was [The Eclipse in Our Memories] and followed his sci-fi trend with a touch of romance to it; the story went as follows.

After a fight, John Agnello discovers that his girlfriend Emma Bartley has had his memories erased by the New York City firm Racuna. Heartbroken, he decides to undergo the same procedure. In preparation, he records a tape for Racuna, recounting his memories of their volatile relationship.

The Racuna employees work on John's brain as he sleeps in his apartment so that he will wake up with no memory of the procedure. One employee, Patrick, leaves to see Emma; since her procedure, he has been using John's and Emma's memories as a guide for seducing her. While the procedure runs on John's brain, the technician Stan and the secretary Mary have a party and lovemaking session.

John re-experiences his memories of Emma as they are erased, starting with their last fight. As he reaches earlier, happier memories, he realizes that he does not want to forget her. His mental projection of Emma suggests that John hide her in memories that do not involve her. This halts the procedure, but Stan calls his boss, Howard, who arrives and restarts it. John comes to his last memory of Emma: the day they first met, on a beach in Montauk. As the memory crumbles around them, Emma tells John to meet her in Montauk.

In John's apartment, while Stan is outside, Mary tells Howard she is in love with him, and they kiss. Howard's wife arrives and, from the street, sees them through the window. Furious, she tells Howard to tell Mary the truth: that Mary and Howard previously had an affair and that Mary had her memories erased. Disgusted, Mary steals the Lacuna records and mails them to the patients, including John and Emma.

John wakes up, his memories of Emma erased. He impulsively goes to Montauk and meets Emma again on the train home. They are drawn to each other and go on a date to the frozen Charles River in Boston. John drives Emma home, and Patrick sees them, realizing they have found each other again. John and Emma receive their Lacuna records and listen to their tapes. They are shocked by the bitter memories they had of each other but agree to try again.

Will was again shocked to find a movie from his past life, although it wasn't a particularly famous one, the movie was really good, and it was named [Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind].

During the past few days, he had watched many screenings with June, and this was the second movie that matched movies from his past life. He came to the conclusion that every 2/10 movie existed here, and he made up his mind to watch all the famous movies.

After all, he could end up working hard on movies that already existed and make a fool out of himself.

On the 10th day, the film festival officially came to an end as the awards distribution started.

The venue for award distribution was different, and it was much bigger than the venue for screenings. A huge stage was prepared, and the host would announce movies that won particular awards, basically announcing their success in the future.

As the award ceremony went on, Will watched a few famous awards going to famous directors of this world, such as 'The Best Feature Film' award.

He wasn't stupid enough to expect an award on his first movie, but deep down, he couldn't help but hope for it; even a small award would be huge for him.

After some time, the special awards started getting handed out. These awards were the ones that truly shocked the jury but weren't able to bag the main awards.

"Next up is the award for 'Most innovative movie'. To present this award, I would like to call Karen Jansen to the stage."

The host said, and a beautiful actress walked up to the stage in a dress that the top designers made in Hollywood.

She took centre stage and took out the envelope that contained the winning movie's name.

Her eyes showed a surprise as she looked at the movie's name, and raising her head with a smile, she announced the winner.

…

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