I’m in Hollywood

Chapter 297: Oscar (Part 2)

Billy Cristo waited patiently for the applause to die down before speaking, "So, Hollywood is a place full of dreams. Whether you're under 20 or over 80, as long as you have talent and are willing to work hard, you will be recognized."

Another round of applause erupted, many of the audience's eyes turned towards Eric, it was clear that Cristo's mention of "under 20" was referring to him. The camera lens also turned towards Eric.

Eric gracefully clapped his hands, a faint smile on his lips, acknowledging the recognition.

Cristo finished his speech, and another group of award presenters came on stage, and he left the stage.

After a few insignificant awards, another Hollywood legend, actress Jane Ford, stepped onto the stage. Eric couldn't help but sit up straight, because the next two awards were the most important ones for him at this year's Oscars. Although Eric directed four films this year, and the studio submitted "Pretty Woman" and "Running Out of Time" for best director, he didn't receive a nomination.

Therefore, the two best screenplay awards that Eric received for "The Others" and "Scent of a Woman" became the most important nominations for him at this year's Oscars.

Born into a family of actors, Jane Ford and Morgan Freeman are about the same age, but Jane Ford only looks like she's in her forties. Her black, slim-fit long dress gave the actress a hint of her youthful charm.

"This year is undoubtedly a bountiful year for Hollywood, not only did the domestic box office first exceed 5 billion US dollars, but also more excellent films emerged than in previous years. And no matter any film that can be called excellent, it can't be separated from a good script. The script is the foundation of a film. So, let's take a look at the films that have been nominated for the best adapted screenplay at the Oscars." Jane Ford said and slightly tilted her body. She gestured towards the big screen and continued to read: "The nominees for best adapted screenplay are: "Driving Miss Daisy", Alfred Uhry; "Enemies, A Love Story", Roger Simon; "Field of Dreams", Phil Alden Robinson; "My Left Foot", Jim Sheridan; "Scent of a Woman", Eric Williams."

The camera pans to the five nominees on the big screen. Eric's eyes are fixed on the stage, trying to appear nonchalant, but his hands, resting on his knees, are clenched into fists due to the tense atmosphere. The Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay awards may not be as highly anticipated as the final four major awards, but they hold more weight than the earlier technical award for Best Score.

After introducing the nominees, J.F. quickly opened the envelope and announced into the microphone, "The Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay goes to: 'Driving Miss Daisy'."

Amidst the thunderous applause, Eric's heart dropped. 'Scent of a Woman' was the likely winner in this category. Everyone knows that horror films aren't typically favored by the Academy. He had considered submitting 'Sleepless in Seattle' or 'Pretty Woman' for Best Original Screenplay, as romance films are more popular, but ultimately decided to submit 'The Others' for that category instead.

After all, the likelihood of a romantic movie winning the award for Best Original Screenplay is low, and although "The Others" is a horror film, the screenplay is undoubtedly more exciting than traditional horror films, and the likelihood of winning an award is also higher than the other two romantic films. Although the Oscars also do not prohibit Eric from submitting the other two romantic films together, and the likelihood of being nominated is also not small, but that way would only dilute the number of votes, making the chances of several script award-winning very low.

But Eric now finds that, despite his calculations, he has overlooked another fact.

Regardless of whether it is Best Original Screenplay or Best Adapted Screenplay, the voters are members of the Screenwriters Guild. Therefore, after he relied on "Scent of a Woman" and "The Others" to simultaneously win the nomination for Best Screenplay, although the screenwriters with voting rights will consider that he has received two nominations, making it inappropriate for all his nominations to fall short, at least they will vote for one of the two films. But Eric can also be sure that most screenwriters will not vote for both scripts at the same time and will only choose one of the "Scent of a Woman" and "The Others" scripts.

This also means that although the Best Original Screenplay and the Best Adapted Screenplay are two different awards, the voting for these two awards is still shared. So, without a doubt, if the screenwriters' guild members were to choose between the two, the more artistically accomplished "Scent of a Woman" would undoubtedly receive more votes than "The Others," so since even "Scent of a Woman" did not receive an award, the chances for "The Others" were even less.

Eric sighed deeply and shook his head slightly, quickly regaining his composure and directing his gaze towards the stage.

After the award for Best Adapted Screenplay, J.F.D. did not leave the stage, but instead continued to announce the nominees for Best Original Screenplay: "Nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay are: 'Dead Poets Society,' Tom Schulman; 'Crimes and Misdemeanors,' Woody Allen; 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape,' Steven Soderbergh; 'The Others,' Eric Williams; 'When Harry Met Sally,' Nora Ephron."

Eric's face once again appeared on the central screen of the stage, even though many people in the audience could see him on the stage, many people still turned their gaze towards where Eric was sitting.

There was no doubt that these people were also aware of Eric's current situation, and whether anyone was gloating or not is unknown.

Eric ignored the glances of others that were not important, he just nodded at a few people in the crew who were related to him and gave them a reassuring look.