Hollywood What If Chapter 142
Winning an Oscar increased the popularity of an actor or actress. It was a sign that the industry accepted them. A proof of their achievement in the movie industry.
It was a great honor. Actors and actresses were crazy about this award because of what it meant.
In addition, there was the salary increase... Actors/actresses who have won the Oscars have a significant salary increase in their careers. They have a better position in the film industry, the best position to choose roles, and film companies take them seriously.
It was a status that few artists could achieve. Of course, the result was the same for directors.
Kazir Grey was one of those people who dreamed of winning the Best Director award.
In fact, he already had a formula in his head. Being from the future, he knew the best way to win the Oscars.
The jury likes realistic movies. To be precise, they like movies that are based on real people or real events. They like to see human emotion. They despise movies with a hint of fantasy genre and they don't like movies produced for profit.
In fact, many actors/actresses chose roles based on real people because of this. Hell, it was better if the role was about a crazy or handicapped or fat person.
Rami Malek won the Oscars after portraying Freddie Mercury in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.
Gary Oldman took on the role of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and won Best Actor.
Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in 2014's The Theory of Relativity.
The list goes on and on. This chapter may not be enough to list them all.
'Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron, Julia Roberts, and even Reese Witherspoon have used the same method to win Oscars. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's a sure-win strategy. So I laugh at the Academy's obvious bias.'
This is why he was a little sad about Liam Neeson. Taken was a good movie and to have nominations was an achievement. Unfortunately Liam Neeson's role was fictional.
If there was one good thing about Taken, the movie spread awareness about the horror of sex trafficking. This noble idea earned them nominations.
Fortunately, As Good As It Gets is fiction and Jack Nicholson's character is not based on a real person. At least Liam Neeson has a good chance of winning.
Maybe this was a good year for Liam Neeson to be nominated.
Kazir sits down. His row consisted mainly of the crew of Taken. Liam Neeson was next to him, quite nervous under his smile.
"Don't worry Liam, you have a good chance to win the Oscar."
"Thanks Kazir."
The two laughed to lighten the atmosphere. Perhaps Liam Neeson was the most nervous of their crew.
"Oh, I forgot about Baker Saylor. I'm sure he's nervous too."
Baker Saylor was the sound editor of Taken. He was introduced by Salvatore Barlowe. He was a hardworking man and the sound editing was perfect.
Taken received three nominations.
Best Actor: Liam Neeson
Original Screenplay: Kazir Grey
Sound Editing: Baker Saylor
Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor are major awards, while Best Sound Editing is a minor award.
More people from the industry showed up in glamorous attire.
Fortunately, fashion sense makes sense these days... Unlike next two decades when a garbage bag would become a sense of fashion. Balenciaga was crazy for selling a trash bag for thousand dollars.
The ceremony began with a parody of Titanic, hosted by Billy Crystal... From the moment the show started, everyone already knew the biggest winner of the 1998 Oscars.
Everyone was expecting it in their hearts, considering that Titanic had already crossed the $1 billion mark. The second movie to make $1 billion worldwide. They definitely got the Best Picture, for sure.
The awards ceremony continued. The presenters came out one by one and announced the winners.
Of course, no one forgets the performances. The best performance at the Oscars this year was My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, the theme song from Titanic.
Then the presenter for Best Sound Editing came on stage. It was none other than Cameron Diaz.
Kazir Grey didn't expect the woman to be the presenter.
The woman said a few things before opening the envelope. She looked over the audience until her gaze stopped on Kazir Grey.
'Is it my imagination or is she looking at me?'
Kazir Grey didn't avert his gaze and looked at her eye-to-eye. He had no reason to look away.
The woman smiled and said the nominations like Titanic, Taken, Air Force One, Con Air and Contact.
"Congratulations, Gary Rydstorm and Tom Johnson of Titanic for winning Best Sound Editing!"
Cameron Diaz ended the suspense and everyone in the room clapped. Titanic has won 4 awards so far.
Before leaving, Cameron Diaz looked at Kazir and winked.
"..."
The ceremony continued until the big awards were handed out.
Everyone sat in their seats.
The first to be announced was Best Supporting Actor. The winner was Robin Williams as Dr. Sean Maguire in Goodwill Hunting.
Then the presenter for Best Original Screenplay appeared. The presenter was Walter Matthau, an old veteran actor.
Walter stood on the stage.
"The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are:"
Goodwill Hunting by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
As Good As It Gets by Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks.
The Full Monty, by Simon Beaufoy.
Boogie Nights by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Taken by Kazir Grey.
Though his hopes were not high, Kazir Grey could not help but be nervous.
Seconds passed before Walter Matthau opened the envelope. Then he announced the winner.
"The winner for Best Original Screenplay is... Kazir Grey! Congratulations!"
The people began to clap.
"Huh?"
Kazir was surprised.
'What the fuck? We didn't do any PR, why did I win?' He thought to himself.
He stood on the stage. He hadn't prepared a speech, so he just thanked his crew, his family and the cast of Taken.
When he went backstage, he was totally stunned.