To help his company grow in other countries, Zane Blackwood had a big meeting. He met with Ricardo Slim, the grandson of the richest man in Mexico.
Ricardo was only 22, but he was super smart. In the future, he would be the boss of his family's giant, multi-billion dollar company.
Of course, Zane was pretty impressive, too! He was known as a "genius director," a "famous writer," and the "youngest billionaire." (He knew this was mostly thanks to his secret of knowing the future!)
Since they were both young guys, they didn't play a bunch of boring, old-fashioned business games. After a little bit of polite talk, they got straight to the point.
Zane wanted help getting his movies into theaters in Mexico and South America.
Ricardo wanted to invest in Zane's movies so his family could get into the Hollywood market. He was also very impressed with Zane for becoming a billionaire in just two years.
It was a perfect match. They were both very excited to work together.
March 7, 1998
It was time for the annual Oscar ceremony. This was Zane's first time ever attending.
He had been invited last year, too, but he didn't go. He was just too busy working on "America's Got Talent" and getting his new company in order.
Besides, his movies—like Fatal Turn and Juno—were fun, scary, and exciting. They weren't the slow, "serious" kind of movies that the "old guard" (the old, traditional bosses) at the Academy liked.
In fact, some of those old bosses had publicly said that Juno, a movie about a pregnant teenager, was "shameless trash."
Zane had just rolled his eyes. Why would he go to their party just to have them look down on him?
He had to admit, his actress friends (Scarlett, Jessica, and Charlize) had all complained to him about it.
"We were dying to go, and you got an invite and just... didn't go?!" Jessica had said.
Charlize was even funnier about it. "Zane, you jerk!" she had teased him. "Do you know how much I had to spend just to get into the after-party? $15,000! And you just skipped the main event!"
Zane knew the old bosses at the Academy had a lot of power. If they invited an actor and the actor said no, they could get their feelings hurt and hold a grudge.
Just look at Leonardo DiCaprio! When he was young, he said some things that made the old guy mad. Because of that, he got nominated for Best Actor again and again... and lost again and again. It took him until 2017 to finally win his Oscar.
So, for an actor, you had to go if you were invited.
But Zane was different.
"Hehe," he thought. "I'm not an actor. I'm a producer. I'm the guy who pays for the movies. The Oscars need guys like me just as much as they need the actors!" As a big boss, he just wasn't that worried about what the old guard thought.
But Zane was attending this year. Why?
Because his movie, The Sixth Sense, had gotten 6 Oscar nominations!
Best Picture
Best Film Editing
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Director
And... Best Original Screenplay... for Zane Blackwood!
"It's my first nomination," he thought with a big, happy smile. "I might as well go and see what all the fuss is about. Even if we don't win, it'll be a fun experience." He had a great, healthy attitude about it.
Plus, Titanic (the movie he'd invested in) had 14 nominations!
Because Zane was a part of two of the biggest movies of the year, the Oscar bosses gave him a really good seat, right up front.
He sat next to his director, M. Night Shyamalan, who looked super nervous.
"Shyamalan, calm down, man," Zane said, patting him on the shoulder with a friendly, reassuring smile. "Your second movie just got 6 nominations. That's already a huge win! Even if we don't get a single trophy tonight, it's no big deal. We're here, aren't we?"
Shyamalan just looked at him, his heart pounding. "Mr. Blackwood, is it really okay for you to say that right now?" he whispered, half-laughing and half-terrified.
"Hahaha, I'm sorry, you're right!" Zane said with a charming, shameless grin. "That just slipped out. My bad."
He knew the truth. The competition was really tough this year. Titanic was up against Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential, and a bunch of other great movies.
"Still," Zane thought, a little bit of hope in his heart, "I wonder if those old guys will be nice enough to give the Best Screenplay award to me? I mean, I don't really care... but it would be pretty cool to win."
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