Zane had already guessed he probably wouldn't win the Best Original Screenplay award.
Was his script for The Sixth Sense not good? Was Good Will Hunting just... better?
No, that wasn't it.
The most important reason was his age.
Matt Damon was 28. Ben Affleck was 26. Zane was only 21.
In the long, long history of the Oscars, it was very rare for young people to win. A few kids had won for acting, but that was different. After the 1980s, you almost never saw anyone under 25 win a big award.
So, Zane knew that losing wasn't because his script was bad. It was because he was just too young for the old, traditional judges.
There was another big reason: the box office.
The old judges at the Academy had a very stiff way of thinking. They often looked down on movies that made a lot of money. They believed that if a movie was super popular, it couldn't be "art."
The Sixth Sense had made $690 million all over the world. That was even more than it made in Zane's old life! When a movie makes that much money, the old judges find it even harder to give it an award.
Look at The Lord of the Rings! It made $3 billion, but the director, Peter Jackson, only won his Oscar after the movies were so huge that the Academy had to give him one.
And Titanic? It won 11 Oscars, not because the old judges loved it, but because it had made so much money and was so popular that they couldn't ignore it.
...
Time passed...
The rest of the night went exactly as Zane remembered from his old life.
Titanic was the big winner, taking home 11 golden statues. The director, James Cameron, stood on stage, held his Oscar up high, and shouted, "I'm the king of the world!"
Zane just smiled. Just wait, he thought to himself. I'll definitely get a golden man next year. He had set a new goal for himself.
The next day, Zane got up early and went to his office at Wald Pictures.
A bunch of reporters were there. With all the cameras flashing, he signed the cooperation agreements for Memories and 300 with Ricardo Slim, the man from the Carlos Fund.
As soon as they were done, a female reporter shoved a microphone in his face.
"Mr. Blackwood! You didn't win the Oscar last night. Do you feel it was unfair? Do you think there was some shady dealing?"
Zane just looked at her.
Another reporter jumped in. "Mr. Blackwood, I'm from the New York State Entertainment News. We think you should have won. Do you have anything to say about that?"
Darn it! Zane thought. Do you really think I'm a fool just because I'm young? You're just trying to get me to say something angry so you can have a headline!
He looked at them, his face firm but still polite. "I think your question is problematic," he said. "I didn't win, and that has nothing to do with 'shady dealings.' There are thousands of smart, senior filmmakers who vote. It just means my script wasn't excellent enough. I'll have to try harder next time."
All the reporters were taken aback.
One photographer muttered, "Wow. How could a guy who made a billion dollars be a fool? He's smart."
But the reporters didn't give up.
"Everyone," Zane finally said, his charming smile gone, "today is a press conference about Wald Pictures and the Carlos Fund. It is not about the Oscars. I will not be answering any more questions about it."
He then looked at them all, his voice turning cold and serious.
"Furthermore, I do not want to see any fake stories in your newspapers tomorrow about me and the Oscars. If I do, don't blame me for suing you."
"Don't doubt me," he added. "As a person with a net worth of over one billion dollars, I promise you, I have the money to do it."
He was irritated, but he had made his point.
The deal he signed with Ricardo Slim was a good one.
The Carlos Fund invested $6 million into Memories (which Zane's company said cost $12 million). They got 40% of the profits from North and South America.
The Carlos Fund invested $20 million into 300 (which Zane's company said cost $80 million). They got 20% of the profits from North and South America.
What? You ask why the numbers don't match up? And why they only get profits from some places? And why they don't get any money from DVDs or toys?
Ha! That's Hollywood!
When a new investor comes to Hollywood, they have to pay a "tuition fee." Wald Pictures was actually being nice. If this were one of the "Big Six" studios, they would have used all kinds of "Hollywood math" to make sure the investor never saw a single penny of profit.
It didn't matter if you were the richest man in Mexico. They'd still do it!
"Hollywood is Hollywood," Zane sighed to himself. "If you're not careful, you'll fall right into a trap."
A few days later, the "Oscar effect" faded away, and the box office went back to normal.
Zane's new movie, The Fatal Turn 2, was getting ready for its fan screenings. But Zane didn't have to worry about that. He had Victor and Kevin to handle everything.
Zane himself, with his assistant Alexander, was busy. He was investigating big and medium-sized book publishing companies.
His entertainment empire was growing, and it was time to add a new piece to the puzzle.
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