After the really boring opening speeches, two older movie-makers walked on stage to give out the first award of the night: Best Cinematography (which is for the best camera work).
The nominees were:
Russell Carpenter for Titanic
Janusz Kamiński for Amistad
Dante Spinotti for L.A. Confidential
Eduardo Serra for The Wings of the Dove
"And the winner is... Russell Carpenter for Titanic!"
As the winner was announced, James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, and everyone else from the Titanic team clapped and cheered. This was the first award Titanic had won tonight, and a good start is always exciting!
"Zane," Bruce Willis whispered to him, "judging by how this is starting, Titanic is going to win everything tonight."
Zane nodded, smiling. He knew Titanic was going to win 11 awards.
And sure enough, Titanic won the next award. And the next one. And the one after that. It was unstoppable.
The Sixth Sense, Zane's movie, was nominated for Best Film Editing... and it lost to Titanic.
"Boss," his CEO Victor whispered, looking worried, "that's our first nomination gone. The other five are looking pretty shaky."
They were in big trouble. The Sixth Sense had 6 nominations, but winning any of them was going to be very tough.
Were the Oscars important? Of course!
When a movie gets nominated for a big award, its ticket sales usually go way up (by $15 to $35 million!). It also helps sell a lot more DVDs. The Oscars meant money. That's why the big studios spent millions just trying to get nominated.
For Zane, he just thought it would be really cool to win.
"Boss, the next award is for Best Original Screenplay!" Victor suddenly whispered.
"Huh?"
Zane, who had been daydreaming a little, suddenly sat up straight. That's my category.
Will I win? he thought. Probably not. I'm only 21. The old judges at the Academy don't like giving big awards to young people.
But... maybe there's a small chance?
For a second, Zane, who was usually so calm, felt his heart beat a little faster.
"Let us invite Mr. James Cameron and Mr. John Lasseter to present the award!" the host announced.
Amid all the clapping, Director Cameron and Mr. Lasseter (the boss from Toy Story) walked on stage.
"Haha!" Zane was surprised. "They're both old friends of ours!"
Bruce Willis saw this and got very excited. "Zane, you might not know this," he whispered, "but a lot of the time, the person giving the award is a close friend of the winner. It's like a secret tradition."
"You mean I might..." Zane started.
"Yes!" Bruce said, his face serious. "Your chances of winning are now, like, 90%!"
Hearing this, Zane was truly stunned. Wow... an Oscar! He knew how hard people tried to win one. And now, he might actually get one.
On stage, James Cameron and John Lasseter were telling jokes and being very funny.
But then, suddenly, Lasseter looked right at Zane in the audience.
"Hey, Zane!" Lasseter joked. "Don't look around, I'm talking to you, Mr. Zane Blackwood! We're old friends, you know. So, tell me... when the winner is announced, if you lose, are you gonna cry?!"
Oh, come on!
Zane's face turned bright red. In front of all these famous people? And millions of people watching on TV? You're really going to tease me like that?
He had a big smile on his face, but inside he was thinking, "You jerk!"
"Haha!" James Cameron laughed, joining in. "Lasseter, our friend Zane is tougher than he looks. You have to remember, he invested in my movie, Titanic, and made a ton of money. He'll be fine. He won't cry... at least, not here. He'll go home and cry!"
The whole audience roared with laughter. A big camera zoomed in on Zane's face. He just had to sit there and force a smile.
Ooooo... he thought. I'm getting way too much attention right now!
"Alright, folks," Lasseter said, finally holding up the envelope. "Let's announce the winner. The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are..."
He listed all the names, ending with, "...and Zane Blackwood for The Sixth Sense! And the winner is..."
He paused, then handed the card to James Cameron to read.
Cameron took the card, smiled, and announced loudly:
"The winner of the 70th Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is... Zane Blackwood..."
Zane's heart stopped.
"...Oh, wait. I read it wrong. Congratulations to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for Good Will Hunting!"
Darn it!
To hell with you, Cameron!
Zane's eye started to twitch. At that moment, he really wanted to take off his nice, expensive shoe and throw it right at Cameron's smiling face. He had seen this kind of prank on TV before, but now it was happening to him...
Anyone would be mad!
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