HWI 176

Hollywood What If Chapter 176

"Are you okay?"

Cameron Diaz asked Kazir worriedly when she noticed that Kazir had a stuffy nose.

"It's not that bad. I'll sleep early tonight."

He stayed up all night yesterday and was affected by the cold. Fortunately, he only had a stuffy nose and his general health was fine. He had been working hard lately because he had important positions within the company and the production crew.

Salvatore Barlowe and Erica Mendez were still looking for a professional manager who would meet Kazir's requirements.

"Hm."

Cameron Diaz nodded and squeezed his arm.

"I think your friends are looking for you. You can have fun with them. I'll just stay here." Kazir said to her.

He glanced at the group of models attending this particular party. Before she was an actress, Cameron Diaz was a model.

"Well, take care of yourself."

Cameron kissed him on the cheek and approached her friends.

'Our contract ends after this movie, I don't know why she keeps doing this.'

Kazir shook his head and forgot about it. He couldn't afford to be controlled by his emotions.

It was April 3, 1999. Paramount was throwing a party tonight to celebrate the success of The Truman Show.

Kazir was invited to the party because of his recent association with the company. Even though Grey Pictures had signed a distribution deal with Sony-Columbia, Paramount was mature enough to understand that.

Besides, they might work together again, and Kazir Grey was known as a director who didn't make flops.

Next week the crew would go to Italy to shoot the corresponding scenes. Kazir decided to give himself some time to have fun... Although going to a party was not fun in his opinion.

However, because he decided to take some time off, the crew took some time off as well. Today, filming ended early.

The box office of The Truman Show was 264 million dollars. This gives Jim Carrey another achievement in the industry. Of course, the plot of The Truman Show was amazing. Even Kazir praised the movie.

The mood at the party was very good. Especially when another movie that Paramount invested a lot in did well recently.

Meet the Parents grossed $160 million in North America this April. On top of that, the international box office was $75 million. That brings the total to over $235 million. Everyone knows that the movie would still go up, especially the international box office.

"Haa-choo!"

With that, Kazir Grey decided to go to the bathroom and blow his nose. After he threw the tissue into the trash, he felt great that he could breathe again.

It was uncomfortable to have a stuffy nose. He washed his hands and spent a few minutes in the bathroom to get ready.

This was not his first time at a party. He had seen people trying to talk to him, trying to get to know him. Of course, Kazir understood that this process was important. But it was tiring.

On top of that, some girls tried to flirt with him even when he was with someone else.

Just as he expected, as soon as he returned to the party, people started approaching him.

Luckily, the first people to greet him were someone he knew.

Salvatore Barlowe and Brianna Evans were talking to Kazir. Their relationship was more like business partners, Kazir respected them both.

"I can't believe you got the Paramount to agree."

"What can I do? I just showed them all the benefits if they cast Brianna."

Salvatore was now a famous agent and many actors and actresses hoped to become his clients or get a better role in a movie. Hell, even men might not hesitate to go to bed with him just to get a nice role.

Like Kazir, the agent suffered from endless flirtations from the opposite sex.

Unfortunately, Salvatore Barlowe's aesthetic was on the Asian side. He was attracted to Asian women. His standing in the industry improved after he signed Kazir.

As for Brianna Evans, she contacted Kazir to thank him for recommending her. Brianna was a theater actress from Australia. It was very difficult for her to enter Hollywood and she had to work part-time just to survive.

All she had was talent for acting, but she realized that talent was not enough. Most of the time, the most important thing in this industry was the connection and fame. Luckily she met someone like Kazir and Salvatore who helped her in her career.

Now she has three successful movies in her resume, which were Taken, The Truman Show and Meet The Parents. She was no longer a novice in this aspect, especially when the three movies were all blockbusters.

Because of this, Brianna Evans had a chance to compete for the female lead role in Runaway Bride. Brianna's talent was highly regarded by Paramount after working with her.

Also, Paramount was hesitant to hire Julia Roberts because of her huge salary. Even though the director wanted to cast Julia Roberts, he couldn't fight Paramount too much.

So spoiler alert, Brianna Evans became the female lead in Runaway Bride, which was in the process of pre production.

Kazir nodded and congratulated her. He didn't know what the future might hold for Brianna, but he was ready for it.

After all, he was the first variable to change the future.

Just like Brianna, another famous actor appeared and talked to Kazir.

Kazir Grey didn't expect this actor to approach him on his own.

He didn't expect Jim Carrey, the protagonist of this party, to talk to him.

"Hello, Director Grey. Congratulations, you're not only a talented director but also a talented writer."

"Thank you."

+++++

[Author's Note: I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Don't take this novel seriously, just have fun and be peaceful].

[As for the inconsistency in the box office, I suck at math and numbers, so I always forget the exact box office for movies. I wrote that The Hangover grossed over $500 million, but in another chapter I wrote that the box office was $400 million. Consider this a plot hole, and the author deserves a 1-star review for the number inconsistency.]

[I'm good at thinking and setting up plots, but I'm never good at numbers. And yes, I'm an Asian who sucks at math. Fuck math!!!]