Celebration Banquet

"Everyone, I announce that the filming portion of Hard Candy has officially wrapped!"

As the words left the lips of director Zack Snyder, the entire crew erupted with unprecedented enthusiasm and joy.

"That's amazing!"

"That's right, we've finished another theatrical film!"

"From the script finalization in two weeks, two weeks of pre-production, to these four weeks of filming, we've spent a total of 56 days."

"Buddy, we're not done yet! We still have post-production work to do!"

The passion of the crowd was blazing.

Zucker was no exception. Although Hard Candy was not his first film, it was the first one he had produced, and the sweat and bitterness involved were significant.

"Zack, congratulations on successfully directing this film." Zucker offered his thanks to the director.

Hearing this, Zack Snyder nodded heavily. "Mr. Zucker, it is I who should thank you. You... you know, I'm an MV director. I've dreamed of shooting a real movie, and it was you who gave..."

As he spoke, the director suddenly burst into tears.

He was sobbing uncontrollably!

He was already 31 years old this year!

However, ever since he started working as an MV director in 1990, he had been preparing to enter Hollywood to shoot real films, but reality had dealt him blow after blow.

Countless heads of film companies had told him: "Buddy, aren't you just a director who shoots music videos and commercials? Can you shoot a real movie? Why should we trust you with a million-dollar investment?"

The repeated setbacks had left him in agony.

It wasn't until Zucker appeared that he was finally able to welcome his moment!

"Alright buddy, all the suffering is in the past." Zucker said, patting Zack on the shoulder with a saintly smile on his face.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Zack Snyder was weeping, yet his mouth kept repeating his gratitude to Zucker.

The actor playing the male lead, the Hulk—oh wait, no, Mark Ruffalo—wasn't doing much better at this moment, also crying his eyes out.

"I also want to thank Mr. Zucker!"

Mark Ruffalo was also 30 years old this year.

Hard Candy was his first film as a male lead, or more accurately, his first film in a major role. Before this, he had always played the role of an extra. Not only that, he didn't have a stable job and had to supplement his rent by working as a gardener and a painter.

In the past few years, he had participated in about 800 auditions, but he hadn't passed a single one.

Furthermore, he had also worked as a bartender for nearly ten years!

To put it bluntly, Mark Ruffalo had reached middle age and had achieved absolutely nothing!

It was also the appearance of Zucker and Wald Pictures that opened a new chapter in his life.

"Alright Mark, you're so old now, still crying like a baby. Look, if you keep crying, little Scarlett is going to laugh at you." Zucker laughed heartily.

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Mark Ruffalo's old face flushed red.

Scarlett Johansson herself couldn't stop laughing.

"Mark, and Zack, the way you two are crying is honestly so ugly!"

Don't let Scarlett Johansson's age fool you; she was only 13 this year, but she had been a commercial model since she was 8 and had appeared in several films. Although the roles weren't large, her years of experience on set allowed her to understand the feelings of the two men to some extent.

"Look, everyone look. I told you little Scarlett would laugh at you."

Zucker laughed and teased.

Just then, a crew member whispered a few words into Zucker's ear.

Hearing this, Zucker shouted to everyone on the spot: "Everyone, tonight at my villa, we will hold the wrap party for Hard Candy, and at the same time, a celebration for our Wald Pictures production Run Lola Run, which has successfully broken $16 million at the box office. Everyone, please be sure to grace us with your presence!"

"Boss~~!"

In an instant, thunderous cheers erupted at the scene.

Zucker's luxury villa was no secret to everyone, and they even knew that Zucker himself had never stayed there once. Now that he was using it to host the wrap party and celebration, it showed just how much Zucker valued the crew and the films.

Valued?

That's right, Zucker did indeed value the crew, including them, but that wasn't the main reason Zucker was using the villa to host the party.

"Damn! It seems this 'buying hearts' routine of mine is actually quite effective." Zucker thought to himself.

That evening.

In a luxury villa located in Burbank, Wald Pictures held a very lavish party—well, okay, it didn't actually cost that much, $120,000. For Zucker, who had already secured a 40% stake in ICQ, this was truly not a large sum of money.

Zucker's net worth had now reached over $40 million, which of course included real estate and stocks. Even so, Zucker was well-deserving of the title of a wealthy man.

The crew of Run Lola Run, including lead actors Charlize Theron and James McAvoy; the crew of Hard Candy, director Zack Snyder, and actors Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, among others, all attended the party that night.

In addition, the directors of the films Wrong Turn and Juno were also invited to attend.

John Lasseter, the leader of the Pixar Five, Old Billy from the chain stores around Utah, and Bezos, the president of Amazon who had come all the way from Seattle, were all prominently in attendance.

Time passed slowly.

Tonight's party was a great success!

Not only did it allow everyone to indulge in some luxury, but it also successfully maintained the connections within Zucker's network, which could be described as killing multiple birds with one stone.

After the party ended, Zucker kept the three of them behind.

His own CEO, Victor;

Old Billy from the chain stores around Utah;

And Amazon president, Bezos.

"Zucker, my friend, I'm not exactly young anymore. If you don't tell us why you kept us here, don't blame this old man for losing his temper."

Old Billy feigned anger.

Zucker immediately laughed and retorted, "Old Billy, I wouldn't dare provoke your temper. Everyone knows that even though you make your living in Utah, you old guy are a true-blue Texan. If I offended you, I'd have to watch out for you shooting me one day!"

"Glad you know it." Old Billy said, looking extremely proud.

Despite the thirty-year age gap between Zucker and Old Billy, their personalities were unexpectedly compatible, and they had developed quite a good relationship.

Bezos smiled and remained silent.

"Victor, show the documents to Mr. Bezos," Zucker said to Victor.

Bezos was momentarily stunned.

However, he still took the documents and began to read.

"Mr. Bezos, our boss kept you here tonight to discuss a business partnership, primarily regarding the online sales of movie merchandise," Victor said.

"Oh? Movie merchandise?"

"That's not impossible."

Currently, the Amazon online store primarily sold books, which was why it was often called an "online bookstore." But with Bezos's shrewdness, he was certainly not content with just selling books; he was simply in a period of dormancy.

"Snap!"

Zucker slapped his thigh and said, "Look, you, Bezos, have the online platform, I have a film studio and merchandise stores, and Old Billy has nine storefronts in Utah. Not only that, his son is a prominent logistics company owner across Utah, Nevada, and California. If the three of us combine forces, we can absolutely sell products other than books on the Amazon store and create a whole new landscape in one fell swoop."

Old Billy: "..."

Bezos: "..."

As his voice trailed off, both men were stunned.

However, neither of them explicitly opposed the idea; instead, they fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Bezos suddenly looked at Zucker with a smile and said, "Mr. Zucker, it makes perfect sense for me to cooperate with Old Billy since his son owns a logistics company, but... but if I may be blunt, your Wald Pictures is not exactly prominent. If I were to choose, I would definitely choose to cooperate with a major company."

Hearing this, Zucker smiled without a word, showing no reaction, but Old Billy fell silent.