A Genius Director at the University of Southern California

1991, Los Angeles, United States.

The University of Southern California, also known as USC, was the most famous film arts college in the United States.

The school had supplied Hollywood with a steady stream of film industry talent, including directors, editors, and cinematographers.

On the campus field, a handsome man and a beautiful woman stood surrounded by countless onlookers, talking about something.

"Kevin, let's break up."

Pera, with the face of a top-tier schemer, spoke coldly. Looking at Kevin's handsome face, she felt a trace of regret.

Steve Kevin was an orphan and a directing genius. His short films had been praised by countless professors at the school.

A genius like him had limitless prospects, in a sense.

She should never have given up a man with such potential.

Pera glanced at the man amid the crowd who was gazing at her with admiration, then returned his look with a sweet smile.

No matter how gifted he was, he was still only a promising prospect.

Every year, the University of Southern California produced quite a few directors known as geniuses, but ninety-five percent of them ultimately failed.

The reason was simple: Hollywood did not accept losers.

They only had one chance.

For a rookie director, succeeding with his very first film was simply far too difficult.

If Kevin had not been an orphan and had money at home, then even if he failed, his family could still help him fight for more opportunities.

But as an orphan, even raising the funds for his first film would be extremely difficult for him, let alone dealing with anything else.

That man, however, was the biological son of a Hollywood Fox executive. If she stayed by his side, her chances of becoming a major star would increase dramatically.

More importantly, that man had recently promised her that if she got together with him, she would be given the lead actress role in a low-budget film.

Thinking of that, Pera became even more resolute.

As he watched the foreign woman in front of him suddenly announce their breakup, Kevin was completely dumbfounded. At that moment, a flood of memories abruptly surfaced in his mind.

His name was Chen Daoxuan, and he had been a minor director from 2020.

In those memories, in order to get money to make a new film, he had drunk heavily with an investor at a KTV, eventually passing out there.

In the final scene before he blacked out, he could only mutter, "So big... so white..."

As for the relationship behind it all, there was no need to say more.

How had he suddenly ended up among a group of foreigners?

Unable to make sense of any of it and eager to escape his current predicament, Chen Daoxuan instinctively nodded and spoke in English.

"Okay!"

Three days later, in the dormitory.

Steve Kevin had finally sorted out what had happened and the situation he was now in.

He, Chen Daoxuan, had been a third-rate director in China in his previous life.

He, Steve Kevin, was a genius in the eyes of the University of Southern California professors.

The two sets of memories had become tangled together and created him.

Of course, although he possessed two sets of memories, Chen Daoxuan's memories were the dominant ones.

However, he certainly could not use the name Chen Daoxuan in the United States.

Therefore, from now on, his name would be Steve Kevin.

"Kevin, are you okay?"

The six-foot-tall giant beside him asked with concern.

Ever since Pera had broken up with Steve Kevin three days ago, he had become dazed and listless.

He did not like talking anymore and had spent three days lying quietly in bed.

It was hard for his roommate not to worry.

"Thanks, I'm fine. I just figured some things out."

"By the way, Mitt, do you want to complete our graduation project with me?"

A smile appeared on the big man's face.

"Of course. We're the best partners!"

Kevin smiled as well.

Over the past three days, he had remained silent. Aside from sorting through the two sets of memories, he had spent even more time considering his future path.

He had been a director in both his past and present lives, and he chose the same path again in this life.

He wanted to become a great director like Steven Spielberg.

That meant he had to keep achieving success in the film industry.

For a director, true success did not lie in artistic awards.

It lay in the box office.

No matter how many artistic awards he won, if he failed three films in a row, no one would dare invest another cent in him.

But as long as his films kept succeeding at the box office,

he could use that status to gradually expand his connections, make money, and gain standing.

The first step was to complete a perfect graduation project.

That was, a film.

That was right. Kevin had set his sights directly on making films.

The normal path for a director might be to start with other jobs such as editing or cinematography, then work as an assistant director before gradually becoming a director.

Normally, it would take at least five to ten years to rise through that path.

He had no time to wait and struggle his way up. The memories in his mind were only useful for about thirty years. If he could not gain enough status and wealth within those thirty years, then all of those prophetic memories would become useless.

With such an opportunity right in front of him, how foolish would he be to let it slip away?

After agreeing with his roommate and partner to complete their graduation project together,

Kevin immediately went into seclusion. He picked up a pen and paper and began recalling which film he should choose.

As a student who had not yet graduated, even though he had some reputation on campus, nobody knew him outside the university.

That meant it would be difficult for him to secure major investment.

Therefore, he chose a low-budget film.

Among low-budget film genres capable of unexpectedly becoming hits, Kevin immediately thought of horror films.

Blood and sex were the two things most likely to draw people's attention, and horror was undoubtedly a genre that blended the two rather well.

But today, Kevin was not choosing some softcore film wearing the shell of a horror movie. He was choosing a true classic horror film.

[Saw]

As a classic horror film produced by Lionsgate, he knew every plot point, every setup, and every filming technique by heart.

This was also how many directors studied: they would break down certain films step by step, analyzing the cinematography and studying every frame.

In his previous life, Saw had undoubtedly been one of the films he had studied most intensively.

But before anything else, he needed to prepare a detailed project proposal.

Hollywood films had never been art alone; they were part of the film industry.

That meant if he wanted to secure investment, a project proposal that genuinely looked feasible was indispensable.