Kevin's Little Group

Thus, he had successfully completed the plan.

"Not bad. This project proposal is very thorough. It seems our partner Dawson has finally found a highly promising client."

Ovitz praised him loudly.

"Next, I'll find a way to move this project forward. Everyone, if any of your director clients have similar needs, have them produce reliable film proposals as well."

Hearing Ovitz's words, several partners from the lower and middle ranks revealed looks of envy and jealousy.

They envied Dawson for possibly gaining a heavyweight client and resented that it was not them. At the same time, they secretly wondered whether they should also visit the University of Southern California to look for promising student directors.

Naturally, there were also some with darker thoughts who hoped Dawson's proposal would ultimately fail.

Three days later, at the University of Southern California, after registering the copyright for Saw and joining the Directors Guild, Kevin looked at his empty wallet.

A troubled expression appeared on his face.

His predecessor had relied on student loans for school. It was not urgent while he had yet to graduate, but after graduation, nearly sixty thousand dollars in tuition for three years would be enough to crush him.

If Saw failed, the consequences were obvious.

This time, he could only succeed. Failure was not an option.

"Kevin, how is your project preparation coming along?"

As he spoke, Kevin's roommate, the burly cinematographer Mitt, walked in and asked.

Seeing Mitt come in, Kevin smiled.

As one of America's best schools for cultivating film industry talent, its students all possessed real skills to some degree, especially those who hung around with Mitt, the genius director from Kevin's predecessor's circle.

Therefore, aside from bringing Mitt on board, he had also recruited several highly capable students.

With himself at the center, he had formed a fixed directing crew.

This was to better control the production and make better films.

After slightly adjusting his tone, Kevin said seriously, "Did you tell them all?"

"I told them. They're all willing to take part in your graduation film."

Kevin's face lit up. Although he had known they would agree, he was still pleased that things had worked out.

This way, together with the others packaged by CAA, he would have at least some say within the production crew.

Otherwise, even if he was the initiator of the film project, in Hollywood's producer-centered film industry, he would still find it difficult to control what Saw would ultimately become.

After all, Saw was a film released by the brilliant director James Wan in 2004. Moving it to 1991 already carried a certain degree of risk.

If he could not even control the final presentation of the film, then he would truly be ruining the essence of Saw.

Therefore, once the investors were in place, he would still need to negotiate with them. He could even forgo his directing fee in exchange for control over the film and a certain degree of editing authority.

Of course, working for free was impossible as well.

He held the copyright to Saw firmly in his hands, and he had no intention of continuing to make Saw sequels. That was his greatest bargaining chip for selling it at a good price.

Everything was ready. All that remained was negotiating with the investors.

"Beep, beep, beep!"

The Nokia phone in his pocket rang. Kevin hurriedly took it out and pressed the answer button.

"Hello, this is Steve Kevin. What can I do for you?"

"This is Dawson. Are you free this afternoon?"

Dawson's voice sounded extremely cheerful over the phone, making Kevin wonder whether the investors had already been found.

He quickly replied, "Yes."

"Good. We've found investors. Three film companies are currently interested in your project. Get over here right away and talk with them. We'll see which company ends up taking the project."

"Okay, no problem!"

Kevin suppressed the excitement in his heart and hung up.

"The investors are in place?"

Kevin shook his head with a smile.

Mitt nodded, equally excited.

Getting an opportunity like this right after graduation was extremely rare. Although the path of growth for behind-the-scenes film workers was a little easier than that of directors,

such opportunities still normally required years of grinding before they could be obtained.

Who would not want to be part of a film crew whose name appeared on the big screen? It was not only an honor, but money as well.

With a successful film under their belts, they could find work more easily anywhere they went, and their future would be visible.

Of course, failure would have an impact as well.

But the biggest scapegoat when a film failed was often the director, so they did not need to worry too much.

"I'll go tell them the good news right away. Kevin, go ahead without worry."

With that, Mitt pushed open the door and hurried toward the cafeteria.

They had originally arranged to eat at the cafeteria. If Kevin had not needed to rush off to negotiate with the investors, he would have gone there shortly as well.

Inside the cafeteria, five differently dressed young people waved at Mitt as he ran over and asked, "Where's Kevin?"

Mitt laughed heartily.

"He went to negotiate with the investors. I came to tell everyone the good news in advance."

"That's great! I knew Kevin could do it. He's a genius director. The short film Double Vision that he directed left a deep impression on the professors and received a pile of praise."

"Yeah, that's right. Let's raise a toast to the genius director Kevin!"

A chubby, black-haired young man with somewhat Asian features but the speech and mannerisms of a typical American raised the beer in his hand.

The others raised their glasses and began celebrating in advance.

Their words quickly spread from the cafeteria crowd throughout the entire school.

At the school gate, Kevin's ex-girlfriend entered the campus arm in arm with her new boyfriend.

News that Kevin's new film had received funding quickly reached their ears.

Pera's expression visibly stiffened. She had not expected that right after their breakup, her ex-boyfriend would win an investor's favor and receive funding for his first film.

That meant her breakup had gained her nothing at all.

After all, given Kevin's personality, if she were still his girlfriend, the female lead in his film would definitely have been her.