I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1050: Famke's Inner Circle]

During dinner, Eric felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. Luckily, the upcoming party meant that the women ate very little. Drew was as dependable as ever, quickly declaring herself full and giving Eric a warm hug before she excused herself from the restaurant.

Seeing her so considerate, Aniston, perhaps feeling a mischievous competitive spirit, decided to leave as well.

The restaurant was left with just Nicole and Naomi. Eric relaxed and took a big swig from a bottle of mineral water on the table.

Watching Eric's demeanor, Nicole couldn't help but laugh. "Aren't you a bit relieved that Liz, Julia, and Famke didn't show up?"

Eric nodded seriously, with a hint of relief. "Yeah."

Nicole, smiling and resting her chin on her hand, leaned on the table and asked, "Seriously, if a fight broke out, whose side would you take?"

Eric pointed to a recently sewn button on his shirt. "You saw it, right? You guys can hit me."

"Hehe," Nicole chuckled, noticing her close friend's awkwardness beside her. She then said, "Well, Naomi and I will head out. I'm taking her to meet a few directors."

Eric feigned modesty. "Actually, I'm a director too."

"Haven't we met already?" Nicole replied, leaning in to kiss Eric lightly. She picked up her bag and stood up. "We're leaving now."

Eric got up to walk the two women out. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Of course, I won't be polite," Nicole said as she and Naomi reached the restaurant door. After hugging Eric again, they left.

...

Eric returned to his seat, considering a moment before picking up his freshly charged phone and dialing Elisabeth's number. Both Elisabeth and Julia surely had invitations to the evening's party, but Elisabeth hadn't mentioned if she would come when they talked the night before.

The call connected quickly, and he heard Elisabeth's somewhat lazy voice. "Eric."

Eric sounded puzzled. "Why are you in bed so early?"

"It's almost eleven here," Elisabeth replied, then added, "Julia and I are in New York; we flew over this afternoon."

Eric sighed with relief but was suddenly curious. "You didn't mention going to New York today?"

There was a brief pause on the other end, followed by some rustling sounds, and then Julia's soft giggle came through. "Eric, Liz said she wanted you to be anxious; the party must have started over there, right?"

Eric sighed. "Yeah, I just lost a button, and thankfully I didn't get hurt."

"Hehe."

Both women erupted in gleeful laughter, teasing Eric mercilessly before hanging up.

...

Hearing the beeping sound, Eric smiled to himself and thought for a moment before dialing Famke Janssen's number. Among the women still around him who owned a set of rings, Famke was definitely the most aloof one. This didn't mean they had grown distant; if that were the case, Eric would have let go. He had started taking a more casual approach towards relationships, no longer wanting to force any woman into a confined role, as it benefited neither party.

Famke had a strong independent streak; she didn't rely on him much. Besides making periodic visits to his estate, she had a full and busy life, spending very little time in Los Angeles.

For the moment, she was in Los Angeles because of the summer release of The X-Files movie, having spent several days at the estate recently.

When the call connected, Eric could hear some background noise, immediately realizing Famke must be at the party.

They exchanged a few brief words as Eric left the restaurant and headed toward the lower deck.

It was nearly eight o'clock in Los Angeles, and the lavish ship was filled with guests spilling into every public area, including the exhibition hall below.

Just stepping out near the banquet hall adjacent to the restaurant, Eric was quickly surrounded by a variety of people.

"Hey, Eric! Long time no see, how have you been..."

"Eric, Finch has a new script out, but the budget might be higher; I sent it to your assistant's office..."

"Mr. Williams, hello! I have a script here..."

"Eric, I watched the samples of The Lord of the Rings in the afternoon, and I can't help but admire your eye for directors; Peter Jackson is a genius..."

"Mr. Williams, here's my number. I'm Anne, Anne Hathaway, call me..."

"Eric, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Miyamoto, the president of Toyota North America; he wants to secure some product placement in Spider-Man..."

"..."

"..."

...

After what felt like nearly an hour of mingling, Eric finally made it down from the top of the ship to the exhibition area below, where several key props from Titanic were displayed.

Near a buffet table, he finally spotted Famke Janssen, holding a glass of red wine and chatting with a group of people.

"Hey, Famke," Eric said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her lightly, then turned to the now slightly reserved crowd.

To his surprise, he recognized most of the eight people in this small circle.

Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, Katie Holmes.

What an interesting mix this was. It seemed Hollywood really was a small world after all.

As for Jon Favreau, his recognition spoke for itself.

Vince Vaughn was known for his role as Brad Pitt's buddy in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but he had also played many supporting roles in Hollywood films, making him a standard second-tier male star.

Sam Rockwell almost landed the part of Tony Stark in Iron Man; after that fell through, he ended up playing the villain in the sequel. Seeing him standing with Jon made everything clear.

Kelly Lynch was a seasoned action star in Hollywood, having played a villain in the original Charlie's Angels.

Heather Graham was the leading lady in the latest Species and one of Hollywood's rare beauties.

As for Katie Holmes, her presence in this circle felt even stranger. Aside from being Tom Cruise's third wife, her identity was hardly noticeable. Calculating her age, Katie was only a few years older than Anne Hathaway, so Eric wondered what she was doing in this crowd.

After surveying the group, Eric's gaze landed on the one disheveled, middle-aged man and his hunches began shaping up. He turned to Famke and asked, "So, when are you going to introduce me to everyone?"

Famke began to introduce each person to Eric. When it was the disheveled man's turn, Famke's identification confirmed Eric's suspicion: "Eric, this is Doug Liman, a talented new director. His first feature, Swingers, made with just $200,000 two years ago, won a lot of awards. I personally invested $100,000 into that, with the remaining $100,000 coming from Jeffrey's newcomer fund. Harvey sold the film for over $4.5 million in North America, and we all profited quite a bit. Vince and Heather are the leads in that film, and we're discussing Doug's new project. Miramax has greenlit it, and this is one of the actresses he's considering for the lead, named Katie, Katie Holmes. What do you think?"

As Famke spoke, she affectionately pulled Katie Holmes close. It was evident she knew Katie wouldn't meet Eric's usual taste, looking quite at ease.

Eric merely exchanged pleasantries with Katie before turning his attention back to Doug Liman, inquiring about his new film.

Though Eric had instructed ICM to scout male leads for the Bourne series, the specifics of the filming schedule were yet to be determined, so he hadn't paid much attention to Doug's situation.

Since he happened to encounter Doug today, Eric was inclined to make that connection.

"Go was inspired by Quentin Tarantino's story structure from Pulp Fiction. It tells various interesting narratives surrounding three unrelated groups of characters involved in a drug deal."

Doug Liman outlined his project with clarity, concluding, "Even though the storytelling borrows from Pulp Fiction, I hope to try a more complex multi-threaded narrative structure, allowing three stories to intertwine interestingly while ultimately converging into a perfect loop."

Eric had no recollection of a film called Go, unsure whether it was a potential new release due to the butterfly effect or if it simply existed in an alternate scenario. However, listening to Doug's fervent descriptions reminded Eric of another complex, multi-thread narrative film -- Guy Ritchie's Snatch.

Nonetheless, according to Eric's previous timeline, Snatch should have released in the UK and caused a stir by now, yet he hadn't heard anything about it. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to investigate; a film like that would be a shame to miss if it had vanished.

The thought of Snatch flitted through his mind before Eric returned most of his focus to Doug Liman. Once Doug finished, Eric offered a brief critique of Go, quickly steering the conversation towards MGM's spy movie universe.

While many thought Doug Liman's first Bourne film didn't resonate as classically as the second and third, if it weren't for the groundwork laid by the first, the latter films wouldn't have come together so flawlessly. Doug had been an essential producer in the Bourne series, significantly contributing to its success.

Eric didn't rush into extending any opportunity to this newly minted director with a budget at just $200,000, but after a delightful chat, he subtly hinted that he leaned toward selecting more inventive rookie directors for the Bourne series.

As long as Doug Liman had enough confidence and ambition, Eric believed this nudge would prompt him to actively pursue the opportunity.

Doug did not disappoint him. After discussing Bourne for a while, Eric noticed a spark of eagerness in Doug's eyes.

Before long, Eric didn't linger in the small group for too long. After about ten minutes, he whispered to Famke, "Let's go socialize with other guests."

Famke didn't shy away from the group. She affectionately pressed her cheek against Eric's but shook her head with a smile. "I'm not joining you tonight; I'll get killed with looks. You can find whoever you want."

Eric felt helpless, as Famke clearly knew others were also attending. He leaned closer and whispered, "Let's go back to Malibu together at the end."

"But, I promised Kelly I would stay at her place tonight."

Eric glanced at the now-curious Kelly Lynch, then leaned back in to Famke and whispered, "What could you possibly do with her? She looks rather lesbian; she probably has ulterior motives."

"Oh, stop it," Famke lightly smacked Eric's arm. "In any case, I can't tonight."

"Then I'll call you," Eric said, making a phone gesture. He said goodbye to the group and returned upstairs.

...

Following a server's guidance, Eric walked toward where the crew of The Ring had gathered. Director Gore Verbinski with leading lady Vera Farmiga and the main crew were present. The male lead, Depp, was filming Sleepy Hollow in England, so he was absent from the party.

Due to The Ring's phenomenal success, despite being just a horror film, Gore, also a former music video director, enjoyed a stronger trajectory in Hollywood than Michael Bay did when he first burst onto the scene with Bad Boys, exuding confidence and flair.

Firefly had signed Gore to the same three-film deal as they did with Michael Bay, and now the script for Pirates of the Caribbean was firmly in his grasp.

However, Eric wasn't considering launching the Pirates series just yet. Not only did Depp's schedule push the timeline back at least a year, but Gore's current inflated ego made him an unsuitable candidate to take charge of a production costing over $100 million at the moment, as he would struggle to execute Eric's production vision to its fullest.

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.