Puji_maki
patreon
HWI 548
🕑 Added 2025-02-22 15:43:09 +0000 UTCHollywood What If Chapter 548
Kazir Grey sat across the executives of Blue Sky Studio in their conference room. Because he was guilt-tripped by Tom Rothman to work on Wall-E, Kazir decided to accept the position of Executive Producer.
Unlike most of the time where Kazir's position was only a title, this time, Kazir promised that he would visit Blue Sky Studio every three days to check on their progress and help them whenever they needed help.
Kazir knew that his position at 20th Century Fox was getting awkward because he worked with other studios, which was not illegal, by the way. Kazir, as a person, was allowed to work with other studios unless he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox.
Company politics was a difficult game to play. But Kazir's position as one of the shareholders of 20th Century Fox forced him to join it.
To make up for it, Kazir decided to work on Wall-E to appease some people who were growing grudge against him... It might look obvious, but Kazir didn't want anyone to hold a grudge against him... The last time someone held a grudge against him, he almost died.
Of course, since Kazir agreed to become the Executive Producer of Wall-E, he had a salary. 20th Century Fox, or to be precise, Blue Sky Studio paid him $5 million just to hire him. In their opinion, this amount was too small compared to the box office appeal that Kazir could bring to the project.
Furthermore, Kazir was a director so he knew what to do.
"Kazir, thank you for working with us and it's an honor."
"Nah, it's cool."
The meeting had been arranged to discuss the progress of Wall-E. Unlike most 3D animated movies that focused more on comedy, Wall-E was an emotional cartoon. It had the same vibe as Nemo. In a way, Blue Sky Studio had a concrete plan for Wall-E.
They wanted to compete for Best Animated Feature in the Academy Awards. Blue Sky Studio wanted to show that their studio also had the capability to compete in prestigious awards such as the Oscars.
"Let's see... Wall-E is promising, but we have to set up the atmosphere." Kazir said and the executives nodded and agreed. Well, everyone in the conference room already thought of that but they wanted to hear more from Kazir since he was an expert in this category. He was a director after all.
"The atmosphere is important. You need to make Wall-E’s resonate with people, and that means crafting every scene with intention. The first few minutes should be depressing. It should be slow with the right amount of melancholy. Let the audience feel Wall-E's loneliness."
He paused and sipped the warm tea next to him. The executives heard that Kazir liked tea, so they prepared a high-quality tea for this meeting.
"The music needs to blend right with the movie. Think of it as an emotional guide."
The room fell quiet, the team absorbing his advice. Kazir’s experience was undeniable... Well, they had heard this kind of explanation so many times since they were all working in the same industry but it sounded profound when Kazir said it. At this point, they were just being bootlickers.
Kazir smirked.
"And for that, we need a director that will oversee this creation."
Everyone nodded.
However, one by one, they all looked at Kazir.
If there was a director who could create a masterpiece, it would probably be Kazir. He could make Wall-E into a masterpiece.
Everyone in the room looked at Kazir and the director realized his mistake.
'Why are you looking at me like I'm the messiah?'
Kazir coughed.
"I'm planning to rest for a year and I don't have the intention of directing a movie. We should find someone who will direct Wall-E."
Wall-E was approved by 20th Century Fox but it didn't mean that everything would happen so fast. First, they had to calculate the budget to make the movie. For that, many people had to come up and find the right amount. Producers, Production Managers, Studio Executives, Financial Analysts, and even Completion Bond Companies had to study the project and come up with a budget.
So yeah, it was not surprising that Wall-E still didn't have a director to oversee the project.
'Unfortunately, it's impossible to hire Andrew Stanton to direct Wall-E. He is a key figure of Pixar Animation and he will not work with a rival company... I guess I'm an oddity, huh.' Kazir chuckled. Unlike Andrew Stanton who was loyal to Pixar, Kazir worked with other studios.
Anyway, Andrew Stanton was the director of Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, A Bug's Life, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and Monster, Inc.
It was not an understatement that Andrew Stanton was good at his job. He was the original director of Wall-E.
'Although in the original timeline, Andrew Stanton had a flopped movie called John Carter.'
John Carter(2012) was a bad movie in terms of box office and that was also the last time Andrew Stanton worked in live-action movies.
"Director, if we pay you $25 million plus 15% box office share plus 5% peripheral profit share, will you still decline?"
One of the executives asked Kazir. Some of them frowned because that amount was too huge to let go, but they also knew that Kazir's salary was usually higher than that amount.
Kazir shook his head and declined, unfazed by the generous offer.
“I appreciate the faith you have in me, but my decision is firm. I need a break. Directing is exhausting, and I don’t want to burn out.”
For a director who filmed at least one movie per year, that was the most bullshit statement that Kazir ever said.
The executives exchanged glances. Some were clearly disappointed.
“Then who do you think should direct it? We need someone with a clear vision.” One of them spoke up.
Kazir looked at his tea. He was contemplating and didn't answer.
“We need a director who understands emotion and storytelling, not just animation. What about Andrew Stanton?” Another executive joined in after realizing that Kazir was in deep thought.
“He’s at Pixar. It's almost impossible to hire him. And even if we hired him, he will probably ask for a huge salary,” another one answered.
Kazir smirked and realized something. “Then we just need to find someone who is great at storytelling but not expensive."
