Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 678 - 490: Link and Harvey’s Win-Win Strategy_2

If the American jurors really had this concern, they could have made different choices in the awards for Best Picture, Director, and Actor.

For example, also nominated for Best Picture were "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "The Descendants," and "The Help," all quality films. George Clooney and Brad Pitt, also nominated, were strong contenders for Best Actor.

There was no need to come up with a huge upset in the Best Actress category.

Regarding this, the media argued incessantly with no unified conclusion, and some netizens even rated Jennifer's win over Meryl for the Best Actress Oscar as one of Hollywood's top ten mysteries.

It wasn't until a report by "Hollywood Reporter" revealed one angle of this mystery.

According to the news report, they secretly visited hundreds of jurors post-Oscar ceremony to ask about their voting; 58 people said they voted for Jennifer, 32 for Meryl, and the rest for other nominees.

Among the 58 jurors who voted for Jennifer, many claimed that during the voting process, they were influenced by Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company, both companies' PR departments wanted them to cast their votes for Jennifer Lawrence.

They thought doing so would not only result in an award for Jennifer but also garner wide sympathy for Meryl, paving the way for her to win easily at the next Oscars.

It was a win-win choice.

"Hollywood Reporter" believed this was probably the main reason Jennifer had won.

After this article was published, colleagues in the entertainment industry and the ordinary public were stunned by the answer, both speechless and admiring.

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Since last December, Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company had been openly and secretly fighting each other, throwing mud.

At times the media exposed Harvey's past involvement in sexual harassment cases, and at times it was reported that Link was prepared to spend tens of millions of US Dollars to elevate his young girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence by using the Oscars as a means to an end.

The public, watching the two companies fight, also thought that Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company had an extremely poor relationship, to a do-or-die extent.

But the result was that the two companies were putting on a double act.

The fight was a performance for outsiders, their goal was to monopolize the Oscars this year.

And they did achieve that; this year Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company jointly won Best Picture/Director/Actor/Actress/Supporting Actress/Costume Design/Score/Makeup, almost half of all the awards.

Besides, after Jennifer's win, ticket sales for "Silver Linings Playbook" continued to grow, and both Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company were beneficiaries.

Moreover, after Meryl lost the Best Actress Award, she genuinely gained everyone's sympathy, and her reputation continued to improve.

One could say, at the next Oscars, she's set to take the Best Actress award.

This was not just a win-win; it was a multi-win scenario.

In the beginning, many didn't believe it, claiming that Link and Harvey really didn't get along. On Oscar night, Harvey looked very sour, but some countered, "If they weren't on good terms, would they have co-invested in 'Silver Linings Playbook' and 'The Master'?"

The reason it wasn't obvious was because both Link and Harvey's acting was too good, their strategy too clever, fooling everyone.

Even when the media blew the lid off the mystery, some still couldn't believe they had been duped, only proving how strongly deceptive their tactics were.

Some even mentioned Link's struggles with the East Coast rap gangs, which often turned out mutually beneficial, not just for Link who usually benefited from these confrontations but also for the East Coast rap itself, while only the singers releasing albums at the same time suffered.

The so-called 'conflict' between Link and Harvey was just a repeated old tale.

And the peers in the entertainment industry were dumbfounded, a multitude of questions popping into their minds.

Was the rumor of a feud between Harvey and Link false? Was Harvey's threat to blacklist Link all just an act? Were their two companies actually collaborating to fight against the big six and compete with other independent producers?

Looking at the performance of the two companies last year, one ranking seventh and the other eighth, together they accumulated more in box office returns than 20th Century Fox, which was ranked sixth.

From this point, it was clear the two companies had indeed succeeded in their schemes.

When the executives of the major Hollywood studios and other independent producers saw this news, they couldn't help but admire Link and Harvey's level of business warfare, skyscraper-high, and it's no wonder that their films were bestsellers; fundamentally, in terms of competitive strategy, everyone else was quite behind Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company.

Even Relativity Media's Ryan Kavanaugh specifically called a high-level company meeting to discuss the possibility of emulating the business warfare model of Lionsgate Films and Weinstein Company.

And those who last year heeded Harvey's call to join forces against Link were cursing under their breath. Link and Harvey's move was too cunning; they thought they could please Harvey, but ended up alienating themselves, offending both bigwigs at once.

"Harvey, is this all true?"

Matt Damon walked into Harvey's office with a dark face and confronted him.

Harvey was holding a newspaper, his face looking even worse than Matt's, his eyes twitching uncontrollably and burning with anger.

Upon hearing Matt Damon's confrontation, Harvey clenched his teeth, barely holding back his anger, said, "It's fake, it's the 'Hollywood Reporter' making stuff up. How could I possibly cooperate with Link, that damn bastard, on this matter? It's impossible, never ever possible."

Matt Damon, seeing Harvey's expression, silently lamented, 'This guy's acting is so good; it's a pity he isn't an actor.'

"Harvey, if it's fake, why did you partner with Link to produce 'Silver Linings Playbook' and later hand the distribution rights to Lionsgate?"

"If it's fake, why did you continue to co-produce 'The Master' with Palm Beach? Also about this Oscars, I asked a few familiar judges, and indeed, your company's PR department did send them emails, hoping they would support Jennifer Lawrence winning and pave the way for Meryl to win next year. How do you explain that?"

Matt Damon asked.

Harvey, with a grim face, tried to come up with an explanation, but didn't know how.

The reason they partnered with Link on "Silver Linings Playbook" was because they were blackmailed by Link last year, and such things couldn't be openly discussed. Later, investing in "The Master" with Palm Beach Films was because their movies made money, which was Bob's idea.

And by the end of last year, handing "Silver Linings Playbook" to Lionsgate Films for distribution was an attempt to trap Link in the Oscars, but they ended up trapping themselves instead.

These matters were too embarrassing; he couldn't tell them to Matt Damon.

Harvey took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "Matt, our previous cooperation with Link was us falling for Link's trick, and this time at the Oscars, we absolutely did not cooperate with Link. There must be some misunderstanding here, just wait, I am investigating it. Once I have the results, I'll definitely tell you. Anyway, I have never and will never cooperate with that damn bastard Link."