Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 5 Ticket
"Hey man, you finally woke up and your backpack was stolen."

Someone next door said.

Link withdrew his eyes from the distance, looked down at his arms, and his heart skipped a beat.

Before going to bed, he was worried that his bag would be stolen, so he held the backpack in his arms while sleeping, but now his arms are empty.

Link was surprised. The videotape was stolen?

Due to limited funds at the time, he only made two copies during the post-production of "Buried".

One copy was given to the organizers of the Sundance Film Festival, but after the festival ended, it was thrown away somewhere by the staff.

Keep the second copy in your hand. If it is stolen, all hope will be gone.

Sweat began to form on Link's forehead.

"Hey man, have you lost any valuables? The thieves are two black men with daggers in their hands. You can ask the conductor to call the police."

The passenger in the next seat said.

Just as Link was about to look for the conductor, he subconsciously touched his shirt and felt a rectangular paper package, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Considering that there are many thieves on American trains.

Before going to bed, he deliberately placed the videotape against his chest under his underwear, put his wallet on his belly, and covered it with his backpack.

As for the backpack, there were only a few toiletries, three pairs of underwear that had not been washed, and half a roll of tissues brought from the hotel.

Just as I was about to sit down and thank the passenger next to me, the conductor came to check my ticket.

When taking a train in the United States, you do not need to check your ticket when getting on or off the train, but there will be conductors checking tickets in the middle, and those without tickets will be kicked off the train.

Link took the initiative to walk over and told the conductor in an angry tone that his luggage had been stolen by two black men and his ticket from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles had also been stolen. He hoped that the conductor could help him find it back.

Link found the passenger next to him to testify.

Several people confirmed that this happened.

Link said he was a director who came to Park City to attend the Sundance Film Festival. He didn't expect to encounter a thief on his way back. It was a very unpleasant experience.

After asking about the situation, the conductor gave him a small tag instead of a ticket and said that the train would try its best to help him find his lost items.

Link took the small tag and thanked the conductor politely.

"Hey, man, wanna drink? Here's to your misfortunes."

A young man sitting in the next seat handed me a can of Budweiser.

"Thanks man! Thanks for reminding me."

Link said as he took the beer.

The young man opposite was about twenty years old, with short golden brown hair. He looked ordinary and had no special features. The only special feature was that he looked 70% like the future movie star Matt Damon.

Sitting next to him was his companion, a taller and more handsome boy who was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, with a very calm expression.

Whether Link's things were stolen or he was looking for the conductor to explain, the boy's expression hardly changed, and he had no interest in speaking.

This boy also looks like Matt Damon's good friend Ben Affleck, the leading actor in Pearl Harbor.

When these two sit together, apart from the imitation show, it's just them.

"You're welcome. Man, you just said you were a director, back from Sundance in Park City?"

Matt Damon looked him up and down, as if trying to determine his identity by his appearance.

Just from Link's appearance, there's nothing wrong.

He was wearing a long black down jacket and blue jeans, which were full of wrinkles. The jeans had not been washed for a long time, and there were several obvious stains on the blue and white trouser legs. His white sneakers were yellowed and the shoelaces were also black. From this point of view, he had the unkempt appearance of most directors.

But he was too young, his appearance was handsome and immature, and his clothes were too poor.

As we all know, in the entertainment industry, people who are relatively wealthy or have good connections are suitable to be directors, while poor people are only suitable to be actors and play supporting roles.

"Yes, I'm a director. Last year I made a movie called Buried Alive, which tells the story of a man who was buried in a wooden box under a sand pit. He called the police for help, but the police didn't know where he was buried. The man needed to save himself."

Link briefly recounts the plot line of the Buried Alive movie.

"Wow, this is an interesting story. I like it."

Matt Damon shook his calves and tapped his knees with his fingers.

“Thank you, but there were too many excellent independent films at the Sundance Film Festival this year, such as Alexander Rockwell’s “The Troubled Times”, Anthony Drazen’s “Zebra Head”, and Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs”, so my film failed to win any awards. However, the critics gave my film good reviews.”

Link took a few sips of beer. He hadn't eaten since morning and his wallet was cleaner than his face, so he could only use beer to fill his stomach for the time being.

"It sounds great. Have you found a distributor for your film? When will it be released? I will definitely go and see it then."

Matt Damon asked.

"Yes, a film company has approached me to discuss film distribution, but their offer was lower than I expected. The distribution has not been confirmed yet. After I return to Los Angeles, I will continue to negotiate with the film company. If everything goes well, it should be released next month."

Link said, shielding his lips with the mouth of the beer can.

“I wish you a big box office success.”

"Thank you!"

Link clinked glasses with Matt Damon and casually asked Matt Damon where they were from, where they were going, and what their names were.

Matt Damon is indeed Matt Damon, and the cool guy next to him is Ben Affleck.

The two are from Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the East Coast, and grew up together living in the same neighborhood.

Matt Damon was admitted to Harvard University the year before last.

She dropped out of school this year and came to Hollywood with Ben Affleck to pursue her dream of becoming a showbiz star.

Two days ago, when the two passed by Las Vegas, Nevada, Ben Affleck suggested going for a gamble, but they lost everything.

Matt Damon pointed at Ben Affleck and said that he didn't dislike talking, he just lost all his money and was in a bad mood.

Link laughed and said that he had just been robbed as well, and proposed a toast to their respective bad luck.

"Mr. Link, is this your backpack?"

The conductor who checked tickets earlier came over with a gray-black backpack in his hand, which was the one Link lost.

It’s just that the outside of the backpack was covered with a lot of dust, as if it had been picked up from a garbage dump.

"Bless you, sir! It's mine, thank you very much, sir."

Link took it in surprise.

"You're welcome. This is our job. Take a look at what's missing. We can keep looking."

The conductor said.

Link flipped through it and found nothing missing, but instead there was an extra note which read - Damn poor bastard, why are you holding on to a bag of garbage so tightly?

Link thanked the conductor and claimed that he had only lost a bag of potato chips, his ticket, and a walkman.

The conductor felt sorry for him and asked him to leave his address, saying that he would mail it to him after finding it.

(End of this chapter)