Los Angeles, USA — Hollywood.
Located in the northwestern suburbs of L.A., surrounded by mountains and water, Hollywood boasts some of the best scenery and climate in the region.
Countless film studios are based here, making it the largest film production center in the world.
As long as a movie bears the "Hollywood" label, it's bound to attract audiences and bring in revenue. That reputation was built over many years through a legacy of outstanding films and the hard work of generations of filmmakers.
Alfonso Jefferies was one such filmmaker with a solid reputation in the Hollywood industry.
He had started out as an ordinary screenwriter but quickly rose through the ranks to become an independent director, producing several well-received films.
Now, he owned his own film company, operating under the umbrella of Detroit Pictures Group, and was living quite comfortably.
Each day, he left his home in high spirits, heading to the studio to check in on the progress of his scheduled productions.
...
...
At the moment, he had two films set to release in about six months.
One was a major effects-driven production, into which his company had poured more than half of its total funds, using the most advanced VFX tools available—it had cost a fortune.
The other was a blockbuster co-produced with Detroit Pictures.
He had reviewed the progress of both, and barring any surprises, both were likely to be commercial hits.
But beyond these projects, Alfonso had also taken on another task.
At the personal request of Detroit Pictures' top executive, he and several other filmmakers under the group had spearheaded a boycott.
The target of this boycott was a movie from a relatively unknown company in the film industry.
The film was created entirely using CG effects—technically an animated movie, though it was clearly a cut above standard animation.
For Alfonso, complying with Detroit Pictures' request was a no-brainer.
In fact, he had his own personal gripe with the production: the creative control had reportedly been handed over to someone other than the director or screenwriter. The creative lead wasn't the director, but someone else entirely—leaving the director and writer as mere tools.
Alongside several other filmmakers, Alfonso became one of the most vocal critics, fiercely denouncing the practice in multiple interviews. In truth, these public statements were mostly cover. The real goal was simply to block the film from being released in traditional theaters.
For now, at least, any movie that couldn't enter mainstream theaters was essentially doomed to flop, no matter how well it was made. That's just how the industry worked—and changing that perception would take time.
The film in question, of course, was Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
And conveniently, Alfonso's own film—also heavy on visual effects—was slated to release around the same time. Knocking out a potential competitor worked perfectly in his favor.
That made him more motivated than anyone else involved in the boycott.
Thanks to the influence of Detroit Pictures Group, most major theaters flat-out rejected Advent Children. These chains still relied heavily on big studio blockbusters and saw no downside in brushing off a relatively unknown game company making a movie.
After about a month of coordinated media efforts, the boycott seemed to be working. Gamestar Electronic Entertainment hadn't publicly pushed back—they looked surprisingly compliant, backing off from theatrical distribution after being denied.
This led executives at Sory Electronic to assume the movie had been a half-hearted project to begin with. If the mainstream theater chains wouldn't take it, then it likely wouldn't make any waves.
Alfonso, caught up in his other projects, was beginning to forget the whole affair.
At that moment, he was on set, supervising one of his productions.
Between the two films, he was clearly more invested in the one his company had poured the bulk of its funding into.
It featured stunning action sequences and, in his opinion, a gripping story.
But he was facing a new problem—
The visual effects were burning through money far too quickly.
He'd already committed over half the company's funds, and they'd only completed 70–80% of the VFX work.
He was starting to get worried.
If he kept investing, he might run out of resources entirely.
Maybe… I should loosen the standards for the effects?
"Boss, what do you think of the effects we've finished today?"The VFX lead handed him the day's completed work.
Alfonso glanced at it and still wasn't satisfied. He asked, hesitantly, "Is there any way we can improve the quality with our current resources?"
The lead shook his head. "Nope. This is the best we can do with the current budget. Anything better would cost a lot more."
Alfonso frowned. "It's just… missing something."
The VFX supervisor paused for a moment, then added, "Well, this might be a bit of hindsight, but I should mention… there is one studio that can produce high-quality effects at a much lower cost."
"Huh? Why didn't you mention that earlier?" Alfonso glared, visibly annoyed.
He'd already spent a fortune—why bring this up now?
"I did try to mention it, boss… but you shot it down immediately."
"Shot it down? When did I ever do that?" Alfonso looked confused.
Who would turn down something that could save money and deliver results?
"Well… it was when you said publicly that we were boycotting that company. You announced we wouldn't work with them under any circumstances. So even if we wanted to use them, we couldn't."
"Wait… that company?"
"They have their own in-house VFX engine called Unreal Studio. It's developed by their parent company—Gamestar Electronic Entertainment."
Gamestar?
Alfonso's expression changed.
"Exactly. They did the VFX for Starsea Infinity, and the final result was amazing. I heard it cost 30% less than industry averages—maybe even lower."
Alfonso was stunned. "How did they manage that?"
"It's their VFX engine—it's unlike anything I've seen before. A lot of production companies are looking into it now. Even Detroit Pictures is already using it."
"What?! Detroit Pictures is using it too?" Alfonso's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yup. But… you insisted on the boycott, boss…"
In that instant, Alfonso realized he'd been played.
Detroit Pictures had told them to boycott Gamestar, while secretly using their VFX tools themselves?
What a joke.