open(OLD,"<$dir/$file") or die "can't open $dir/$file: $!";

##</code><code>##

my $data = do {local $/; <OLD>}; # slurp the whole file in to $data
my @replace_list = ('','Notes:','Director:','Actors:');
while ($data =~ s/(?<=$search)/shift @replace_list/egs) {};