South of Venice Beach, near Los Angeles' famous Marina del Rey, in an office park spanning about two acres.
As Michael Ovitz got out of his car in the parking lot, Jennifer Raybould came up to him and politely said, "Mr. Ovitz, the boss is waiting for you. Please follow me".
Not seeing Simon come to greet him, Ovitz was somewhat displeased, but maintained his composure in front of the beautiful woman and nodded. He followed Jennifer into a large factory building within the park. The factory was filled with various types of vehicle assembly parts. Simon was discussing something in a low voice with a middle-aged white man, both gathered around a peculiarly shaped 'motorcycle'.
"Good afternoon, Michael", Simon stopped his conversation and walked over, shaking hands with Ovitz, then introduced the other middle-aged man, "This is Adam Rocklit. He used to be an engineer at General Motors and now runs his own studio".
Ovitz shook hands with Adam Rocklit before looking at the 'motorcycle' in front of him again.
The only reason it could be called a 'motorcycle' was that this vehicle had only two wheels, two wide wheels clearly only used for racing. But apart from that, the exaggerated, high-tech design of the entire vehicle completely transcended the category of a 'motorcycle'.
Because he had been intentionally or unintentionally following Simon's movements, Ovitz quickly understood the purpose of this 'motorcycle' and tentatively asked, "Simon, is this a prop you designed for 'Batman'?"
The 'motorcycle' in front of him was actually the super cool Batpod from the original 'Dark Knight' series.
Simon wasn't interested in Nolan's 'Batman' version of the purely utilitarian Batmobile, so he designed a different Batmobile, but kept the concept of this Batpod. After confirming the filming of 'Batman,' he began to have people design this vehicle.
Simon heard Ovitz's question and nodded, "Yes, what do you think?"
Ovitz stepped forward and carefully examined the Batpod, saying, "The design is very novel, but I don't seem to see a power system. Can it run?"
Adam Rocklit, standing beside the two, then proactively explained, "Mr. Ovitz, this motorcycle uses in-wheel motor technology. Its power system, transmission system, and braking system are all integrated into the wheel hub and are driven by electricity, so, yes, it can run".
Ovitz had always been a very curious person. Hearing this, he immediately became more interested and meticulously inquired about various details of the vehicle. The three chatted, and Ovitz even personally tried driving it a short distance within the factory.
Since many details were still being perfected, although it could run, the Batpod's speed was still very slow at this time. Simon's expectation was only that it could reach a speed of about 30 kilometres per hour during filming, which would be sufficient.
After getting off the Batpod, Ovitz recalled the series of advantages of in-wheel motor technology that Adam Rocklit had just introduced and exclaimed, "This is truly surprising. I never imagined such advanced technology existed in this world. Perhaps in not too many years, we will usher in a new revolution in the automotive industry".
Adam Rocklit carefully pushed the Batpod back to the centre of the factory, smiling as he said, "Mr. Ovitz, in-wheel motor technology is actually not advanced at all. It has almost as long a history as the internal combustion engine. As early as 1900, Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of Porsche, designed the first electric car using in-wheel motor technology. It's just that throughout this century, our automotive industry has focused on internal combustion engine research and development, which is why in-wheel motors and electric-powered cars haven't become widespread".
Ovitz realized, "That's truly a shame".
Simon also couldn't help but sigh, "I've always felt that, driven by fundamental interests rather than a pure pursuit of science, we've missed too many things. The Apollo program sent humans to the moon in the sixties, but in recent years, aerospace technology has not only failed to continue developing but has actually been regressing".
Ovitz said, "I, however, think the Apollo program was a bit of a waste of human and financial resources".
"Before the Age of Discovery began, some countries on this planet had too many opportunities to dominate the world, but in the end, it was Britain, with only a few million people at the time, that built the 'empire on which the sun never sets'. The accessible starry sky above us is thousands of times vaster than the ocean; who knows what it can bring us?"
After a casual chat, Simon and Ovitz sat down at a workbench in the factory, and Adam Rocklit tactfully excused himself.
Picking up a wrench from the workbench and fiddling with it, Simon asked Ovitz in a relaxed tone, "How are things going with Sony?"
Ovitz was somewhat surprised. Although he hadn't concealed his trip to Japan, very few people knew he had rushed to Tokyo to discuss Sony Group's acquisition of a Hollywood film company.
However, since Simon had already brought it up, he didn't deny it, saying, "Sony wants to acquire a major Hollywood film company, and CAA also wants to expand its business. Speaking of which, Simon, the Japanese are very interested in you; they specifically asked about Daenerys Entertainment".
"I'm not interested in the Japanese", Simon said, without further comment, and got straight to the point, "Since you're back, Michael, I think this recent farce should end. Levinson and the others have all achieved their goals, so I hope they all shut up now".
Ovitz's previously smiling expression also turned serious, saying, "Simon, you shouldn't have fired Barry without a word".
Simon looked at Ovitz and said, "Michael, we're all smart people. They all thought 'Rain Man' couldn't succeed. Levinson didn't want his status, which had just risen to A-list with 'Good Morning, Vietnam,' to be damaged, and Hoffman was also worried about repeating last year's box office failure with 'Ishtar.' So, they all pushed the responsibility onto me. Now, they've all gotten what they wanted, and this matter should end here".
Ovitz had originally intended to leverage Simon for more benefits for his clients, but since Simon had exposed the inside story, he couldn't bring himself to speak. He had always felt that he and Simon were alike, two intelligent people, and if he were to deliberately make trouble, it would make him look very foolish.
He didn't want to become a fool.
"I'll talk to Barry and the others", after a moment of silence, Ovitz nodded in agreement, then added, "What are your plans next, Simon?"
"I remember you really liked this script, Michael, and so did I. Next, I will personally take over the post-production of this project until it hits theatres", Simon shrugged, then added, "Since the three of them don't want to be associated with 'Rain Man' anymore, this project will no longer involve them. Daenerys Entertainment will pay them all the remaining balances in their contracts. All they have to do is shut up. And, at least now the entire country knows about a movie called 'Rain Man', which is actually a good thing. Movie marketing, whether it's marketing in a good direction or a bad direction, as long as it can make the audience notice the movie, then its marketing is successful".
Ovitz didn't show any indignation at Simon's contempt for his clients in his words; instead, he seemed to realize something and said, "Is this the strategy you used for 'Basic Instinct'?"
"Exactly. This should be considered controversial marketing, and it's very effective. You can try it when you run a film company in the future".
Ovitz subconsciously shook his head, saying, "Simon, I don't plan to run a film company".
"If you have an opportunity and don't seize it, that will only be your loss. CAA's scope is ultimately too small, and you yourself must be tired of it, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be trying to do consulting work for Sony". Simon recalled Ovitz's personal career experience from memory and then casually added, "However, if you run a film company but fail to gain absolute control, your loss will be even greater".
Ovitz couldn't help but recall the invitation from Sony executives during his trip to Japan, who hoped he would take charge after they acquired a major Hollywood film company.
CAA's influence in Hollywood seems to be growing, but due to the inherent limitations of the industry, it can only be considered a small player. Its more than six hundred clients actually only bring in one to two hundred million dollars in total revenue for the company each year. After paying the salaries and bonuses of all its more than one hundred agents, not much is left for Ovitz himself.
In comparison, even the now dilapidated MGM has an annual income of more than one to two hundred million dollars, and MCA (Music Corporation of America), the parent company of Universal Pictures, which he recommended to Sony for acquisition this time, is an even greater behemoth.
Neither party was idle. Since the matter had been settled, Ovitz quickly said goodbye and left. Simon continued to discuss some design details of the Batpod with Adam Rocklit, then also rushed back to the Daenerys Entertainment headquarters in Santa Monica.
Just as he settled into his office, Amy knocked on the door and came in with a document.
Handing the folder to Simon, Amy explained, "This is the new contract that the Producers Guild just provided to the WGA".
Simon casually opened it. There were two proposals in the folder: one was today's new contract, and the other was the proposal from mid-June that was rejected by WGA vote.
After a quick scan, Simon realized that the Producers Guild had been quite ruthless this time.
In the new proposal, compared to the previous three-year contract, the Producers Guild directly demanded to extend the contract to four years.
Furthermore, regarding the syndication revenue for one-hour network television programs, which was at the core of this strike dispute, the Producers Guild completely rejected the WGA's demand for a share based on the number of reruns, insisting on giving writers a share based on a percentage of rerun revenue, and the percentage offered was only 1.2%, far below the industry's generally expected 2%.
In comparison, the June contract, although it stipulated a payment cap, offered a compromise clause where writers could choose between a fixed share and a proportional share.
As for the WGA's other demands in this strike, such as film revenue sharing percentages, minimum wage standards, and even more creative control, the Producers Guild also compressed them to varying degrees based on the June contract. All told, this contract reduced the value by $50 million compared to the June proposal, which is equivalent to each of the WGA's more than ten thousand members losing at least a month's salary on average.
Moreover, the Producers Guild also strongly demanded that the WGA must respond within a week. If the new contract could not be passed, negotiations between the two parties would be postponed for another month.
Today was already August 5th.
At the end of last month, after officially signing a contract with Daenerys Entertainment, ABC quickly relaunched the show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'. Although only two episodes were shown each week, this did not deter audiences from flocking to the reality show, with total viewership even once soaring to 20 million, compared to the initial pilot episode.
Beyond ABC, NBC and Fox, the two major television networks, also began aggressively promoting the other two reality shows they had just acquired from Daenerys Entertainment. Although CBS failed to partner with Daenerys Entertainment, it also concocted its own game show-style reality show and began promoting it.
The four major television networks also publicly stated in recent days that they would develop more interesting reality shows and simultaneously announced that they would promote more non-union member TV drama project collaborations.
This was clearly a very obvious form of pressure.
Simon finished flipping through the documents in his hand and looked at Amy, saying, "Do you think the WGA will agree to this contract?"
"The WGA doesn't have many choices left", Amy nodded, then added, "I'm just worried that our TV drama projects might be affected".
After completing the acquisition of New World Entertainment, Simon's first requirement for New World Entertainment's senior management was to quickly restart the TV drama projects that had stalled. Now, although those projects no longer lacked funding, Daenerys Entertainment's reality show projects had led to the WGA's complete defeat in this strike, and the company's TV dramas were clearly very likely to face boycotts from writers.
TV dramas are much more dependent on writers than movies.
Frowning in thought, Simon said, "We'll see. Everyone is working for their livelihood. I don't believe writers will still have the courage to refuse work after losing income for six consecutive months. If they really do, we'll invite non-union members or overseas writers".
Amy knew that for now, things could only be this way, so she changed the subject and asked, "How was your meeting with Ovitz?"
"It's settled", Simon nodded, saying, "CAA doesn't intend to completely fall out with us either".
Amy was still a little worried. Barry Levinson would certainly not be involved in this project again, but she didn't think Simon personally overseeing the post-production of 'Rain Man' was a very good choice: "Are you really going to personally supervise the re-editing of 'Rain Man'?"
"What else? Besides Barry Levinson, I'm probably the only one in Hollywood who's familiar with this project".
"Perhaps we could invite the editor of 'Rain Man'".
"I checked", Simon said, "Stu Linder, he's a long-time collaborator of Barry Levinson, so never mind. I don't intend for this project to have any further involvement with Barry Levinson and his team".