Having settled on a package price of $150 million for the next three seasons, along with several additional conditions set by NBC, both parties began negotiating important details such as payment settlements.
To minimize their own cash flow pressure, television networks generally adopt a strategy of delaying payments as much as possible when purchasing television programs, a practice identical to that of Hollywood film distributors. Most independent producers in the industry can only recover funds from the network after a series has finished airing.
In the case of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', a collaboration between Daenerys Entertainment and ABC, even with a clear advantage, ABC was only willing to pay a 30% advance before the first season premiered. The remaining balance would be paid in two instalments of 30% and 40% after the winter break and the conclusion of the first season, respectively.
As for 'Survivor', after several hours of back-and-forth arguments and discussions, NBC finally agreed to pay 50% before and 50% after each season aired.
The meeting ended, and after everyone had lunch together, Robert Wright hurried back to the East Coast. He needed to personally oversee the network's marketing adjustments for the subsequent broadcasts of 'Survivor' to maximize the influence of this reality show.
The specific contract needed to be drafted by staff from both companies based on the meeting memorandum, and the formal signing would take about a week.
Having been away from Los Angeles for two weeks, Simon had maintained remote control over Daenerys Entertainment through phone and fax. After handling the 'Survivor' matters in the morning, Simon was in no hurry to return to Malibu. Instead, he personally checked on the production progress of several films.
'Scream' had finished post-production in the first few days of the month and was submitted to the MPAA for rating; they were currently waiting for the results.
After taking over the post-production of 'Rain Man' from Barry Levinson, and following over a month of busy work, the re-editing of the film was complete. During his time in Melbourne, Simon had also personally composed the score for the movie.
The composer for the original version of 'Rain Man' was Hans Zimmer, the later-famous film score master who earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for it. But right now, Hans Zimmer was still an obscure figure. The score for 'Rain Man' wasn't complex, and with the version in his memory as a foundation, Simon could complete it easily, so he didn't bother looking for him.
Post-production for 'Steel Magnolias' and 'Dead Poets Society' was progressing smoothly. Barring any surprises, all three films, 'Rain Man", 'Steel magnolias' and 'Dead Poets Society', would be completely finished by the end of September.
After checking the post-production of several films, he held a production meeting for over two hours to discuss the preparation progress for a series of films Daenerys Entertainment was pushing forward.
As the meeting neared its end, it was already evening.
After reporting on the preparation status of a series of projects like 'The Sixth Sense', 'The Bodyguard', 'Look Who's Talking', and 'Uncle Buck', the executives and producers attending the meeting dispersed early. As usual, only Simon, Amy, and a few others remained in the conference room.
Sitting by the window, feeling the golden evening sun spilling into the room, Simon closed the folder in front of him and said to Amy on the other side, "Since it's confirmed we've secured 'Wonder Woman', have the major agencies send over a list of candidates recently. Like with 'Batman', I need newcomers, between 20 and 25 years old, about six feet tall".
Noticing the confusion on Amy's face, Simon added with a smile, "I don't plan on filming this movie right now; we definitely have to finish the first instalments of 'Batman' and 'Superman' first. However, I hope to cultivate a few candidates from the start. Once the choices are made, we'll arrange some small roles for them over the next few years to hone their acting skills. Speaking of which, the choice for Batman was a bit rushed".
Having secured the DC Trinity, the obstacles to pushing the DC Cinematic Universe forward ahead of schedule were no longer significant. As for needing to introduce other DC superheroes in the future, Simon didn't see that as a problem either. With Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman all in his hands, Warner didn't have many choices. Because he had reserved investment rights for Warner to share in the profits, he didn't think Warner would have the guts that Marvel once had to use second-tier heroes to build an entirely new cinematic universe.
However, in Simon's memory, there wasn't yet a suitable candidate in Hollywood to play Wonder Woman. He still hoped to find a Diana Prince actress similar to Gal Gadot. The launch of 'Wonder Woman' would be at least after the release of 'Batman', which left plenty of time to cultivate someone from scratch.
Amy nodded in understanding and added, "Then should we also re-select an actor for Superman? Christopher Reeve is definitely no longer suitable".
Simon nodded. "Sure, have the agencies pick some candidates for that as well".
Amy noted this in her memo, then looked up again. "Between 20 and 25 years old, six feet tall... Simon, isn't Miss Kidman just right?"
"Now that you mention it, I remember," Simon shook his head slightly and said, "When I visited the set of 'Dead Calm' in Australia, Nicole turned down the role in 'Brenda Starr'. She has her own ideas about her acting career".
Hearing Simon say this, Amy just smiled and nodded. "I also received a call from Nicole. In that case, should we let our Wonder Woman candidates try out for the female lead in 'Brenda Starr' first?"
"We'll see", Simon said non-committedly, then asked, "How is the script revision for 'Brenda Starr' going?"
"The first draft is finished. I'll have someone prepare a copy for you tomorrow", Amy said. Seeing that there were no other matters, she packed up her folder. A moment later, remembering something, she looked up again. "One more thing, Simon. Since 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and 'Survivor' are both so successful, should we have a celebration this weekend?"
Although the other two reality shows hadn't premiered yet, with two hit shows like 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and 'Survivor', Daenerys Entertainment had already become the envy of every television program supplier in Hollywood. Holding a celebration party to reward the creators was only proper.
Furthermore, maintaining connections is always very important for the development of a film company.
Many executives at major Hollywood film companies hold various parties and receptions almost every week to connect with industry stars and celebrities. In comparison, Simon seemed very unenthusiastic about this; the number of times he passively attended parties hosted by others far exceeded the frequency of him hosting his own. However, Simon also understood that such things were unavoidable and couldn't be dodged. If he left these matters entirely to Amy and other executives, he would be very vulnerable in terms of connections if there were ever an unexpected change in the company's management.
After considering for a moment, Simon said, "Let's hold it at the villa in Palisades. Set the date for Saturday. You can draft an invitation list".
With over 20 million viewers on its premiere day, 'Survivor' quickly became a hot topic of discussion in the media over the following days.
NBC soon adjusted its marketing intensity for 'Survivor'. Meanwhile, to avoid falling too far behind, ABC also ramped up its marketing offensive for 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'. FOX and CBS were even more full of expectations for 'Big Brother' and 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills', which both premiered on Wednesday.
However, as expected, 'Big Brother' and 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' ultimately failed to replicate the ratings miracles of 'Survivor' and 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'. On its Wednesday premiere, FOX's 8:00 PM slot for 'Big Brother' ended with an average of 15.35 million viewers. CBS's 9:00 PM slot for 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' had an even lower average for its first episode, at only 11.7 million.
Of course, these ratings were only low relative to 'Survivor' and 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'.
Compared to most series premieres in this era, both reality shows, which broke the ten-million mark, were already doing very well. 'Big Brother' with its 15.35 million viewers had even reached an excellent level. As its popularity built, the future ratings for this reality show could even challenge the 20-million mark, and its average ratings for future seasons should be able to maintain around 15 million.
As for 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills', though it ranked last among the four reality shows, its viewership of over 10 million exceeded Simon's expectations. In the original timeline, because it was a basic cable program, the best ratings for 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills' were only around two or three million.
Moreover, although they weren't massive hits like 'Survivor' and 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', both FOX and CBS expressed their intent to renew the series after they premiered.
Faced with what seemed like a sudden reality show craze, Hollywood film and television production companies also began looking for similar television programs, and North American media outlets devoted page after page to analysing the reality shows.
There was no doubt that the reason Daenerys Entertainment was able to launch its television business with a bang this autumn season with four reality shows was, in the final analysis, due to the previous Hollywood writers' strike. If not for the strike that lasted over five consecutive months, the four major networks would never have given up so much initiative to sign such favourable contracts with Daenerys Entertainment.
Now, various parties in the industry were also generally starting to realize this.
The previous strike was a lose-lose situation for both the Writers Guild of America and the four major networks. Other production companies in Hollywood also suffered varying degrees of heavy losses in this strike. Only Daenerys Entertainment reaped huge benefits from it.
It wasn't just these four reality shows that were making Daenerys Entertainment a fortune. In the upcoming year-end season, because the long strike had caused many film projects to stall, Daenerys Entertainment's films could also gain more market resources as a result.
Having fully understood this, and while marvelling at Daenerys Entertainment's good luck, the traditional powers in Hollywood also began to instinctively protect their own interests.
The following Friday, Daenerys Entertainment received the MPAA's rating report for 'Scream', demanding that Daenerys Entertainment modify a large number of excessive violent and bloody scenes in the film. Otherwise, the film would be rated with the strictest NC-17.
'Scream' was originally aimed at a young audience over 16, and Simon had never thought of earning ticket money for this film from twelve or thirteen-year-old children. However, an NC-17 rating didn't just mean that viewers under 17 were prohibited from watching; once a film was confirmed with such a rating, it also meant the film could only be shown in a limited number of specific theatres and could not be promoted with large-scale public advertising.
In the original timeline, news did indeed spread that 'Scream' underwent multiple revisions to avoid an NC-17 fate, but Simon, who was very familiar with the Weinstein Brothers, knew that this was basically just a marketing gimmick.
Almost from the start of their careers, the two brothers had used this rating gimmick for their operations, and it was very effective. Sometimes, the Weinstein Brothers would even proactively submit films with NC-17 standards for MPAA review, and after the word got out, they would modify them to R-rated standards and resubmit. Audiences were generally more interested in a film that 'almost' got an NC-17 rating.
But this time, Simon knew very well that the situation with the new version of 'Scream' was not a gimmick at all, but rather the MPAA Rating Board, controlled by The Big Seven, giving Daenerys Entertainment a warning. With only a month and a half left until the release of 'Scream', suddenly encountering this situation, director Wes Craven could only work overtime urgently during the weekend to modify the film, and Simon had to personally get involved as well.
Amidst the busyness, time unknowingly reached September 17th, Saturday.
As evening approached, people from all over the city began to gather at Simon's mansion in Palisades. Today was the celebration party hosted by Daenerys Entertainment for "'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?', 'Survivor', 'Big Brother', and 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'.
However, it wasn't just the creators of the four reality shows; many Hollywood celebrities and stars had also received invitations. Because Daenerys Entertainment had been frequently looking for actors for a series of its projects recently, many stars who hadn't originally received an invitation also managed to attend the party through various channels, hoping for a chance to get in touch with Simon Westeros or other high-level executives of Daenerys Entertainment.
Simon and Wes Craven had been slaving away in the editing room all day for the revisions to 'Scream'. By the time the two of them arrived at Simon's mansion in Palisades together, it was nearly eight o'clock.
After a full day of work, the two hungry men briefly greeted the guests in the mansion and hurried straight to the buffet table.
Having picked out a full plate of food, Simon and Wes Craven were hiding in a corner continuing to discuss the film's revisions in low voices when Sandra Bullock approached with a beaming smile. She directly hooked her arm into Simon's, greeted Wes Craven, and then leaned into Simon's ear to whisper, "I don't see Jenny; did she not come tonight?"
Simon watched Wes Craven turn and leave with a knowing look. He picked up a grilled shrimp and stuffed it into Sandra's mouth, saying, "There's no need to be so blunt about your thoughts of having an affair, is there? We're all respectable people".
Sandra rolled her eyes and raised her hand to stop the grilled shrimp Simon was stuffing in. She held it in her hand and took small bites, her other hand still not letting go of Simon. "I regret now that I wasn't more proactive like Jenny back then; as a result, the good man was snatched away. But seriously, I really don't see Jenny?"
Simon led Sandra to a table near the cliffside and sat down. Looking out at the beautiful night view of Los Angeles, he explained with a smile, "She went to France".