After the lively New Year's Eve countdown, the New Year's Eve party began to wind down.
Around 1 AM, Simon saw off James Raybould and his family of three. When he returned to the villa, the empty living room was already left with only the waiters cleaning up the mess. There should still be some guests in the backyard, but Simon didn't need to personally see them off.
Walking up the stairs to the second floor, Simon heard Janettete's soft laughter even before reaching a living room.
After entering the room, Janette, Kathryn, Amy, and Nancy Brill, the four women, were lounging in various postures on the sofa, chatting about something. The women held wine glasses in their hands and were clearly tipsy; Janette's fair face was now flushed.
Simon walked to Janette's sofa, sat on the armrest, and gently took the red wine from her hand, not allowing her to drink anymore. He looked at Amy and the others and said, "Ladies, it's very late. Do you want to continue?"
Amy raised her wrist and looked at her watch, then showed a surprised expression: "It's already 1:25 AM, Simon. Have you seen Cliff?"
Cliff was Amy's new boyfriend, introduced as the owner of a French restaurant in Brentwood.
Simon thought for a moment and said, "He should be on the backyard lawn".
"Well, I should go", Amy placed her wine glass on the coffee table in front of her, propped herself up on the sofa armrest, stood up, shook her head slightly, and smiled at Simon, saying, "Boss, I'll go to the company later tomorrow. That should be a good enough reason, right?"
Simon smiled and nodded, "Of course".
What Amy referred to as 'tomorrow' was actually 'today,' and Simon naturally wouldn't quibble over such a small detail.
New Year's Day was supposed to be a public holiday in the United States, but Simon was flying to Australia tomorrow, and there were many things that needed to be arranged before he left. At least, a group of senior executives from Daenerys Entertainment would need to be at the company tomorrow.
As Amy stood up, the other three women also rose.
Simon put his arm around Janette, who swayed and leaned on him after standing up. His gaze inadvertently fell on Nancy Brill, and he couldn't help but say, "So short".
It turned out that Nancy Brill, who had been curled up on a single sofa, had taken off her high heels.
Simon hadn't noticed before, but with the woman now standing barefoot on the carpet, he realized that Nancy Brill's height must have been less than 1.6 meters. Not to mention Kathryn, she was noticeably shorter even compared to Janette and Amy, who were around 1.7 meters tall. However, the woman's curvaceous, mature charm, combined with her height, exuded a very alluring appeal.
When Simon said this, Janette and the other two, who had also suddenly noticed this, showed surprised expressions.
Nancy Brill, being watched by several people, nonchalantly sat down again. She found her high heels, which were at least 10cm tall, and put them on. She casually glanced at Kathryn, and her tone seemed to carry a hint of defensiveness, saying, "Boss, is this discrimination?"
"Of course not", Simon denied with a smile, watching Nancy Brill quickly stand up again. Her sky-high heels were hidden beneath the rose-coloured dress, and her height clearly shot up significantly. He said, "Actually, always wearing such high shoes doesn't seem very good".
Nancy Brill clearly didn't want to continue the topic, only stating indifferently, "If I don't wear them, the result will be even worse".
Since Nancy didn't like discussing her height, Simon dropped the subject. However, he couldn't help but wonder if this woman was strong-willed because she cared about her height, or if she became strong-willed because of her height. A petite stature of just over 1.5 meters was indeed quite short for a Western woman.
Everyone went downstairs together. Amy found her boyfriend among the last group of guests in the backyard. After watching the designated driver take the two away, Simon noticed that Nancy Brill was still alone.
The valet drove a black Mercedes sedan over. Simon watched Nancy say goodbye to everyone and then got into the driver's seat herself. He stepped forward, held the car door she was about to pull shut, and asked, "By yourself?"
Nancy sat in the driver's seat, took off her high heels again, and placed them aside. She looked at Simon and said, "Boss, is there a problem?"
Simon pulled the car door open a bit and stepped aside: "Sit in the back, let the designated driver take you home".
Nancy, however, shook her head: "No need".
Simon looked at the woman persistently: "Get out of the car".
Nancy's gaze met Simon's for a moment, and she finally said, "I'm not used to strangers taking me home".
Simon looked up, spotted Neil Bennett, gestured to him, and then looked back at Nancy, saying, "I'll have my driver take you home".
Nancy hesitated for a moment, then got out of the car and moved to the back seat.
Simon gave Neil Bennett a few instructions, watched him drive Nancy away, and then turned back. Janette was looking at him with a smile, a hint of teasing in her voice: "Nancy obviously wanted you, her boss, to personally take her home. You're really clueless".
Neil Bennett was originally supposed to take Simon and Janette back to Malibu, but now he had to wait a bit longer.
Simon ignored Janette's teasing and asked Kathryn, who was beside him, "Are we all going back to Malibu together later?"
"Sure", Kathryn nodded, somewhat to Simon's surprise, then added, "I just rented a house in Paradise Cove recently, not far from Point Dume, so it's on the way".
After that one time when the three of them were together, Kathryn had not given Simon another chance for such absurdity.
Seeing Simon's dejected expression, Janette smiled, took Kathryn's arm, and walked towards the villa, saying, "The little rascal is going to Australia the day after tomorrow, Kate. You can come and stay with me then".
Kathryn glanced at Simon, who was trailing beside them, and asked, "Aren't you going with him?"
"Our house at Point Dume Park is about to start construction", Janette shook her head and said, "Besides, Daenerys Entertainment will be undergoing a financial audit for the next month or so, so I'll stay in Los Angeles to keep an eye on things for him. Hmm, we'll go visit him together when his birthday comes in February".
Neil Bennett returned after dropping Nancy Brill off at home, and after another round of commotion, it was past 2 AM by the time they went to bed.
Waking up the next day, the new year had officially begun.
A senior management meeting was held at 10 AM and lasted until 1 PM, with the main topic being the company's work arrangements during Simon's absence from Los Angeles.
In the coming months, Daenerys Entertainment's key focus was on establishing overseas distribution channels and promoting the overseas release of several films, including 'Scream', from the end of last year.
In this era, Hollywood films rarely achieved simultaneous release overseas with North America; delays of two or three months were very common. Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment simply didn't divert its attention to overseas markets at the end of last year, focusing all its efforts on domestic distribution.
Now, 'Scream' and several other films had all achieved great success at the box office, which created excellent conditions for Daenerys Entertainment to expand its overseas distribution channels. With these blockbuster films as leverage, Daenerys Entertainment could easily establish contacts with overseas cinema chains.
Beyond film distribution, the next most important task was the financial audit of the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group.
As it was not a publicly listed company, Daenerys Entertainment was not required to publicly release annual financial reports.
However, due to the rapid expansion of the company, even Simon himself was not entirely clear about the revenue figures of Daenerys Entertainment, including its various subsidiaries, nor was he aware of any potential problems within them. This necessitated a very detailed financial audit of Daenerys Entertainment.
To ensure the accuracy of the financial report, Simon specifically authorized Janette to supervise the entire audit process at today's meeting.
Finally, there was the awards season strategy for several films produced by Daenerys Entertainment in the coming months.
Simon had always been lukewarm about awards like the Oscars. Although he had established Highgate Film, which specialized in art-house films and heavily relied on major film awards, in his view, the Oscars and other awards should always be something like 'icing on the cake,' rather than becoming the fundamental goal a film pursues, overshadowing its original purpose.
At 2 PM, after a simple lunch, Simon and several senior executives, including Amy, met with Wayne Huizenga, the chairman of Blockbuster, to discuss the specific plan for Daenerys Entertainment to invest in Blockbuster.
After several hours of negotiation, both parties reached a preliminary agreement.
Daenerys Entertainment would invest $120 million to acquire a 35% stake in Blockbuster. At the same time, Daenerys Entertainment promised not to interfere with Blockbuster's management within the next three years. In return, Blockbuster also guaranteed that Daenerys Entertainment's shares would not be diluted within the next three years. If Blockbuster needed further financing, Daenerys Entertainment would have priority to secure investment shares to maintain its equity ratio in the company.
Nancy Brill was also confirmed as a member of Blockbuster's board of directors after this meeting.
That evening, Simon once again invited the Raybould family for dinner in Malibu. During the meal, he privately discussed some matters concerning Westeros Company with James Raybould. Simon considered his arrangements before leaving complete.
Although he still had some reservations about letting go of the steering wheel of Daenerys Entertainment, this fast-moving 'sports car,' Simon also understood that he had to do so. If a company cannot continue to operate without a certain person, it is destined not to grow and expand.
On January 2nd, Simon, accompanied by a retinue, officially flew to Melbourne, Australia, in the morning.
The preliminary preparations for the 'Batman' project had been fully completed. After arriving in Melbourne, Simon only needed a few days to familiarize himself with the environment, and filming could officially begin on January 9th. The planned shooting period was 13 weeks, or 91 days. If all went well, the film would wrap up in early April, lasting three months.
Simon's departure from Los Angeles did not significantly affect anything in Hollywood.
Daenerys Entertainment's awards season public relations work for this year was entrusted by Simon to Ira Deutchman, the head of Highgate Film. After Simon left, Ira Deutchman began to push hard for 'Dead Poets Society' at the Golden Globes, while also preparing the Oscar nomination submissions for Daenerys Entertainment's relevant films.
With the unexpected box office success of 'Rain Man', Hollywood paid unusual attention to the film's Oscar public relations strategy.
Daenerys Entertainment had previously completely given up on this year's Golden Globes for 'Rain Man'. Many speculated that due to conflicts with several of 'Rain Man's creators, Daenerys Entertainment might continue to abandon the film's Oscar campaign.
'Rain Man' had become a complete phenomenon. If this film joined the Oscar race, other films this year would basically have little chance.
Therefore, all of Hollywood was hoping that Simon Westeros would act on his youthful impulse.
However, 'Rain Man' abandoning the Golden Globes was merely Simon paving the way for 'Dead Poets Society'. He still held his previous view: he would not do something as foolish as throwing a tantrum and harming his own interests. 'Rain Man' would be submitted for all possible awards as scheduled.
However, Ira Deutchman was thus given a very difficult task.
Among the nominations submitted for 'Rain Man', Best Director and Best Actor were clearly easy to obtain. In the original timeline, these two nominations also successfully earned Barry Levinson and Dustin Hoffman the golden statuettes.
But this time, the task Simon assigned to Ira Deutchman was to ensure that Barry Levinson and Dustin Hoffman only received nominations but did not win awards, just as Daenerys Entertainment had been continuously sending out audition invitations to CAA artists during this period, but without actually hiring them.
Reverse public relations is common among competitors, but making one's own film not win awards is still very difficult.
This was also one of Simon's tests for Ira Deutchman.
In addition to 'Rain Man', Daenerys Entertainment would continue to focus on public relations for 'Dead Poets Society'. The company's goal was for 'Rain Man' to win Best Picture and 'Dead Poets Society' to win Best Director.
A concerted effort to suppress Daenerys Entertainment was already clearly emerging among Hollywood's major film studios. At such a time, the 'disadvantage' of having many Oscar voters, which made it difficult to influence, ironically became an 'advantage'.
The Oscar voting body consists of over 3,000 members. As long as Daenerys Entertainment is willing to invest, and with high-quality films of its own, the chances of securing nominations and awards are still very high.
Simon also privately gave Ira Deutchman some special instructions, teaching him the public relations tactics of the Weinstein brothers from his memory.
Unbeknownst to them, another week of the new year had passed.
Films from the end of last year's schedule were still raking in box office revenue, but compared to the box office explosion during Christmas week, the total North American box office for the week of December 30th to January 5th shrunk back to $91.56 million from last week's $122.36 million, with most films experiencing a decline.
Except for 'Rain Man'.
Due to an unexpected upward trend in its second-week box office, Daenerys Entertainment urgently negotiated with theatres and reallocated 262 screens, increasing 'Rain Man's screen count this week from 1,136 to 1,398. Coupled with the film's continuously spreading phenomenal word-of-mouth, in its third week of release, 'Rain Man' became the only film on the weekly box office chart to achieve a increase in box office, with a 7% gain, earning another $17.91 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $46.23 million.
At the same time, 'Rain Man' also surpassed 'Dead Poets Society', reversing its fortunes and successfully claiming the top spot on the weekly box office chart in its third week of release.