Michael Ovitz thought WMA poaching Kirstie Alley was Daenerys Entertainment's counterattack against CAA due to the 'Rain Man' incident, but this was not the case. When dealing with enemies, rather than stopping to fight them, Simon was more accustomed to continuing forward, leaving them far behind, until they could only look up to him.
Just like the entanglement between Simon and Matthew Broderick back then.
When the incident first occurred, the general consensus in Hollywood was that a major star wanted to deal with a small screenwriter. Although the star ended up getting snubbed, small figures like Simon were mostly just gossip fodder for others.
But now, with the rise of Daenerys Entertainment, even though Simon has never discussed that past incident publicly or privately, executives at various Hollywood film companies can't help but wonder: if they cooperate with Matthew Broderick, will it incur the displeasure of Simon Westeros, perhaps leading to him targeting them, or even losing potential collaboration opportunities?
There are actually quite a few popular young actors in Hollywood with good box office appeal. Michael J. Fox, Matt Dillon, and others could all replace Matthew Broderick.
In comparison, there is only one Simon Westeros.
Therefore, after Universal Pictures' 'Biloxi Blues' last Easter, as Simon skyrocketed in Hollywood, mainstream film companies became cautious about cooperating with Matthew Broderick.
In the second half of 1988, Matthew Broderick only appeared in 'Torch Song Trilogy', an art-house gay comedy produced by New Line Cinema. With a production budget of $8 million and a cold release window in October, the film's total North American box office gross was less than $5 million.
It is conceivable that even if Hollywood film companies continue to cooperate with Matthew Broderick in the future, due to Simon's influence, they will no longer hand over the company's key high-quality projects to him.
Lacking excellent scripts and losing prime release slots, box office success naturally becomes impossible. Without box office performance to support them, former Hollywood leading men will quickly fall to second or third-tier actors and eventually disappear entirely from public view.
This kind of overwhelming suppression, achieved without having to lift a finger personally, is what Simon pursues.
As for Kirstie Alley, the reason Daenerys Entertainment hired her was actually because this actress was the original female lead of 'Look Who's Talking'. Since CAA created obstacles for Meg Ryan to star in 'Look Who's Talking', poaching talent for WMA while hiring the original lead actress was just a convenient side effect.
Michael Ovitz felt like he was facing a formidable enemy, and he had no peace throughout the weekend after returning to Los Angeles, but Daenerys Entertainment was completely unaffected.
January 9th, Monday.
Due to the time difference, Simon, far away in Melbourne, had already finished the first day of shooting for 'Batman', and Amy arrived at the company at eight o'clock Western Time.
After finishing an hour-long conference call with the New York Television Department, at nine o'clock, the director of 'Look Who's Talking', Amy Heckerling, the male lead Mel Gibson, and the newly signed female lead Kirstie Alley, along with several other key creative personnel, rushed to Santa Monica for another hour-long production meeting.
As the CEO of Daenerys Entertainment, Amy's primary responsibilities currently include the operation of Daenerys Pictures and the company's daily administrative management. Although executives like Robert Rem, Robert Iger, Nancy Briel, and Ella Deutschman each handle their respective duties, sharing most of the company's workload, the tasks Amy herself needs to oversee often keep her busy for more than ten hours a day.
With the female lead confirmed, 'Look Who's Talking' will begin casting supporting roles and conducting preliminary location scouting, with filming expected to start in early March.
At ten o'clock, after seeing off Amy Heckerling and the others, Amy's assistant Vanessa reminded her that the Gensler team was already waiting in the conference room.
Gensler is a long-established architectural design firm headquartered in San Francisco with widespread international recognition.
Daenerys Entertainment's Malibu Studios campus has already started the design bidding process. A large integrated office park covering 50 hectares naturally attracted competition from many top architectural design firms, and Gensler was one of them.
Before Simon left Los Angeles, he drew a rough sketch of Daenerys Studios based on his preferences. The bidding architectural design firms only needed to refine Simon's sketch and make it practically feasible.
Today, the Gensler team was there to present their design proposal and project quotation to Amy.
Upon entering the conference room, Amy was surprised to find Janette already sitting by the desk, chatting warmly with several Gensler staff members. Seeing Amy enter, everyone stood up to greet her. Janette also stood up, smiling, and waited until introductions were complete before telling Amy, "I'm just observing. Please proceed as usual".
During the days Simon was away from Los Angeles, Janette generally showed up at the company on time to participate in Daenerys Entertainment's annual financial audit.
However, Janette still fully exhibited her spoiled young miss temperament, accustomed to 'making others work,' and directly transferred three accountants from the Johnston Group to participate in the audit.
Strictly speaking, the company's financial data is not suitable for disclosure to outsiders. However, everyone knew that Janette's role in this audit was purely supervisory. Since Simon had not voiced any objection to Janette's actions, Amy and the others felt it was inappropriate to oppose her.
An area of 50 hectares is truly enormous. Fox Studios in Century City is only 500 meters long from north to south. Daenerys Entertainment purchased a plot of land that, although triangular in layout, stretches over 1.5 kilometres in depth from the entrance to the highest point. Even after removing unusable slopes, the remaining building area surpasses that of any other major film company lot in Los Angeles besides Universal Studios.
Therefore, even though the plan is to move Daenerys Entertainment's subsidiaries, including Daenerys Effects, Pixar Animation, and Marvel Entertainment, into the studios, this plot of land is still more than sufficient. Daenerys Entertainment also directly requested the design firms to plan for a permanent staff size of 2,500 people.
The Gensler team spent more than an hour just introducing their design proposal. By the time both sides finished discussing the quotation details, it was already noon.
Finishing the morning's work, Robert Rehme and Ira Deutchman also rushed over from Burbank to have lunch with Amy and discuss the work schedule for the new week. Since Janette was present, Amy naturally invited her to join them.
Everyone settled down at a restaurant near the company headquarters. Robert Rem smiled and asked Janette, "Jenny, how is the audit progressing? I'm very curious about how much money the company made this year".
"Certainly a lot", Janette said, smiling as she flipped through the menu, then suddenly added, seemingly casually, "However, there are quite a few problems too".
Ira Deutchman didn't notice the change in Janette's tone and replied easily, "Our company has only been established for a little over two years; it's natural to have some issues".
Amy and Robert, however, keenly sensed the unusual shift in Janette's tone and both looked toward her.
Janette put down the menu. Her usually striking, beautiful eyes narrowed slightly. Her previously harmless appearance now resembled a cat about to pounce on its prey. She glanced calmly at the three of them and said, "I found someone who spent $16,000 hosting a party at his own home but billed it as entertainment expenses for a film project. He also used the company's private jet under the guise of a business trip, when in reality, it was to take his son to college".
Amy and Deutchman both looked at Robert Rehme; among the four people present, he was likely the only one with a son attending college.
Robert Rehme shrugged frankly and said, "Jenny, I haven't done that".
"That's right, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here eating with you", Janette's expression seemed to soften slightly as she revealed the answer: "It's actually Ron McMillan".
Hearing this, the three of them felt both surprised and yet unsurprised.
When Simon produced 'Run Lola Run', Ron McMillan was his producer.
After the success of 'Run Lola Run', Ron McMillan also became a contracted producer under Daenerys Pictures. In the past two years, he consecutively completed two projects, 'Final Destination' and 'Scream', both achieving very impressive box office results.
Ron McMillan thus became one of the hottest top producers in Hollywood.
Because of these connections, everyone was slightly surprised that Janette would suddenly target the company's veteran producer. However, after rising to prominence alongside Simon, Ron McMillan's reputation in the industry over the past two years had not been great, so they were not surprised that he would engage in such petty, dishonest activities.
After a moment of silence, Amy raised her hand to stop the approaching waiter and quietly asked Janette, "Jenny, have you told Simon about this?"
"Yes, he told me to handle it", Janette nodded, then countered, "Amy, what do you think should be done?"
Amy was unsure and could only remind her, "Jenny, 'Scream 2' is already in preparation".
In the past week, 'Scream' earned another $5.61 million. In its 10th week of release, this teen horror film officially broke the $100 million mark, with cumulative box office reaching $103.97 million. Simon had originally provided an outline for a trilogy, and the female lead, Courteney Cox, had signed a three-picture deal. Given the film's success, preparation for the sequel was naturally put on the agenda, and it was once again scheduled for Halloween this year.
As the producer of 'Scream', removing Ron McMillan now would undoubtedly affect the project's development schedule.
Hearing Amy's hesitant tone, Janette said, "I'm actually quite familiar with Ron too; we all helped Simon make 'Run Lola Run' back then. However, he has crossed the line too many times. I don't actually care about the messy affairs he gets into in the industry. If he worked diligently for Simon, Daenerys Entertainment would do its best to protect him. But he shouldn't use these petty schemes against Daenerys Entertainment. Simon has given him generous compensation and raised him from an unknown small producer to his current position. He shouldn't take what doesn't belong to him, and he shouldn't deceive Simon. So, Amy, call him this afternoon. He is fired".
Amy was stunned and said, "Jenny, shouldn't we discuss this with Simon first?"
"No need", Janette's tone became firm. Staring intently at Amy, she said, "Simon is actually a very soft-hearted person and doesn't like to bother with such small matters. But, Amy, I am not. I am just a small woman, and as long as I believe someone is no longer trustworthy, or might even pose a threat to my boyfriend, I will ruthlessly remove him from Simon's vicinity".
Stared down by Janette, Amy remained silent for a moment before nodding and saying, "I will call Ron this afternoon, but what should we do about 'Scream'?"
"That's not something I need to worry about", Janette said, satisfied with Amy's answer, but acting even more like a hands-off boss. After speaking, she glanced at Rehme and Deutchman, seemingly joking, and said, "This year's financial report is fine. However, next year I will still be watching for Simon. Simon pays you generously, so unless you can ensure I won't catch you, absolutely, absolutely do not take anything that doesn't belong to you".
Having said that, Janette didn't wait for the three of them to respond before leisurely picking up the menu again. She instantly became cheerful and playful with Amy and the others, acting as if nothing serious had just happened.
As a result, Janette clearly enjoyed the meal, but the other three felt as if they had swallowed fish bones. In fact, looking at Janette's smiling face, a chilling feeling arose in the hearts of all three.
After lunch, Janette did not stay at the company for the afternoon.
Amy also saw off Rehme and Deutchman. The two were flying to the UK for the overseas distribution of 'Scream' and several other films, as well as matters concerning Highgate Film.
Rehme and Deutchman hurried to Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica City Centre. Nancy Brill had just returned from the East Coast on Daenerys Entertainment's private jet; she had flown to New York yesterday and spent the morning discussing loan matters with several New York banks regarding the capital needed to acquire a stake in Blockbuster.
Although Daenerys Entertainment had very ample funds on its books, Simon decided to transfer all surplus funds to the Westeros Company account. He did not explain the reason for this to Amy or the others, nor did he explain it to James Raybould. Therefore, to acquire a stake in Blockbuster, Daenerys Entertainment had no choice but to continue seeking loans.
Including the $200 million spent on purchasing real estate in Europe late last year, Simon's total debt only increased to $650 million. Compared to his total personal assets, the debt ratio was only 20%. Therefore, adding another $100 million in debt was still well within Simon's acceptable range.
In fact, given the right investment opportunities, Simon could even tolerate increasing his total debt amount to $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Nancy returned to the company and went directly to Amy's office to discuss the results of her trip to New York.
Amy had just hung up the phone with Ron McMillan. She still hadn't informed Ron McMillan that he was fired over the phone, as Janette had instructed, but instead arranged dinner for tonight. Compared to Janette, Amy preferred to part ways amicably with Ron McMillan, which would not harm Daenerys Entertainment.
As for the matter Janette mentioned during lunch, since she didn't bring up how to handle it afterward, she clearly tacitly agreed not to pursue it, and Amy had no intention of mentioning it again. She didn't think this was due to Janette's generosity; a matter involving tens of thousands of dollars is difficult to pursue legally. If they made a big fuss, Ron McMillan certainly wouldn't admit it easily. If they resorted to legal action, the litigation costs alone might exceed the amount stolen, making it entirely counterproductive.