Sophia Fessey came back just after 11 o'clock and walked into the living room on the second floor. Simon still had the script of "Gosford Park" in his hand.
She let the little man pull her into his arms and felt him gently bite her shoulder wearing a base layer shirt. She smiled and moved, then turned to the script in Simon's hand: "What's this story?"
Simon showed the woman the following cover: "The daily life of an upper-class jazz family in England in the 1930s."
Sofia twisted her body to make herself more comfortable, reached out and turned over the script together, and said: "It sounds very boring, an art film?"
"Yes, Altman's next work," Simon said, "It sounds boring to you, but it will definitely be interesting when the old man makes it."
"The one who is good at group acting?" Sophia asked back, then nodded to herself: "That should be good, but it probably won't make much money."
Simon shook his head: "It can be profitable. Altman's works in recent years have all been invested by Daenerys. The budget is not high, the quality is guaranteed, and the box office may not be eye-catching, but after operating through all channels, he has not lost money yet, because he has The movies are very suitable for buying DVDs and enjoying them over and over again at home. In addition, these projects can also be used to polish actors."
"I understand, just like Melisandre's mini-brands with great personality," Sofia said, becoming interested: "Tell me more about this story?"
Simon thought for a moment and said: "Probably, Sir MacDowell's house in Gosford Manor has welcomed a group of guests, including movie stars and producers from the United States, veterans who have experienced World War I, and superficial guests. The countess, who is so bright but so poor on the inside that she needs the knight's support, and the young couple who are friendly on the surface but have sharp conflicts in private, and a group of servants who each have their own stories, hold dinners, go hunting, sing and dance, and then, suddenly, the old knight Murdered.”
Sofia cheered up: "Oh, starting with the murder, the story should be interesting."
Simon shook his head: "In a normal movie, a murder would definitely be the climax. However, in this story, I think the murder plot is a bit redundant. In my opinion, the characters just mentioned are shown one by one through the group portrait lens that Altman is good at. Coming out is where the real fun begins.”
Sofia reached out and turned the page of the script held by the man, and said with a smile: "It seems that you have always been an artist at heart, and you don't like high-concept popcorn movies."
Simon also laughed: "Wrong, there are only likes and more likes. If a person doesn't like something in his heart, it will be difficult for him to do it well. Facts have proved that whether it is an artistic film or a commercial film, if I want to do it, I can do it Well done.”
Sofia recalled the director career of the little man next to her, nodded, and gestured to the script: "Since murder is redundant, will you let Altman modify the script?"
Simon shook his head again: "I personally think it is redundant, but the audience still needs some emotional stimulation. After all, if you plan to invest 20 million US dollars in a project, you must always consider the market."
With that said, he continued to read the script with Sophia for a while, and Simon picked up the pencil next to him and began to give final approval.
Sofia followed and looked at it. The man wrote that he should carefully choose the trainee maid Mary McKechran, so she was curious: "Why this maid?"
Simon said: "Mary is Lady Trentham, well, she is the countess just mentioned. She hired a free trainee maid because she was in a tight situation and did not want to give up her dignity. She has just entered the upper class and knows nothing, so she will There are many small conflicts with the people around her, leading to the development of the story. In addition, compared to other guests who have been immersed in the circle for a long time, Mary is a newcomer and can observe everything around her from a strange observer's perspective, so it is easy to bring a certain kind of feeling to the audience. empathy."
After listening to it, Sophia commented: "It seems that if this role is played well, it will be very brilliant."
"Yes, on the other hand, if the acting is not done well, or the role is not chosen well, it will drag the entire project into mediocrity to some extent."
After finishing writing the annotations, Simon turned his attention to the woman in his arms: "How was your conversation with Donal Karen?"
Sophia went to Manhattan in the morning to negotiate an acquisition project, targeting another American fashion brand, Donna Karen.
Melisandre's main sub-brand in the United States, CK, has experienced rapid development over the years. Although it cannot reach the 'aircraft carrier' level in the Melisandre brand matrix, it is still at the 'cruiser' level. The current growth It has also entered the bottleneck stage.
Therefore, a new development is needed.
The one being negotiated is Donald Kellen, who has considerable experience in the United States.
This company was founded in the 1980s and is an emerging brand, but it has developed quite well in recent years.
Furthermore, compared to CK's boldness and avant-garde, Donna Karen's brand style tends to be simple and comfortable. Therefore, taking over this company will not cause much style conflict with CK.
When Simon asked, Sophia shook her head: "It didn't go well. Donner's price was too high, and he also made many additional requirements. For example, we can't interfere with any personnel appointments without her permission. How is this possible?"
"Then let it dry for a while. We're not in a hurry anyway."
"I think so too," Sophia said: "It seems that the U.S. stock market has been difficult to sustain for too long. Once it plummets, they may beg me to acquire it as soon as possible. Well, actually I want Ralph Lauren more than Donal Karen.”
Simon smiled and said: "Ralph Lauren has established its own system. It is not that easy for us to buy it."
Ralph Lauren, founded in the 1960s, has now been involved in all aspects of the fashion industry, including men's and women's clothing, perfume watches, jewelry bags, and so on. It is also in good operating conditions, with stable and generous profits. According to Melisandre's standards, Standard 'aircraft carrier' class.
For such a high-quality company, even if Melisandre offers a high premium, founder Ralph Lauren and other shareholders may not be willing to sell it.
Sofia also knew that the possibility was unlikely, so she did not continue the topic, but turned to look at the wall-mounted TV not far away: "How is the election going? I noticed outside that it was very lively today, and you were the only one sitting quietly. Here, it’s like a mastermind behind the scenes.”
Simon put his arms around the woman's slender waist and looked at the big screen together. He smiled and said, "I am the mastermind behind the scenes. It's not a matter of resemblance."
"Yes, Master Blackhand."
"That's a nice title, I'll write it down."
"Ah."
While joking, Simon touched the crystal ball and called Girl A again.
Alison quickly sent over a copy of the latest election data document, and when she left, she took away "Gosford Park" that Simon had reviewed.
It was past 11 o'clock in the morning on the East Coast, and the overall voting rhythm was still less than halfway. However, according to the real-time voting data fed back by the teams of the Westeros family stationed in various states, George W. Bush had a huge lead, and the results were becoming more and more obvious. .
This is very different from the election on the original timeline.
In the past, George W. Bush barely won 271 electoral votes by virtue of his controversial narrow victory in Florida, which was only one more than the usual 270 electoral votes in US elections. It can be said that if Gore could win in other elections at that time, Any state that flips can take back the presidential throne.
This time, based on the updated real-time data, George W. Bush still leads the key state of Florida by a large proportion, while several other important swing states, such as Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Carolina, have all been won by George W. Bush. .
Therefore, the Weijia team predicts that George W. Bush will win about 300 electoral votes this time. Although it is not as large as Clinton's 370 electoral votes in 1992, there will definitely not be another litigation tug-of-war like in 2000.
In short, there is no suspense about this election.
George W. Bush has an obvious advantage, and Simon's afternoon was uneventful. He enjoyed the snow and chatted with Sophia who stayed at home, and occasionally interacted with the little ones.
On the other side, the New York stock market, which was the first to end trading for the day, also had good news.
North American stock markets rebounded across the board due to the preliminary determination of the election results. At the close on Tuesday afternoon, the Nasdaq index rose strongly by 3.7%, rising from yesterday's 7334 points to a high of 7603 points. After rising slightly yesterday, the Dow Jones Index rose again by 2.3% today. Compared with 12,961 points last Friday, it has rebounded to 13,356 points in two days.
This kind of market feedback has given people in Silicon Valley and Wall Street a sense of luck.
You know, in the past eight years, Gore has been a staunch promoter of the new technology wave, and even regarded himself as the biggest contributor to the "Information Superhighway" plan. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be the most unstable factor that could destroy the Nasdaq. .
The mantis' arm is like a chariot.
The result was a complete failure.
The tumultuous day passed quickly. As dusk fell on the East Coast, the results of more and more states were released. By 11 o'clock in the evening, the result of this election was basically determined, Bush Jr. vs. Gore, 306 votes vs. 232 votes. open.
Bush won.
The results came out. As usual, before 12 o'clock on this day, Bush received a congratulatory call from Gore, which was considered to be the last trace of dignity on Gore's part.
At about the same time, Simon also received a call from George W. Bush himself.
The two didn't chat too much. After a tactful thank you, Simon was invited to attend the inauguration ceremony on January 20 next year. Simon expressed congratulations but declined the invitation to attend the inauguration ceremony.
The mastermind behind the scenes still has to stand behind the scenes.
Simon had no intention of being pushy.
Of course, Simon will not be polite at all when it comes to the interests of this side.
It would be absolutely stupid to support an election without asking for corresponding rewards, just to show your presence. Therefore, in addition to the default position of Secretary of State, the Westeros system will also get more other White House cabinet positions.