After get off work, I still chose the restaurant at noon for my meeting with Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Butler.
Although they have met occasionally for more than a year, and were invited to attend the grand birthday party at the beginning of the year, Peter Butler still felt as if he was in another world when he saw Simon again.
Early last year, his Los Angeles Times article about Simon caused controversy because of his overwhelming praise for an 18-year-old boy. But now, even the most arrogant person can only describe it as a miracle when faced with Simon's achievements in more than a year.
After casually chatting and ordering dinner, when the waiter left, Peter Butler turned to the topic and asked: "Simon, how do you feel about your ranking on the Forbes list?"
Simon smiled and said truthfully: "I've been too busy these days, and I haven't had time to feel much."
"I wonder how many people would envy you for being so busy," Peter Butler joked, and continued: "Recently, there has been a lot of controversy over the assessment of your personal net worth on the Forbes list. Do you personally feel that Is the $3.1 billion figure accurate?”
Simon didn't want to cause a series of related chain issues, so he simply nodded and said: "Forbes is still very professional."
There was still a lot of time for dinner, and Peter Butler was not in a hurry to discuss this issue in depth. Instead, he said: "Speaking of which, I recently got a set of data, which is obviously affected by your series of successes in Hollywood. North America this year The number of students applying for film and television majors has more than tripled compared to the past. Do you want to give these young people some advice?"
"Actually, I am also a young man," Simon smiled and said, "Also, I don't like giving advice to others, because I always think that doing so is of little significance."
Peter Butler said: "It seems that you have not changed much from a year ago. At your core, you are still a pessimist who is very alienated from the world."
Simon said noncommittally: "Maybe."
Peter Butler tried: "Do you mind if I write this judgment in the article?"
Simon said indifferently: "This is your freedom."
"It seems that you don't care too much about the media's opinion," Peter Butler said, and then added: "So, let's talk about movies, Simon. From the original "Lola Run" to the recent "Instinct", two years Time, you have directed a total of six films, and all of them have achieved amazing box office results, which has never happened in the entire history of Hollywood. So, can you reveal the key to the success of these films?"
Simon thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps these films just cater to the needs of the audience."
Peter Butler asked: "As we all know, the taste of movie audiences has always been the most difficult thing to predict, otherwise the risks in this industry would not be so great. So, how do you judge that the films you create and select are just right? Can it meet the needs of the audience?”
"This has to be classified as personal talent," Simon said, shaking his head with a smile on his lips: "And, Peter, if there really is some kind of judgment standard, do you think I would tell you?"
Peter Butler also realized that his question just now was a bit silly.
In two years, all six movies were box office hits. If Simon really had a knack that any studio in Hollywood wouldn't mind paying any price to get, how could he just tell himself so casually.
but.
After carefully considering the conversation just now, Peter Butler suddenly realized something, looked at Simon intently, and said: "Simon, so you really have some talents that can ensure the success of a film?"
"Peter, a movie goes through too many uncertain links from script to finished film. Even after the film is completed, the film's promotion and distribution process will have an unpredictable impact on its market performance, so I just try my best to To ensure that a movie is the best it can be from beginning to end.”
Peter Butler retorted: "But, Simon, few people in Hollywood would joke about investing tens of millions of dollars. Everyone is trying to make the best possible project in their hands."
The waiter happened to bring two appetizers to the table at this time. Simon waited for a moment, pointed to the seafood salad on the plate and said: "Actually, Hollywood is very similar to the catering industry. No matter how hard a Michelin-starred chef works, it's hard to compare." Samsung Chefs do it better.”
Dinner, which was much richer than lunch, was served one after another, and the conversation between the two continued.
The controversy caused by "Pulp Fiction" and "Basic Instinct", the production progress of "Batman", the future development plan of Daenerys Entertainment, the technology stock investment of Westeros Company, etc., although Simon cannot be without Reserved, but compared to many media who were completely unable to get in touch with Simon, Peter Butler still got enough material to write an exclusive article.
It was already nine o'clock in the evening when we finished dinner.
Sitting in the car, looking at the city lights passing by the coastal highway, Simon's thoughts still stayed on his conversation with Peter Butler tonight.
In more than two years, he has gone from nothing to his current net worth of billions of dollars. Even though he was full of confidence in the future, Simon still could not expect that he would be able to achieve this level in such a short period of time. When faced with Peter Butler's question about how he felt at the dinner just now, Simon really spoke from his heart. Because his rise was so fast and sudden, he really didn't have time to feel much before he found himself standing at the top of the pyramid.
perhaps.
It's time to stop and think about it.
Simon has always been very aware that the rapid expansion of the two major industries under his name, Westeros Company and Daenerys Entertainment, has unknowingly accumulated a lot of problems.
The most obvious point is that he, the third super-rich man in the federation, does not have a matching network of contacts and considerable social influence. All he has is a vague personal fame and a staggering amount of wealth, even like a child standing in a busy city holding a gold nugget.
It is true that the United States is a very mature and developed capitalist country, but this does not mean that having capital means having everything. After all, this is a world controlled by humans. Humans make the rules, humans manipulate the rules, and humans break the rules.
If he continues to run blindly like this, Simon believes that one day, he will find that the business layout he has built in a short period of time may be as fragile as the house of the two lazy pigs in the story of "The Three Little Pigs".
Simon came back from his thoughts when the Land Rover stopped in the courtyard of the mansion.
The lights were on in the living room of the villa, but Janet was not seen. Simon casually untied his tie and went to the living room next to the living room, where he found Janet and Sophia Fessy sitting on the sofa together watching TV. The two women were enjoying each other holding a glass of red wine.
Seeing Simon, Janet put down the goblet, stood up, came over to hug him, and said, "Sophia brought us some very good red wine from France. Do you want to try it?"
"OK."
Simon nodded, stepped forward, shook hands with Sofia Fesi, exchanged a few words, and sat down on the single sofa next to her.
Sofia Feisi sat down again and watched Janet help Simon bring a glass of red wine. She huddled in the man's arms and took the initiative to find a topic: "This is the 1982 red wine from the Saint-Julien district in Bordeaux. The comprehensive score of regional climate, precipitation, sunlight and other aspects reached 98 points. In the past two decades, such an outstanding vintage could not be found in the world's major wine-producing areas, and it may be difficult to reappear in the future. The red wine of that year will definitely become a worthy A collectible classic.”
Janet waited for Sophia to finish and then said, "I was discussing with Sophia during the day about buying a winery. Simon, what do you think?"
Simon picked up the goblet and took a sip, and said with a smile: "I don't know much about this, just feel free to do it."
"Then I'll let Sophia start looking," Janet helped Simon take off his tie and put it aside, and then said: "Sofia brought a total of sixteen properties this time, London, Paris, Rome, Venice... anyway. , all the big cities in Europe are occupied. I took a look, and they are all very good houses.”
Janet said, Sofia Fesi noticed Simon's probing eyes, and took the initiative to take a stack of information under the coffee table and handed it to Simon. Simon held Janet's soft body and placed the information on the woman's lap and read through it at will.