In Los Angeles, in the mansion halfway up the Palisade, Amy Pascal greeted Simon as soon as he got out of the car.
The two came to a living room on the second floor of the villa together. When they saw them entering, the two people on the sofa in the living room stood up. In addition to Simon's female assistant Jennifer Raybould, there is another person who is a bit surprising, Meg Ryan.
With just a slight nod in greeting, Simon sat down on the single sofa next to him, looked at Meg Ryan, and said in a calm tone: "Tell me more specifically, what is going on?"
Meg Ryan looked carefully at the young man on the sofa opposite. The first time they met, he was not that approachable. He had been ups and downs in the shadow of this young man for more than a year. When they met again, he gave her The feeling seems to be a bit more alienated from others thousands of miles away.
Noticing his eyes glancing at him again, Meg Ryan quickly cheered up and talked about recent events.
Meg Ryan became a first-line actress with the help of "When Harry Met Sally", but after the inexplicable incident last year, she suddenly fell into a situation where there was no film to shoot for a year. For a time, Meg Ryan almost He was about to collapse, and he was extremely resentful of a young man who was becoming more and more powerful in Hollywood.
Therefore, when Michael Ovitz approached her and hoped that she would publicly file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment, Meg Ryan agreed immediately.
Anyway, we are all desperate.
However, as things got closer, Meg Ryan became more and more anxious.
Because she gradually understood that Michael Ovitz just wanted to use this lawsuit to prevent Daenerys Entertainment from acquiring MCA.
And the more she thought about it, the more Meg Ryan felt like she was just a pawn in the whole thing.
Michael Ovitz promised to help her seek huge compensation from Daenerys Entertainment and help her revive her career afterwards. Both of these things are unlikely to be realized in Meg Ryan's opinion.
Meg Ryan secretly consulted a lawyer more than once, and the response she received was that the reasons for litigation and the evidence Ovitz helped her find were not sufficient. The best result was that Daenerys Entertainment was forced by public opinion to settle the matter as soon as possible. Take the initiative to seek a private settlement and pay a sum of compensation to settle the matter.
However, this lawsuit could destroy a business worth billions of dollars.
Some hateful young man blocked her just because she terminated her contract early after she became famous. If a multi-billion-dollar acquisition was messed up because of her relationship, she didn't know what would happen.
As for CAA, this talent agency failed to protect her last year. Meg Ryan doesn’t think that Michael Ovitz will really bear the pressure of the entire Daenerys Entertainment to withstand a net worth of 21 billion. The pressure from the super-rich dollars went out of their way to help her.
Or, even if Ovitz is really willing to do this, when most of Hollywood has close ties with Daenerys Entertainment, after she disrupted Daenerys Entertainment's big business worth billions of dollars When the conflict between the two parties completely intensified, Meg Ryan did not think that major studios would risk offending Westeros by cooperating with her.
When Michael Ovitz informed her yesterday that he would formally file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment in the near future, Meg Ryan, who had been hesitant, finally made up her mind and decided to seek a divorce with Simon West instead. Luo's cooperation.
Although this will definitely offend CAA, between Michael Ovitz and Simon Westeros, it is never wrong to choose the more powerful one. If Westeros still refused to lift the ban on him afterward, she would have nothing to lose anyway, and it would not be too late for her to file a lawsuit.
Simon listened to Meg Ryan's narration and flipped through a prepared indictment in his hand. After leading her to finish speaking, he raised his head and asked: "In addition to the Screen Actors Guild cooperating with your lawsuit, are there any other Of?"
Meg Ryan thought for a while and said: "There should be more, but Mike... When Ovitz talked to me, he only talked about things about me."
Simon retracted his gaze from Meg Ryan, leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes to think.
At other times, such a lawsuit would be nothing to Daenerys Entertainment. Any large company is almost always surrounded by various large and small lawsuits.
However, at the critical moment when Daenerys Entertainment launches the acquisition of MCA, the sudden emergence of such a lawsuit that Daenerys Entertainment uses its industry advantages to suppress actors in the industry will definitely easily cause the media and the public to criticize Daenerys Entertainment. The worries and crusade continue to expand.
In the original time and space, affected by the 'eavesdropping scandal', News Corporation had to give up its long-prepared full acquisition of British Sky TV. Because the timing of the two incidents was very coincidental, it is difficult to say whether there is some causal connection between them.
Daenerys Entertainment is apparently going to be in the same situation.
Of course, there are differences in situations.
If there is indeed any connection between the "wiretapping scandal" incident in my memory, it is probably because everyone in the UK does not want News Corporation to continue to expand, because Murdoch's manipulation of British public opinion has made everyone sit on pins and needles.
Now, Simon knows that many people in Hollywood must have doubts about Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA, but there shouldn't be many who will really come out to oppose it. Michael Ovitz obviously did this just to ensure that his employer, Panasonic, could successfully complete the acquisition, and then he could receive tens of millions of dollars in M&A consulting fees.
After combing through it carefully in his mind, Simon opened his eyes, looked at Meg Ryan who was looking anxious, took out his checkbook from his pocket, put it on his knees to write for a while, then tore it off and handed it to the coffee table in front of him. Meg Ryan said: "Let Jenny help you contact WMA later, or you can go to ICM and sign a new agency contract. If you are willing, Daenerys Entertainment can also sign another film contract with you." . In addition, this is for you, use this money to go abroad for a few months and come back after the New Year.”
After hearing what Simon said, Meg Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and even felt that all the hardships had come to an end.
Simon's assistant personally helped her introduce the agency, which was enough to show the attitude of Daenerys Entertainment. If she signed a film contract with Daenerys Entertainment, she would be completely released from the ban.
Then, looking at the check on the coffee table, Meg Ryan didn't know whether she should get up and get it.
Simon did not wait for her move, and said to the female assistant: "Jenny, take Miss Ryan away first. Amy and I still have some things to discuss."
Jennifer nodded, stood up and stepped forward to help pick up the check and handed it to Meg Ryan, who was getting up on the other side, and said: "Miss Ryan, come with me."
Meg Ryan took the check and followed Jennifer out of the door and through the corridor. It wasn't until she stepped onto the stairs that she dared to glance at the check in her hand carefully, and then she almost stumbled.
$5 million.
Far more than she expected.
Speaking of which, Meg Ryan has not only been unable to receive film offers this year, but has also begun to struggle financially.
After becoming famous with "When Harry Met Sally", she signed a second film contract with "The Rocketeer". All the salary was used to pay the termination fee of leaving the option agreement with Daenerys Entertainment. She was originally in From the few endorsements she came into contact with, she didn't get any of them because of rumors in the circle that she was banned.
She had just heard that the young man was going to send her abroad, and she thought he would only sign a check for a few hundred thousand dollars at most. Unexpectedly, the actual figure was 10 times more than she expected.
Although she felt very unsatisfied, deep down in her heart, Meg Ryan found that the resentment she had accumulated against the young man for more than a year had almost completely disappeared, leaving only some complex emotions with unknown meanings.
At least, he is much better than Michael Ovitz.
Michael Ovitz, also a Hollywood boss, just gave her some empty promises that were difficult to fulfill. Westeros can directly write a check for $5 million and completely remove all restrictions on her.
After Jennifer took Meg Ryan away, Amy couldn't help but ask: "Simon, are you still planning to go to Japan right away?"
Simon nodded and said, "Of course, I want to go now."
"So, what should we do here?"
Simon said with a solemn expression: "I may have thought of things a little too simply, but there is still room for redemption now."
Amy didn't respond, just waiting for Simon to continue.
Simon collected his thoughts again and said: "The key to the matter lies in one thing, conflict of interest. If our acquisition of MCA will affect the interests of any party, which party may jump out to stop it. In Hollywood, we and several major Relations with labor unions are not good, so it is not surprising that they would jump out. However, the resistance from the labor unions is actually not great. We have joined the Producers Alliance and signed formal agreements with several major labor unions in all aspects. Even if they want to stop it, they can only express some broad concerns or come up with actual evidence that Daenerys Entertainment is infringing on the interests of union members. Now that Meg Ryan has backed down, I don't think they can find anything else Evidence. Additional resistance may come from our colleagues in Hollywood."
At this point, Simon suddenly stopped talking.
Amy waited for a moment and said tentatively: "Paramount?"
Simon nodded: "Paramount."
Among the current eight major Hollywood companies, Daenerys Entertainment has deep or shallow cooperation with the other six. Moreover, three of the six major partners, Fox, Warner Bros. and MGM, will definitely not jump out. Columbia and Disney are also unlikely to come forward. Universal is a party involved and cannot possibly object to its own acquisition.
In the end, only Paramount, which Simon had deliberately left aside, was left.
The wave of consolidation in the U.S. media industry has begun since the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Bros. In the next few years, as legal restrictions on horizontal expansion in the two major areas of the media industry, film and television, are further liberalized, this consolidation will be further accelerated.
Although it missed Universal, Daenerys Entertainment is not without other options, but it is definitely difficult to find a company that can strongly complement Daenerys Entertainment at the right price.
Not even Disney, who would become one of the dominant players in Hollywood many years later.
Although Disney also operates the theme park business, it does not have much accumulation in records, television and theaters at this time. As for the animation business, which is a strong point, it will also overlap with Daenerys Entertainment, not to mention the 2D animated movies that Disney currently focuses on. It is destined to be eliminated by 3D animated movies, and if you buy it, you will have to face the trouble of pruning and pruning.
Time Warner, which works closely with Daenerys Entertainment but has internal conflicts, is even worse.
Simon doesn't like the other ones very much.
After figuring this out, Simon no longer hesitated. In order to successfully complete the two acquisitions in his hands, some small disputes had to be abandoned. After all, the two scripts Paramount originally stole from Simon didn't end up doing any good.
Having made up his mind, Simon said to Amy: "You will contact Martin Davis of Paramount later and ask him if he is interested in two movies. In addition, as long as Daenerys Entertainment completes the purchase of MCA With the acquisition, I can guarantee that MCA and Paramount each hold 50% of the USA TV station's shares to maintain their original equity status. Unless Paramount takes the initiative to sell, Daenerys Entertainment will only seek the operating rights of USA TV station. With what we already have in the television industry, I'm sure Martin Davies won't be indifferent."
Amy nodded, somewhat admiring her boss's decision-making without any hesitation. She thought for a while and then said: "I remember that you previously hoped to buy the TV and film adaptation rights of "Mission: Impossible" from Paramount. Maybe it can be counted as two The whole film is about ri."
Simon was confused: "Isn't the project of "Mission: Impossible" already approved?"
"It's probably still being delayed. Anyway, we haven't heard any news about the start of filming. As long as filming hasn't started yet, we'll have no problem getting this project."
"As long as Paramount is willing to share the project, I can personally participate in writing and producing."
Amy smiled: "This should be no problem."
Simon added: "Besides Paramount, you recently asked the company's public relations team to pay close attention to the trends of various media. Well, isn't the year-end schedule about to begin? This time, we will get an additional 2,000 for several of our films. We have a publicity budget of US$10,000, but don’t rush to sign the contract yet, just talk slowly with the media and let them know how lucrative this advertising order is.”
Amy hesitated: "20 million, seems a bit much?"
Among the films that Daenerys Entertainment will personally release at the end of the year, the two most important ones are "Dances with Wolves" and "Home Alone." The others either don't have much expectations for the box office, or other studios are responsible for distribution.
Simon insisted: "That's it. The money that should be spent must be spent. Moreover, this money will not be spent in vain after all. It will definitely be beneficial to our movie box office. Even if it doesn't, we can let the media know "Daenerys Entertainment is a very generous advertiser and giving up such a large client for a few stories is simply not worth it."
"Okay, I'll discuss it with Bob and the others tomorrow."
"Also, try to find out what other arrangements Ovitz has made."
"I will."
After Simon explained this, he thought for a moment and asked Amy, "Do you have anything to add?"
Amy smiled and said: "I have finished what you said for now, so I can't think of it for the moment, but as long as I think of it, I will definitely do it as soon as possible."
Simon nodded and said: "In that case, I will go to Japan later. If you encounter anything here, please contact me anytime."