Ronald Goldberg only expressed his intention on the phone, but it was not completely finalized after all. In order to avoid another tug-of-war at noon, or even another stalemate, Simon simply refused the other party's lunch invitation and just asked Jonathan Friedman to attend in his place.
Agents often serve as a buffer between filmmakers and studios.
Near noon, Jonathan rushed to deal with Ronald Goldberg's invitation. Simon borrowed a car from WMA and, still with a group of paparazzi, rushed back to the villa in Montana.
As expected, there were also paparazzi squatting in front of the villa.
Simon drove the car into the parking space in front of the villa. After getting out of the car, he was a little worried about whether the paparazzi would pounce on him. Fortunately, this group of people just stood on the roadside outside the villa lawn and took photos frantically. Some of them even tried to communicate with him. , naturally to no avail.
Taking out the key and opening the door, Simon listened to the intensive clicking sounds behind him and made up his mind to change his residence as soon as possible. The open communities and residential layouts of front houses and backyards in the United States make it difficult for him to feel much sense of security. If he continues to live here, he will not even have any privacy at all.
Entering the living room and putting down his suitcase, Simon immediately noticed that the message indicator light on the phone was flashing.
I walked over and took a look, and the messages were all full.
Pressing play, the voice of Orion Pictures President Mike Medowa came out. It was not serious, just a few casual greetings, hoping that Simon would call him back when he got home. The second call was from Ron MacMillan. Ron congratulated on the recent box office success of "Lola Run" and asked Simon if he was free recently. Everyone who had participated in the filming of "Lola Run" I want to hold a party to celebrate the success of the film.
Simon had to rush to Malibu. After listening to two messages, he realized that the subsequent phone calls would not be too important, so he let them play automatically, picked up his suitcase, and headed to the study.
This villa is not even equipped with a home security system, and Simon does not plan to come back to live there again. He plans to take away all the important things this time.
After clearing out the clothes in the suitcase, he carefully sorted and packed the manuscripts, notes, newspaper clippings, etc. accumulated over the past six months, and made sure that nothing was missing. Simon then pulled the suitcase back to the living room. Sandra happened to be on the phone. The film is being criticized for being R-rated for "Lola Run".
Simon was in Arizona when the classification of "Run Lola Run" was confirmed. After hearing the news, he was depressed for a while, but now he was relieved.
After all, movies are a business, and business competition is never peaceful. Since Simon originally rejected the Seven and chose Orion, he should be prepared to be easily tricked.
and.
After the trap is over, everyone has to continue talking about business.
This is the way of the world.
After leaving Montana, Simon continued to ignore the paparazzi following him and drove towards Malibu.
Arriving at Janet's mansion near Dume Point Park in Malibu, Simon saw more than a dozen paparazzi guarding the small asphalt roadside. The paparazzi who came with Simon were also chasing after him. Behind his car, these people had just parked their cars in a public parking lot outside the community.
Parking is currently prohibited on this community asphalt road.
Simon originally thought that if paparazzi drove up and chased him, he would ask someone to tow their cars away. Judging from the situation, he still underestimated these guys who were obviously 'battle-hardened'.
Before the paparazzi behind him could approach, Simon quickly got out of the car in front of the gate of Janet's mansion, squeezed past the paparazzi that had gathered around him with the sound of shutter shutters, and pressed the button of the intercom a few times. Janet responded and returned to the car again, put on her sunglasses, and let the paparazzi around her place their cameras on the front window of the car and take photos wildly.
Inside the mansion.
Janet was wearing a very homely knitted sweater and jeans. She was holding a big bowl and stirring it while speaking coquettishly to the phone stuck in her neck: "Mom, I know, I'm not a child... How can this be okay... Anyway, don't let Anthony and the others come over, don't let dad come over, and don't let Bingshan come over. You don't want me to break up soon after I finally find a boyfriend... Haha, if you don't call her Bingshan, you have been calling her for so many years... Oh, the doorbell rang, it must be Simon, I'm going to open the door, that's it... Bye, love you."
After speaking so quickly, Janet put down the big bowl in her hand, threw away the microphone, and ran out of the villa.
Outside the mansion.
The black sliding iron door slowly opened. Simon still ignored the paparazzi who were even blocking the front of the car, stepped on the accelerator slightly, and moved slowly into the yard. The paparazzi insisted on following the car to the door. Seeing that Simon's speed was still slow and steady, and he was not worried about hitting anyone, they had no choice but to back away.
The car entered the yard and the closed iron door closed again.
After Simon got out of the car, he glanced at the row of cameras above the iron gate that were raised to take blind photos of the yard. While taking off his luggage from the car, he said to Janet who was hiding in the blind spot of the shooting: "The gate is good, better than the fence gate." , it would be perfect if it could be a little higher.”
Janet smiled and said, "I'll call the workers to replace the door later."
Simon shook his head and said: "Let's forget it. It's just right now, but it will look ugly if it is raised higher."
With that said, Simon held a stack of folders he brought back from WMA, pulled his suitcase and hid where Janet was standing. Janet reached out and took the stack of files, and the two of them walked into the villa.
As soon as she entered the villa, Janet raised her chin slightly and gestured around, saying: "How is it here?"
Simon looked at the warm-toned simple decoration in the villa, listened to the faint sound of waves lapping from the terrace, nodded and said, "That's good, I don't want to leave now."
"Haha," Janet smiled and put the stack of documents in her hand on the coffee table and said, "Then marry me quickly, and half of this place will be yours."
Simon glanced at Janet up and down and said, "Only half?"
"Uh-huh," Janet came over and hugged Simon, and changed her tone softly: "It's all yours, even me."
Simon lowered his head and pecked the woman on the lips, and said: "Find me a study first. Before I find a house, I'll probably have to live here. I can also accompany you. There are a lot of paparazzi staying outside. I’m still very worried.”
Janet let go of Simon and took him to another room, but she said a little dissatisfied: "Why are you still looking for a house? Isn't it good to live here?"
Simon shook his head and said, "I'm not used to it."
Janet curled her lips: "Huh, machismo."
"This has nothing to do with any doctrine. Lions will not live in other people's territory. How can you, a kitten, understand that?"
"Okay, okay, I'm a kitten," Janet said as if she was too lazy to argue with Simon. She led him to a room facing the sea and said, "How about here?"
Simon looked at it and saw a very spacious study room. To the east is a whole wall of bookshelves with various handicrafts placed on them. Next to the bookshelf is a large desk. To the south is a floor-to-ceiling window leading to the terrace. On the terrace is a set of sofas for sunbathing.
"It's not bad. It would be nice to have a phone."
"Yes," Janet pointed to the cabinet under the bookshelf and said, "Look for it. There is a phone interface in the cabinet. Just install it and use it."
"That's no problem," Simon nodded, put the suitcase next to him, and said, "Have you prepared lunch?"
"I was planning to bake a small cake. I don't have much left at home, so I can only make this."
Simon pushed Janet out and said, "That's it for now. Let's have someone buy us some things and deliver them to us in the afternoon."
After a simple lunch, Simon got into the study and started busy.
Since "Run Lola Run" was much more successful than expected, Simon also planned to re-plan his next development.
Before that, he first had to build a team dedicated to serving himself.
Simon now only has an agent and a personal lawyer, and Jonathan Friedman and George Norman are enough to fill these two positions around him.
But this is not enough.
In addition to agents and personal lawyers, Simon also needs a dedicated public relations manager to deal with media issues; to manage personal assets, Simon also needs a reliable financial manager; and for Daenerys Films, Simon also wants to find a A professional manager with sufficient qualifications; finally there is the issue of security. Although he doesn’t like having people around him all the time, at least when attending public events, having bodyguards around him can definitely help him ward off a lot of problems...
There are a lot of them.
Simon spent the entire afternoon calling some of the contacts he had accumulated over the past six months, either seeking introductions or experience. Occasionally, he would make judgments based on some information in his memory, appearing very cautious.
He also had to be very cautious.
Take financial managers as an example. Simon remembers more than one Hollywood star who was tricked into bankruptcy because of unkind behavior. After some deliberation, Simon even simply canceled his plan to hire a financial manager, and only planned to find an accounting firm to help him and the two companies in his hands handle the accounting details and tax filing issues.
As for the management of personal assets, don’t worry about this yet. What's more, although my woman is lazy, she graduated from a real business school after all, so she can still be used with a few whips occasionally.
During this period, Jonathan Friedman also called and said that he had spoken with Ronald Goldberg.
Fox basically agreed to Simon's share terms and absolute control over the project, but Fox also requested that the minimum box office guarantee for Simon's share be increased to $20 million.
Only if Simon agrees to this can the two sides continue to discuss the specific details of the contract.
The difference between US$16 million and US$20 million is actually not that big.
Simon understood that Fox was doing this just to save some face, so he didn't insist and readily agreed.
Time always flies when you are busy, and the sun is setting before you know it.
Janet was originally there to help Simon with his advice, but within an hour she lost interest. She sat on the terrace sofa with a large pile of documents he brought back and read them with relish.
After hanging up the phone again, Simon glanced at the contact number of a public relations company called PMK in front of him. He found it quite interesting because the boss of PMK was named Pat Kingsley, a famous public relations queen in Hollywood.
Pat Kingsley's most famous client is, of course, Tom Cruise. Of course, in Simon’s memory, stars such as Jodie Foster, Al Pacino, and Will Smith were all clients of Pat Kingsley.
As for why Tom Cruise is most famous for collaborating with each other
Obviously, because Cruise's public image is so difficult to maintain, Pat Kingsley has done this job perfectly for more than ten years.
In the original time and space, in 2004, Cruise fired Pat Kingsley and rashly appointed his sister to take charge of public relations. As a result, the former Tom Cruise quickly became a couch-hopping clown.
Just as he was about to call PMK to make an appointment, Simon heard Janet, who was nestled on the sofa, suddenly burst into laughter.
Looking up, Simon also smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"
Janet raised a script in her hand, still smiling: "Haha, this is so interesting."
With that said, Janet simply stood up, ran to Simon and squeezed into his arms, sat down, showed a page of the script, and said: "Simon, can you make this in your next movie?"
"You have to let me read the script first."
Simon held Janet's little hand that was still shaking because of too much joy and looked at the script in front of him. It turned out to be "When Harry Met Sally" and the most memorable part of the story.
Harry and Sally were eating in the restaurant and suddenly discussed the issue of whether women's reactions in bed were true or false.
Harry insisted that it was impossible for a woman to cheat in bed, at least he had never encountered one. Sally despised this so much that she vividly woke up in front of everyone in the dining room.
Simon looked at the short plot description in the script, but the relevant scenes immediately emerged in his mind.
Thanks to the superb performances of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, this episode is not at all obscene, but instead makes people laugh.
There is also an old lady in my memory. After Sally yelled excitedly, she pointed at the food in front of her and told the waiter: "Give me a portion like she did."
The effect is even more hilarious.
However, this detail is not in the script in front of me. It should be the director's improvisation during the filming process.
Simon made a mark on the script with a pencil, reminding himself to make up for this paragraph in the future, and asked Janet with great interest: "You are not pretending in bed, are you?"
"Uh huh huh, how is that possible? You are so awesome." Janet posted a sticker on Simon. Seeing him draw a five-pointed star on the script, she added, "Simon, I really like this story."
Simon nodded decisively and said: "Shoot!"
"Haha, you are so good." Janet turned around, kissed Simon on the lips, and hugged his neck. Her eyes were bright and she said, "How about we try it now? Seriously observe if I am just pretending?”
"No, actually I'm quite confident."
Janet tugged at the collar of Simon's jacket and said, "You men are all so arrogant."
Simon smiled and said nothing, casually flipping through the script in front of him, and said: "However, Jenny, this is a romance film, and it is not suitable as my next film. Even if it is to be filmed, I will probably only be a producer. people."
"Yeah," Janet nodded, simply turned around in the chair, faced Simon, helped him straighten the collar that she had just messed up, and said, "Well, Simon, what are you planning to make in your next movie? Ah, you don’t want to be a producer forever, do you?”
Simon put his hand around the woman's slender waist and said: "I will be busy with "Death Is Coming" for the time being, and maybe this one. As for my next movie, I won't tell you yet. However, in order to keep me With the popularity gained from ‘Run Lola Run’, first of all, it will definitely be even more amazing.”