It was midday.
Inside an Italian restaurant near Santa Monica Beach, Terry Semel had already arrived by the time Simon showed up. He was sitting at a table, leafing through a newspaper. Seeing Simon appear, Terry stood to shake his hand, and the two sat down together.
Simon took a menu from a tall waitress whose eyes were filled with eager curiosity. As he flipped through it, he asked Semel casually, "Any news today?"
Because he had been so busy lately, Simon could rarely find the time to keep up with the daily news cycle.
Terry Semel opened his own menu and said with a smile, "Both presidential candidates spoke out in interviews today. They stated that once elected, they will implement stricter regulations on the financial derivatives market to prevent another 'Westeros Incident' from happening again."
Simon quickly ordered his lunch and handed the menu back to the waitress. "That has nothing to do with me. By doing that, they'll only end up offending their own Wall Street donors."
Terry Semel looked up from his menu, his gaze carrying a subtle probe in his tone. "You aren't going to tell me that you'll never set foot in the futures market again, are you?"
Simon remained noncommittal. "Stricter regulations will only affect those who want to make exorbitant profits through unconventional means like insider trading. If you look at the Forbes list, at least among the top ten, not a single one of them relied on those methods to break into the rankings. Naturally, neither did I."
Terry Semel couldn't help but think of the rumors circulating in the industry. The Southern District Court of New York and several other regulatory agencies had never truly given up their secret investigations into Simon. However, as of now, not a single piece of damaging information had surfaced.
As time passed, those investigations were destined to end in nothing.
Once they had ordered and dismissed the waitress who kept stealing glances at Simon Terry Semel said, "Simon, we recently acquired Lorimar. I'm sure you're aware of that?"
Simon nodded, roughly understanding why Semel was bringing it up.
Founded in the sixties, Lorimar Productions was one of the largest television production studios of the era. The company had risen in the seventies and reached its peak a few years ago, only to decline rapidly following last year's stock market crash and this year's writers' strike.
A few months ago, Simon and Amy had even gone to scout the MGM Culver City studio lot that Lorimar was trying to sell off.
When he heard the news of Warner's acquisition of Lorimar earlier this month, Simon realized that this was likely the foundation that would allow Warner's television department to produce hit series like Friends and ER in the nineties. Prior to this, Warner's television business hadn't been particularly outstanding.
Seeing Simon nod, Terry Semel continued, "I heard you were interested in the MGM studio in Culver City. We happen to be planning to sell that property. Do you still want it? I guarantee the price will be very reasonable."
Warner Bros. owned a massive production base in Burbank, so they clearly had no need for a second studio lot.
However, Simon didn't hesitate to shake his head. "Terry, that studio is too dilapidated. Instead of buying it for a massive renovation, I'd be better off picking a piece of land and building from scratch. It would actually be cheaper."
"But Simon," Terry Semel countered, "unless you go to the suburbs, you'll find it very difficult to find another fifty-acre plot of land in the Los Angeles metropolitan area."
Simon waved it off. "The suburbs are fine. When these studios were first built, they were all in the outskirts. It's only because the city kept growing that they ended up being surrounded by the urban center."
Terry Semel had thought pushing the MGM lot onto Simon would be a sure thing. Seeing his lack of interest, he could only drop the subject. "Very well. Then, Simon, regarding the matter we discussed last time... you've already acquired Marvel Entertainment and secured the rights to a huge number of superheroes like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. I'm curious, why are you still interested in DC's heroes? Without a good reason, it will be hard for Warner to hand Wonder Woman over to you."
"Marvel's superheroes are too difficult to film. Take Spider-Man, for example; with today's technology, it's hard for us to realize scenes of Peter Parker swinging through a metropolis," Simon replied without needing much thought. "By comparison, DC's superheroes have a much higher potential for cinematic adaptation. As for my goal, Terry, it's obvious: I want to accumulate more intellectual property. Every Hollywood studio does it; there's nothing to hide. Before me, Cannon Films bought the rights to Marvel's most popular character, Spider-Man, and DC's Superman at the same time. Of course, the rights to both those heroes are now in Daenerys Entertainment's hands."
"You're different from them," Terry Semel said, shaking his head. "I remember at the Oscar after-party earlier this year, you told me you planned to have Superman and Batman crossover. Batman v Superman, I believe that's what you called it, right? And now, you want Wonder Woman."
"Terry, I don't want to waste time on pointless talk. Why don't you just give me Warner's terms?"
Terry Semel stopped beating around the bush. "Simon, Warner can give you both The Bourne Identity and Wonder Woman. We are willing to let go of Bourne entirely, but for Wonder Woman, Warner must retain a 50% investment right. However, unlike Superman and Batman, Daenerys Entertainment can handle the distribution of Wonder Woman yourself. In exchange, Daenerys and Warner need to collaborate on a project that breaks one hundred million at the box office, using the profit-sharing model from Basic Instinct. If the domestic box office for our collaborative project doesn't hit a hundred million, the contract automatically extends to another film until that goal is met."
Simon weighed the conditions Terry Semel had laid out in his mind and quickly said, "In that case, I can't give the distribution rights to Warner. It's hard to make a movie hit a hundred million at the North American box office, but it's far too easy to make sure it doesn't."
"I certainly understand," Terry Semel said with a smile. "So, if you insist, the distribution rights can go to Daenerys Entertainment."
Simon suddenly realized that doing it this way would put Daenerys Entertainment at a significant disadvantage.
Under the profit-sharing model for Basic Instinct, the two companies didn't just split the production costs. Daenerys had provided the script rights and the production effort, while Fox handled the promotion and distribution. The investment from both sides was essentially equal.
Now, if he kept the distribution rights, it would mean Warner only had to put up half the production budget and then step back to wait for half the profits, while Daenerys Entertainment would be responsible for the entire process of production, promotion, and distribution.
That was clearly impossible.
After weighing it for a moment, Simon added, "Daenerys Entertainment keeps the distribution rights, but Warner must also bear half of the marketing and distribution budget."
Terry Semel nodded readily. "No problem."
The two had only established a general framework for cooperation; the specific details would certainly require further negotiation to satisfy both parties' interests. Thus, Simon didn't hesitate any longer. He reached out his hand toward Semel and said, "Deal."