Having agreed on a $150 million package for the next three seasons of Survivor, along with NBC's additional conditions, the two sides moved on to negotiate critical details such as payment schedules.
To ease their own cash-flow pressures, networks customarily delayed payments as long as possible when purchasing programs from outside producers a practice that mirrored the habits of Hollywood's film distributors. Most independent producers only received full payment after a series had finished airing.
In the case of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with ABC, even though Daenerys held the stronger position, ABC had paid only 30 percent upfront before the first season premiered, with another 30 percent after the winter hiatus and the final 40 percent upon the season's conclusion.
For Survivor, after several hours of intense back-and-forth, NBC finally agreed to a 50 percent advance before each season and the remaining 50 percent afterward.
The meeting wrapped up, and after a shared lunch, Robert Wright hurried back to the East Coast to personally oversee adjustments to Survivor's marketing strategy and maximize the show's impact.
The formal contract would be drafted by staff from both companies based on the meeting minutes, with signing expected in about a week.
Simon had been away from Los Angeles for two weeks, staying in touch with Daenerys Entertainment through phone calls and faxes. After resolving the Survivor matter that morning, he did not rush home to Malibu but personally checked progress on several films.
Scream had completed post-production earlier in the month and been submitted to the MPAA for rating; they were still awaiting the result.
Having taken over post-production on Rain Man from Barry Levinson, the team had finished re-editing after more than a month of work. While in Melbourne, Simon had even written the score himself.
In the original timeline, Hans Zimmer had composed the music for Rain Man and earned his first Oscar nomination for it. At this point, however, Zimmer was still an unknown. The score was not particularly complex, and with the original version fresh in his memory, Simon had handled it effortlessly without bothering to track the composer down.
Post-production on Steel Magnolias and Dead Poets Society was proceeding smoothly. Barring any surprises, Rain Man, Steel Magnolias, and Dead Poets Society would all be fully completed by the end of September.
After reviewing those projects, Simon spent more than two hours in production meetings discussing preparations for a series of upcoming films.
By the time the meetings ended, it was already evening.
Reports on the status of The Sixth Sense, The Bodyguard, Radio Flyer, Uncle Buck, and several other projects concluded, and the attending executives and producers left early. As usual, only Simon, Amy, and a few others remained in the conference room.
Seated by the window and bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Simon closed the folder in front of him and said to Amy across the table, "Now that we've secured Wonder Woman, have the major agencies send over candidate lists soon. Like with Batman, I want newcomers, aged twenty to twenty-five, and around six feet tall."
Seeing the confusion on Amy's face, he smiled and added, "I'm not planning to start shooting anytime soon. We'll finish Batman and the first Superman first. I just want to cultivate a few candidates from the beginning. Once we settle on someone, we can give them small roles over the next few years to build their skills. The Batman casting felt a little rushed, after all."
With DC's big three now in hand, the path to launching the DC cinematic universe early was largely clear. Bringing in other heroes later would not be an issue. With Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman under his control, Warner had few alternatives. And since he had granted Warner profit-sharing investment rights, he doubted they would have the boldness Marvel once showed in building an entire universe around second-tier characters.
In Simon's memory, however, no one in current Hollywood seemed quite right for Wonder Woman. He hoped to find someone reminiscent of Gal Gadot's Diana Prince. Since the film would not begin production until after Batman's release, there was ample time to groom new talent.
Amy nodded in understanding, then asked, "Should we recast Superman as well? Christopher Reeve is definitely too old now."
"Yes," Simon confirmed. "Have the agencies submit candidates for that too."
Amy jotted it down, then looked up again. "Twenty to twenty-five, six feet tall—doesn't that describe Miss Kidman perfectly?"
"You reminding me brings it to mind," Simon said with a slight shake of his head. "When I visited the Dead Calm set in Australia, Nicole turned down the lead in Angels in the Outfield. She has very clear ideas about her career."
Amy smiled at that and nodded. "I spoke with Nicole too. So, should we have our shortlisted Wonder Woman candidates try for the female lead in Angels in the Outfield first?"
"We'll see how it goes," Simon replied noncommittally, then asked, "How is the rewrite of the Angels in the Outfield script coming along?"
"The first draft is finished. I'll have a copy sent to you tomorrow." Seeing no further business, Amy began gathering her folders. A moment later she looked up again. "One more thing, Simon. With Millionaire and Survivor both such huge successes, shall we celebrate this weekend?"
Though the other two reality shows had yet to premiere, owning Millionaire and Survivor had made Daenerys the envy of every television producer in Hollywood. A celebration to reward the teams was only fitting.
Maintaining industry relationships had always been vital to a studio's growth.
Many top Hollywood executives hosted parties or receptions nearly every week to stay connected with stars and power players. By comparison, Simon was far less enthusiastic; he attended far more events as a guest than as a host.
Still, he knew such obligations were unavoidable. Handing them entirely to Amy or other executives risked leaving him vulnerable if management changed unexpectedly.
After a moment's thought, he said, "Let's hold it at the Palisades villa. Schedule it for Saturday. You can prepare the guest list."
Having drawn over twenty million viewers on its premiere night, Survivor quickly became the talk of the media in the days that followed.
NBC promptly increased marketing efforts, while ABC stepped up promotion for Millionaire to avoid falling too far behind. FOX and CBS looked forward eagerly to the Wednesday premieres of Big Brother and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
As anticipated, however, neither show replicated the phenomenal success of Survivor or Millionaire. On premiere night, FOX's Big Brother averaged 15.35 million viewers, while CBS's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills drew only 11.7 million.
Those numbers were impressive in their own right, especially compared to most new series of the era. Breaking the ten-million mark on debut was already strong, and Big Brother's 15.35 million was genuinely excellent. With growing buzz, it could even approach twenty million in peak episodes, and future seasons might average around fifteen million.
As for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, though it ranked last among the four reality shows, its audience exceeded Simon's expectations. In the original timeline, airing on basic cable, the series had peaked at only two or three million viewers.
Both FOX and CBS expressed interest in renewal shortly after premiere.
Faced with the sudden surge in reality programming, Hollywood studios scrambled to develop similar concepts, while North American media dissected the hits in endless articles.
There was no doubt that Daenerys Entertainment's dominance this fall season with four reality shows stemmed ultimately from the recent writers' strike.
Without the five-month-plus walkout, the Big Four networks would never have surrendered so much control in such lucrative deals.
The industry was now waking up to that reality.
The strike had wounded both the Writers Guild and the networks, while other studios suffered varying degrees of damage. Only Daenerys had emerged as the clear winner.
Beyond the four highly profitable reality shows, the year-end release slate would also benefit from the strike's disruption of countless film projects, leaving more market space for Daenerys titles.
Fully grasping the situation, traditional Hollywood powers began instinctively protecting their interests.
The following Friday, Daenerys received the MPAA's rating report on Scream, demanding substantial cuts to excessive violence and gore or the film would receive the restrictive NC-17 rating.
Scream had always been aimed at viewers sixteen and older; Simon had never intended to target younger children. An NC-17 rating, however, meant far more than barring those under seventeen: it restricted theatrical distribution to a handful of venues and prohibited major public promotion.
In the original timeline, rumors had circulated that Scream required multiple edits to avoid NC-17, but Simon, familiar with the Weinstein brothers' tactics, knew those stories were largely promotional stunts.
The brothers had used rating controversies as publicity from the start—and it worked. Sometimes they even submitted films that met NC-17 standards deliberately, generated media buzz, then trimmed them to R for resubmission. Audiences were invariably more curious about a film that had "barely" escaped the harsher rating.
This time, however, Simon recognized the situation for what it was: a warning shot from the MPAA committee controlled by the major studios. With only six weeks until release, Wes Craven spent the weekend frantically re-editing, and Simon joined him.
Amid the rush, September 17 Saturday arrived.
As evening approached, guests began arriving from across the city at Simon's Palisades mansion for the celebration of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Survivor, Big Brother, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Beyond the shows' creative teams, many Hollywood stars and notables had received invitations.
With Daenerys actively casting multiple projects, even some who had not been formally invited found ways to attend, hoping for a chance to connect with Simon Westeros or other company executives.
Simon and Wes Craven had spent the entire day in the editing room on Scream. When they finally arrived at the Palisades mansion, it was nearly eight o'clock.
Exhausted and starving after a full day's work, the two men offered quick greetings to guests and made a beeline for the buffet.
Plates piled high, they retreated to a corner to continue discussing edits when Sandra Bullock approached with a bright smile, slipped her arm through Simon's, greeted Wes, and leaned close to whisper, "I don't see Janet anywhere. Is she not coming tonight?"
Simon watched Wes walk away with a knowing grin, then popped a grilled shrimp into Sandra's mouth. "Do you have to make your desire to sneak around so obvious? We're respectable people."
Sandra rolled her eyes, intercepted the shrimp, and nibbled it delicately while keeping her arm firmly linked with his. "I regret not being more aggressive like Janet back then. All the good ones get taken. But seriously, where is she?"
Simon guided her to a table near the cliff's edge overlooking the lights of nighttime Los Angeles and explained with a smile, "She went to France."