In Los Angeles, inside the mansion halfway up the hills in Pacific Palisades, Simon had just gotten out of the car when Amy Pascal came over to greet him.
The two of them went together to a sitting room on the second floor of the villa. Seeing them enter, both people on the sofa in the sitting room stood up. In addition to Simon's female assistant Jennifer Rebould, the other person was somewhat unexpected: Meg Ryan.
With just a slight nod in greeting, Simon sat down in the single armchair beside him and looked at Meg Ryan. His tone was calm as he said, "Tell me the details. What exactly is going on?"
Meg Ryan carefully observed the young man on the opposite sofa. The first time they met, he had not given off an approachable vibe at all. After more than a year of ups and downs under this young man's shadow, seeing him again now, she felt an even stronger sense of distant aloofness from him.
Noticing his gaze sweeping over her once more, Meg Ryan quickly gathered herself and began recounting recent events.
Having shot to A-list status with When Harry Met Sally, only to suddenly find herself without a single film role for a full year after being inexplicably dragged into last year's incident, Meg Ryan had nearly broken down at one point. She had also harbored extreme resentment toward a certain young man whose power in Hollywood was growing ever stronger.
So when Michael Ovitz approached her, hoping she would publicly file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment, Meg Ryan had agreed immediately.
After all, she had been left with no other options.
However, as the matter drew closer, Meg Ryan had grown increasingly uneasy.
Because she gradually realized that Michael Ovitz simply wanted to use this lawsuit to block Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA.
Moreover, the more she thought about it, the more she felt she was nothing but a pawn in the whole affair.
Michael Ovitz had promised to help her demand huge compensation from Daenerys Entertainment and to revive her career afterward. In Meg Ryan's view, neither of those things seemed very likely to happen.
Meg Ryan had secretly consulted her lawyer more than once, and the response had always been that the grounds and evidence Ovitz had found for the lawsuit were insufficient. The best outcome would be Daenerys Entertainment, under public pressure, seeking a private settlement to resolve the matter quickly and paying some compensation.
Yet this lawsuit could very well derail a multi-billion-dollar deal.
That detestable young man had already blacklisted her simply because she terminated her contract early after becoming famous. If she caused a multi-billion-dollar acquisition to fall through because of her involvement, she had no idea what would happen to her. [TL/N: Car accident]
As for CAA, the talent agency that had failed to protect her last year, Meg Ryan did not believe Michael Ovitz would truly go all out to help her afterward, facing the pressure of an entire Daenerys Entertainment and a super-rich man worth 21 billion dollars.
Or even if Ovitz was willing to do so, with most of Hollywood closely tied to Daenerys Entertainment, and after she had ruined a multi-billion-dollar deal for them, causing the conflict to escalate completely, Meg Ryan did not think any major studio would risk offending Westeros by working with her.
When Michael Ovitz notified her yesterday that he would formally file the lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment in the near future, Meg Ryan, who had still been hesitating, finally made up her mind. She decided to turn around and seek cooperation with Simon Westeros instead.
Although doing so would definitely offend CAA, between Michael Ovitz and Simon Westeros, choosing the one with greater power could not be wrong. If Westeros still refused to lift the blacklist afterward, well, she had nothing left to lose anyway. She could always file the lawsuit later.
Simon listened to Meg Ryan's account while flipping through a prepared draft complaint. When she finished, he looked up and asked, "Besides the Screen Actors Guild cooperating with your lawsuit this time, is there anything else?"
Meg Ryan thought for a moment and said, "There should be more, but when Mike... Ovitz talked to me, he only mentioned things related to me."
Simon withdrew his direct gaze from Meg Ryan, leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and pondered.
In normal times, a lawsuit like this would mean nothing to Daenerys Entertainment. Almost every large company faced all kinds of lawsuits, big and small, year-round.
However, at the critical moment when Daenerys Entertainment was launching its bid for MCA, the sudden appearance of a lawsuit accusing Daenerys Entertainment of using its industry dominance to suppress an actor in the circle would very easily trigger media and public concern and condemnation regarding the company's continued expansion.
In the original timeline, under the influence of the phone-hacking scandal, News Corp had been forced to abandon its long-prepared full acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting. Because the timing of the two events had coincided so perfectly, it was hard to say whether there was any causal connection.
Daenerys Entertainment was clearly about to face a similar situation.
Of course, the circumstances here were different.
In his memory, if the phone-hacking scandal truly had some connection, it was probably because the entire British establishment did not want News Corp to expand further. Murdoch's manipulation of British public opinion had left everyone feeling on edge.
Now, Simon knew that many people in Hollywood definitely harbored doubts about Daenerys Entertainment acquiring MCA, but not many would actually step forward to oppose it. Michael Ovitz's actions were clearly just to ensure his client Panasonic could complete the acquisition smoothly, after which he could collect tens of millions of dollars in M&A advisory fees.
After carefully sorting through everything in his mind, Simon opened his eyes, glanced at the uneasy-looking Meg Ryan, took out his checkbook from his pocket, rested it on his knee to write for a moment, tore off the check, and placed it on the coffee table in front of him. He said to Meg Ryan, "Later let Jennifer help you contact WMA, or ICM if you prefer, to sign a new representation contract. If you're willing, Daenerys Entertainment can also sign a film deal with you. In addition, this is for you. Take this money and go abroad for a few months to relax. Come back after the New Year." [TL/N: FINALLY!]
After hearing Simon finish, Meg Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief. She even felt as if her hardships had come to an end and good times were beginning.
Simon's assistant personally recommending her to an agency was already enough to show Daenerys Entertainment's attitude. Signing another film contract with Daenerys Entertainment would mean she was completely unbanned.
Then, glancing at the check on the coffee table, Meg Ryan wondered if she should stand up to take it.
Simon, however, did not wait for her action. He turned to his female assistant and said, "Jennifer, take Miss Ryan out first. Amy and I still have some things to discuss."
Jennifer nodded, stood up, stepped forward to pick up the check and hand it to Meg Ryan, who had also risen, and said, "Miss Ryan, come with me."
Meg Ryan took the check and followed Jennifer out the door, through the hallway. Only when she stepped onto the stairs did she dare to carefully glance at the check in her hand. Then she nearly stumbled.
Five million dollars.
Far beyond what she had expected.
Come to think of it, not only had Meg Ryan been unable to land any film roles this past year, but her finances had also been stretched thin.
After becoming famous with When Harry Met Sally, the second film contract she signed, The Rocketeer, had seen all her pay used to cover the termination fees for exiting Daenerys Entertainment's option agreement. Several endorsement deals that had been in contact with her had also fallen through because of rumors in the circle that she had been blacklisted.
When the young man had just said he would send her abroad, she had thought he would at most write a check for a few hundred thousand dollars. She had not expected the actual amount to exceed her expectations by ten times.
Although she felt she was being rather spineless, deep down Meg Ryan discovered that the resentment she had accumulated toward the young man for over a year had mysteriously almost completely vanished, leaving only some complicated, indefinable emotions.
At least, he was far better than Michael Ovitz.
Both were Hollywood big shots, yet Michael Ovitz had only given her some empty promises that were hard to fulfill. Westeros, on the other hand, could directly write a five-million-dollar check and completely lift every restriction on her.
After Jennifer took Meg Ryan away, Amy could not help asking, "Simon, are you still planning to go to Japan right away?"
Simon nodded. "Of course. Now more than ever."
"Then what about things here?"
Simon's expression grew serious. "I may have underestimated the situation a bit, but there is still time to salvage it."
Amy did not respond, simply waiting for Simon to continue.
Simon organized his thoughts once more and said, "The key to this matter lies in one thing: conflicts of interest. Whichever side our acquisition of MCA affects will be the one that might jump out to stop it. Here in Hollywood, our relationships with several major unions are not great, so it is not surprising that they would step forward. However, resistance from the unions is actually not significant. We have already joined the Producers Alliance and signed proper agreements on all aspects with the major unions. Even if they want to stop us, they can only express some general concerns or provide concrete evidence proving that Daenerys Entertainment has infringed on union members' interests. Now that Meg Ryan has backed down, I do not think they can find any other evidence. The other resistance may come from our Hollywood peers."
At this point, Simon suddenly paused.
Amy waited a moment, then ventured, "Paramount?"
Simon nodded. "Paramount."
Among the current Big Eight in Hollywood, Daenerys Entertainment had varying degrees of cooperation with the other six. Moreover, among the six cooperating studios, Fox, Warner Bros., and MGM would definitely not jump out. The chances of Columbia and Disney stepping forward were also low. Universal was the party involved and could not oppose its own acquisition.
That left only Paramount, which Simon had deliberately set aside from the beginning.
The wave of consolidation in the American media industry had already begun with the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Bros. Over the next few years, as legal restrictions on horizontal expansion in the film and television sectors of the media industry were further relaxed, this consolidation would accelerate even more.
Although missing out on Universal meant Daenerys Entertainment was not without other options, it would also be extremely difficult to find another company at the right price that could form such strong complementarity with Daenerys Entertainment.
Even Disney, which would become one of Hollywood's dominant forces many years later, would not work.
Although Disney also operated theme parks, it currently had little accumulation in records, television, or theater chains. As for its strength in animation, that would overlap with Daenerys Entertainment. Moreover, Disney's current focus on 2D animated films was destined to be replaced by 3D animated films, so acquiring it would instead bring the trouble of having to prune and restructure.
The even less viable option was Time Warner, with which Daenerys Entertainment had close cooperation but which was internally rife with factions and constant infighting.
Simon was not particularly interested in the other studios either.
Having clarified all this, Simon no longer hesitated. To successfully complete the two acquisitions at hand, some minor entanglements had to be abandoned. After all, the two scripts Paramount had stolen from Simon back then had not brought them any benefits either.
Having made up his mind, Simon said to Amy, "Contact Martin Davis at Paramount right away. Ask if he is interested in film contracts for the two movies. In addition, once Daenerys Entertainment completes the acquisition of MCA, I can guarantee that the USA Network, with MCA and Paramount each holding 50% equity, will maintain its current ownership structure. Unless Paramount actively sells, Daenerys Entertainment will only seek operating rights for the USA Network. With the foundation we have already built in the television industry, I believe Martin Davis will not remain unmoved."
Amy nodded, inwardly admiring her boss's decisive, no-nonsense style. After thinking for a moment, she added, "I recall you previously wanted to buy the film and television adaptation rights for 'Mission: Impossible' from Paramount. Perhaps we can include that in the two film contracts."
Simon looked puzzled. "Hasn't 'Mission: Impossible' already been greenlit?"
"It should still be in development. At any rate, I have not heard any news of filming starting. As long as it has not begun shooting, there will be no problem if we take over the project."
"As long as Paramount is willing to share the project, I can personally participate in the scripting and production."
Amy smiled. "That should make things even smoother."
Simon added, "Besides Paramount, have the company's public relations team closely monitor the movements of various media outlets recently. The year-end schedule is about to begin, right? For our several films this time, allocate an additional 20 million dollars in marketing budget. Just do not rush to sign contracts yet. Negotiate slowly with the media outlets and let them know how substantial this advertising order is."
Amy hesitated slightly. "Twenty million seems a bit much?"
The films Daenerys Entertainment was personally distributing at year-end were mainly only Dances with Wolves and Home Alone. The others either had no high box-office expectations or were handled by other studios.
Simon insisted, "It is settled. The money that needs to be spent must be spent. Moreover, this money will not be wasted in the end. It will definitely benefit our film box office. Even if it does not, it will let those media know that Daenerys Entertainment is a very generous advertising client. Giving up such a major client for a few reports would be completely not worth it."
"All right. I will discuss it with Bob and the others tomorrow."
"Also, try to find out what other arrangements Ovitz has made."
"I will."
After giving these instructions, Simon considered for another moment and asked Amy, "Do you have anything to add?"
Amy smiled. "You have covered everything for now. I cannot think of anything else at the moment, but as soon as I do, I will act on it immediately."
Simon nodded. "In that case, I will head to Japan later. Contact me anytime if anything comes up on your end."