Hunting in Hollywood

Entering April, Simon Westeros started devoting more energy to the film division of Daenerys Entertainment.

A key project within the DC cinematic universe, "Batman: The Dark Knight," had completed its final cut by the end of March and successfully received a PG-13 rating, scheduled for release on June 7. In the first week of April, the film entered the last two months of its massive promotional sprint before release.

In January, Warner Bros, solely produced by Simon Westeros, had quietly begun filming "The Flash" in Melbourne, Australia. The shooting was expected to last three to four months, with a release date set for December 20, targeting the Christmas season.

Daenerys Entertainment had scheduled "Wonder Woman" for next summer, likely to start production in June.

Outside of the DC cinematic universe plans, because Simon delayed the "Superman" production schedule, the originally appointed director, Martin Campbell, was lent to MGM to direct "007: GoldenEye."

Under the persistent insistence of the Broccoli family, who co-owned the 007 rights with United Artists, Timothy Dalton was still the lead in "007: GoldenEye." However, Martin Campbell was the director of the Pierce Brosnan version of "GoldenEye."

Of course, Famke Janssen, who had been confirmed to play Wonder Woman, would not return to her role as the leggy Russian femme fatale.

Whether intentional or not, Sherry Lansing placed a candidate known as the 'old man killer' among the final picks for the Russian agent and specifically asked for Simon's opinion.

Simon didn't think Catherine Zeta-Jones, who typically portrayed sweeter characters, could match Famke Janssen's bloodthirsty demeanor from the original "GoldenEye." Considering MGM would soon become part of the Johnston family's business, he did not entertain Lansing's suggestion, which might have carried certain 'good intentions.'

When it came to casting for his film projects, Simon's policy was clear: if the fit was right, he was happy to offer favors, but if not, he would not gamble with investments worth tens of millions of dollars.

Indeed, many Hollywood projects have failed due to casting decisions driven by personal favors and relationships, a significant factor contributing to the high proportion of flops in the industry.

The Hollywood film industry system has its strengths, but often, it can seem very unprofessional. The intensely speculative nature of film investments masks many of these unprofessional elements, as the success or failure often seems to hinge significantly on luck.

In essence, Hollywood filmmakers are accustomed to spending other people's money, content with merely earning their service fees.

When it's someone else's money, the loss doesn't hurt as much.

Daenerys Entertainment, however, was Simon spending his own money.

Given the responsibility for potentially tens of millions of dollars in each project, caution was imperative.

Not just for "Batman: The Dark Knight," but other films set for the summer season from Daenerys Entertainment, including collaborations like "Terminator 2," "Thelma & Louise," and "Few Good Men," as well as those taken over from Universal Studios like "Backdraft," "Jungle Fever," "Problem Child 2," and "All Together Now," began their final promotional phase entering April.

After the Oscars, confirming that Pixar had accumulated sufficient technology, a 3D version of "The Lion King" was officially underway.

Another major project for 1992, "Jurassic Park," had its screenplay finished under Simon's direct involvement. With April rolling in, casting began, with shooting scheduled for the end of the year and a release slated for the following year's end.

Altogether, Daenerys Entertainment's major self-distributed projects for 1992 reached four, including "Wonder Woman" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2" for the summer, and "Home Alone 2" and "Jurassic Park" for the year-end season.

Simon had previously extended the development period for the DC cinematic universe, a decision that was proving beneficial.

Maintaining a release pace of two films per year could have forced projects like "Jurassic Park" into direct competition with the DC universe films, likely resulting in mutually detrimental outcomes.

As for another project Simon promised to Spielberg, "Schindler's List," due to the ample time available, Spielberg did not rush to film back-to-back with "Jurassic Park." The film was expected to start production in the second half of the next year, with a 1993 release planned.

Additionally, Daenerys Entertainment's other collaborations were also among Simon's recent priorities.

The initial ten-film plan had already seen four releases, with three more scheduled for this summer: "Terminator 2," "Thelma & Louise," and "Few Good Men."

The remaining three films were divided, one under MGM and two under Warner Bros.

Last year, to persuade Paramount to cease its opposition to Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of

 MCA, Simon promised three collaborative films to them.

Adding to this, Simon still owed a directorial contract to Disney, bringing Daenerys Entertainment's total collaborative projects to seven.

Lastly, sorting through the scripts and novel rights acquired by Daenerys Entertainment over the past year, in addition to major IPs like "Mission: Impossible" and "Jurassic Park," they had also secured rights to the sci-fi comic "Men in Black" and the children's comic "Shrek," both published in 1990.

All told, Daenerys Entertainment's rights library now included the entire Marvel superhero system, DC's trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, Tolkien's Middle-earth series, the spy franchises "Mission: Impossible" and "The Bourne Identity," the "Charlie's Angels" series purchased from Columbia Pictures, the "Fast and Furious" series initially from B-movie king Roger Corman, the enduring "Forrest Gump," and the "Jurassic Park" series from another timeline, along with "Men in Black," "Shrek," the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series, and valuable adaptations from Universal's 1930s films like "The Mummy" series, and many more. This vast collection of top-selling rights from another timeline was more than enough to sustain Daenerys Entertainment's film business in Hollywood for over thirty years.

In the realm of animated films, Daenerys Entertainment had already brought Pixar, which developed successful 3D animated films like "Toy Story," "Finding Nemo," and "Monsters, Inc.," under its wing.

Indeed, even if Simon decided to step back and manage from afar, and only half of these rights achieved the success he remembered, Daenerys Entertainment's film business would remain a dominant force in Hollywood for a long time.

Moreover, Simon had no intention of stepping back. With a carefully crafted team over several years, Daenerys Entertainment was well-equipped to handle the development of these valuable rights.

After traveling between various film sets, production meetings, post-production sessions, actor auditions, and promotional meetings for a month, it was quickly May.

This year's Cannes Film Festival was set to open on May 9, with Daenerys Entertainment having two films in the main competition: a new film from the Coen brothers, financed by Gaomon Pictures, titled "Barton Fink," and Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever," taken over from Universal Studios and set to be released this summer.

Ella Doitchman led the team to Cannes a week in advance.

Simon had intended to take this opportunity for a European vacation with Janet.

However, Janet was less than three months pregnant, and doctors advised against flying. She planned not to fly at all during her pregnancy, which was also a reason she had stepped back from managing Cersei Capital.

Though no longer managing Cersei Capital, Janet was not idly passing her days but was rather minimally engaging her mind.

Originally accustomed to using only 70% of her brain capacity, she had now reduced that to 30%.

Dume Cape Manor.

The date was May 5, Sunday.

James Lebould was picked up by his daughter from Los Angeles International Airport and arrived here, where Simon and his wife were already waiting outside Beck Villa.

Although it was a rest day, there were important matters to discuss.

In short, it concerned the entire assets, cash flow, and liabilities of the Westeros system.

After pleasantries, everyone moved to a small conference room in the villa.

Seeing the villa's four maids and his own daughter eagerly serving tea and water reminded James Lebould of the tiring aspects of fatherhood.

Raised for nothing!

Still, it was just a passing thought as James quickly focused on the matter at hand.

Since the stock market crash of 1987, Simon's personal wealth had skyrocketed.

At the same time, the entire Westeros system was also notorious for its lavish spending.

Especially with the recent consecutive acquisitions of MCA and Bell Atlantic, though the final loan ratios weren't as high as initially expected, the Westeros system's total liabilities had reached the level of ten billion dollars.

In an era when the market values of giant corporations like General Motors, IBM, and General Electric were still commonly around five to six hundred billion dollars, ten billion dollars in liabilities was a substantial burden for most companies, let alone when nearly all of it counted as Simon's personal debt.

In recent years, the expansion of the Westeros system, aside from Simon's earnings from several major financial markets, primarily relied on the profitable Daenerys Entertainment for funding.

The recently concluded Gulf War was essentially the last major market event that Cersei Capital's hedge fund operations could exploit for many years.

Therefore, the possibility of obtaining another billion-dollar capital infusion from the financial market was slim.

On Daenerys Entertainment's side, although the company's net profits reached an astonishing 1.12 billion dollars in 1990, this year, due to the

 acquisition of MCA, Daenerys Entertainment's debt increased by 7 billion dollars in one go. Including previous accruals, just the debt exceeding 8 billion dollars required annual principal and interest payments of over 1 billion dollars.

In 1990, Daenerys Entertainment's revenue was 3.96 billion dollars, and MCA's was 3.37 billion dollars.

With the merger of the two companies, the new Daenerys Entertainment's revenue would exceed 7 billion dollars.

However, with the company's size doubling overnight, the profit margins were not expected to remain as high as when it was more nimble.

Moreover, with substantial debts to be repaid in the coming years, extracting more funds from Daenerys Entertainment to support other businesses within the Westeros system was not feasible.

Bell Atlantic, although also a multi-billion dollar revenue source capable of providing funds for the Westeros system, was not expected to contribute either.

Instead of drawing funds from Bell Atlantic, Simon planned to inject additional capital to push the company's investments in mobile communications and the internet over the next few years, making it an unreliable source of funds.

Cersei Capital, Daenerys Entertainment, and Bell Atlantic were all unable to provide substantial financial support to the many other companies within the Westeros system that continued to demand capital.

Ygritte alone would need an investment of about 500 million dollars this year.

Companies like AOL, Nokia, and Cisco were also big spenders.

Moreover, even if Westeros did not invest in other new tech companies, maintaining his equity stakes in already invested tech firms required continual capital injections.

Next, Daenerys Entertainment planned to initiate the Osaka Universal Studios project, estimated to cost around 2 billion dollars. Even with Panasonic sharing half of the investment, Daenerys Entertainment would still need to contribute another 1 billion dollars.

Finally, the daily expenses of Simon and his wife were also quite significant.

However, strictly speaking, the Westeros system did not face difficulties in raising funds. Given its rapid development in recent years, thriving splendidly, banks in North America and abroad were very willing to provide loans to Simon.

The focus of today's discussion was the routine review and re-planning of the Westeros system's financial movements.

Simon's financial foundation was very solid, making it easy to secure investments from banks.

However, if spending was too indiscriminate, lacking careful calculation, unnoticed expenses could accumulate significantly. If allowed to build up, this could one day lead to entangled debt issues, potentially triggering a domino effect.

Simon had always relied on Janet to manage his personal finances. Her brain operating at 70% capacity was equivalent to an ordinary person's twenty or thirty percent, and Simon had always been very reassured by her meticulous management.

Aside from personal finances, James had been responsibly managing Westeros Corporation in recent years, and Simon had always placed high importance on the financial oversight of the entire Westeros system.

Thus, the likelihood of a financial crisis erupting within the Westeros system was small.

However, Simon was well aware of the principle of preventing problems before they arise, hence his serious regard for today's meeting.

"The construction of Osaka Universal Studios is well-supported by several Japanese banks. With the yen having appreciated continuously over the past few years and likely entering a devaluation cycle, I believe obtaining loans from Japanese banks is very cost-effective," Simon detailed.

"For Ygritte, the profits from Cersei Fund Management this year should be sufficient to cover its expenses, so there's no need to raise additional funds," he continued.

"Nokia has successfully developed the next generation of digital phones, and Europe's GSM network is also starting to come online. The funds needed for this company's next phase of development, the money Alexandra needs to buy Van Cleef & Arpels, Bell Atlantic's expenditures for its plans in mobile communications, the investments required to maintain our stakes in non-public companies like Qualcomm, and including your own personal expenses, we'll need to secure an additional 1 to 1.5 billion dollars in loans this year," Simon summarized.

"These are the expenditure aspects. The batch of tech stocks we bought initially, the promise not to sell for three years has expired. Apart from long-term holdings like Microsoft and Intel, I've already reduced our stakes in other companies to below 5% and have also gradually exited their boards. If there's an emergency, we can immediately liquidate between five to ten billion dollars. This amount will suffice to cover the maturing debts we need to repay outside of Daenerys Entertainment over the next two to three years," he concluded.

The small meeting among the four lasted a day.

James Lebould finally summarized, looking up at Simon and Janet, and asked, "One last thing, the construction plan for the Westeros Tower in Manhattan, are you two really planning to start that soon?"

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