Since real work had finally arrived, um…
If she really managed to secure How to Train Your Dragon, then the work Isabella was about to take on could basically be considered a turning point in her fate. So the planning and preparation surrounding it obviously couldn't be sloppy.
However, because the coming stretch of time was all holiday season, with Christmas and New Year right ahead, Isabella couldn't immediately roll out the full workload. So…
Honestly, she didn't care.
Because before arranging specific tasks, she had to first sort out all the businesses under her name.
She'd been hands-off for too long.
Right now she didn't even know how much money she had.
Since this review didn't involve outsiders and could be done anywhere, Isabella sat on the plane to South Africa with a notebook, talking through the finances with her mom, who managed the accounts.
At the moment, she owned three companies and one foundation.
As for the companies, they were:
The Beaver-themed studio rooted in film and television.
The Marmots-themed agency focused on talent management.
And Capybara, which handled music rights.
All three were basically empty shells.
The emptiest of all was the beaver studio.
Even though it held the full rights to The Voice, plus IPs like Resident Evil, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, and The Devil Wears Prada, none of those projects required Isabella or her team to actually do anything. So…
Despite earning over half a billion dollars annually, the beaver studio's London office had only seven employees.
That situation was almost unbelievable.
But starting next year, this ragtag setup wasn't going to last.
After thinking it through, Isabella decided to set up four clearly defined departments within the studio: film, television, animation, and rights licensing, to handle the increasing workload they'd personally have to deal with.
For example, the film department, once built, would have to manage Resident Evil.
She couldn't quite remember how the Resident Evil IP was run in her previous life, but in this one, thanks to Rupert Murdoch's meddling, Resident Evil: Apocalypse was scheduled to release next March.
March 2005.
While Isabella didn't exactly care about the franchise, she also didn't enjoy throwing tens of millions into a shredder.
Another example: the television department would immediately need to start recruiting.
Developing Nashville and Hannah Montana couldn't be delayed.
These had to be done in the first half of 2005.
Any later…
There could be "creative collisions."
And the animation department would have to coordinate with the "big shots" Iger was sending over.
This department basically had two major jobs:
Developing the unnamed beaver animation project from scratch. Securing How to Train Your Dragon.
Finally, once these three departments were running, the rights licensing department would become the busiest division in the beaver studio, because every IP Isabella owned could be developed further.
And one person couldn't possibly handle all merchandising alone.
Even Disney couldn't monopolize an entire vertical chain like Coca-Cola.
IP must be licensed out to toy companies, game companies… it was inevitable.
As the company's business expanded into more and more fields, Vivian couldn't manage everything on her own anymore.
So…
Looking at the structure chart, Isabella leaned on the sofa beside her mom. "Mom, should we poach someone to manage the company? Like Michael Barnathan? I think he's pretty good."
"..."
Vivian was speechless.
Nearby, Catherine, holding her drawing board and planning island development, burst out laughing. "Oh, Isa, if you dare do that, Chris Columbus might turn into the Hulk and slap you into outer space."
Her sister's imagery made Isabella laugh hard.
When a company reaches a certain scale, you need capable people. That's normal.
A single person has limited energy.
Even if someone had 48 hours in a day and didn't sleep, they couldn't personally handle everything in a conglomerate.
Holding fifteen meetings just for a cup was the domain of mythical beings.
But Isabella's circle of capable people were all… her own people.
So poaching from her own side?
Yeah, awkward.
However…
"I actually have someone in mind," Vivian said. "What about recruiting Susie?"
"Let her manage the film division?"
"She's technically a casting director, but she knows Hollywood inside and out. Management shouldn't be a problem."
"And you must have heard about her cousin, right? Mike Figgis."
The Susie in question was Isabella's benefactor, Susie Figgis.
If she hadn't slipped Isabella's info to J.K. Rowling back in the summer of 2000…
Who knows if Isabella would've ever become Hermione.
Also, Susie Figgis had connections.
Her cousin was Mike Figgis.
A director.
His notable work: Leaving Las Vegas.
Yeah.
The film that won Nicolas Cage his Best Actor Oscar was directed by Susie Figgis's cousin.
No wonder Susie dared publicly stand up to Warner on Rowling's behalf.
Simple.
People like that always had work waiting for them.
Inviting someone like her to run the film division would be reassuring.
But…
"Mom, I think your idea is good, but I'm not sure Susie would want to come."
"We invite her first. If she accepts, all problems solved. If she doesn't, we rethink it."
Isabella agreed, so she temporarily set aside the beaver studio.
Animation and rights licensing didn't need new hires.
The animation division would obviously be handed over to Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois.
Those two had already suffered from Disney's old guard. If they arrived in a new environment only to be supervised again, that would basically be prison transfer.
If Isabella didn't know how talented they were, she would've been cautious.
But when their résumés were deep enough to fill the Mariana Trench and their futures were guaranteed, putting someone over them would only disgust them — and herself. No way.
As for the rights division…
The most profitable department would naturally stay under Vivian's direct oversight.
Blood ties weren't perfect, but any other relationship was even less reliable.
After finishing with the beaver studio's fate, Isabella and her mom discussed the marmots and capybara companies.
Those two didn't need optimization yet.
Marmots currently had seven artists: Margot Robbie, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, Colbie Caillat, Carly Jepsen, and Rihanna.
Six were singers, and Warner Music handled their careers.
Isabella didn't need to touch that.
Even the actress already had her development path mapped out.
So…
Upgrading the marmots management team was pointless.
A professional management team still wouldn't beat Isabella making one phone call, and for scouting talent… even a global manhunt couldn't match a random sift through The Voice auditions.
Hiring experts would just burn money.
Same for Capybara.
When a music-rights company only worked with Warner…
All they had to do was lie down and wait for Warner to spoon-feed them revenue.
Once company planning was done, it was time to talk numbers.
All three companies were profitable.
The beaver studio made bank from The Voice.
Marmots big earners were Bruno, Katy, and Rihanna. After the Season 1 Voice tour, they landed endorsement after endorsement. Even with Isabella taking a small cut, their popularity alone made her rich.
And Capybara…
With Bruno, Katy, and Rihanna all exploding, Capybara was basically bathing in a hot spring made of gold.
With a gold leaf in its mouth, humming smugly in the afternoon sun. And when it woke up…
"Wait, why is my golden pool silver?"
Then after another night…
"Hold on, why is it stone now? Where's my money?!"
Vivian continued, "I haven't touched this year's profits yet. The previous years… all went to the charity foundation."
"Oh, and the land purchases from last year and this year, bought under the company name? I've been transferring them to the foundation. Now your foundation owns one company, Green Planet. Its mission is environmental protection and research into sustainable food for humanity. But realistically? It holds over seventy thousand acres of farmland."
"From now on, if you want more land, we'll buy it through this company."
"And… Valentin told me we can buy farmland in the UK, but not too much."
"First, because food is a sensitive industry."
"If we want to become a major agribusiness, the best approach is to diversify by buying land in multiple countries."
"Second, since we're doing global business…"
"When we expand in the US, we'll buy farmland there too and lease it to local farmers. Then if our American operations ever run into issues, we can use the farmers under our influence to pressure local representatives."
"So…"
Vivian winked at her younger daughter.
"Okay, I'm fine with it."
Isabella nodded with a light laugh.
Yeah.
The reason that big dummy capybara kept soaking in the stone pool all day was simply because all the company's profits had been donated away by Vivian. Because if she didn't donate… well, everyone knows what would happen.
Since this was something Isabella was happy to embrace, there was no need to talk it to death.
And as for her mom talking about buying farmland abroad and influencing local legislators…
Same old story: once you have enough money, you inevitably start climbing upward.
It's not about whether you want to. No one can just sit still and be content.
If you don't climb, someone else will figure out how to destroy you and step on your corpse on the way up.
Human ugliness is exactly like Michael Eisner's behavior: even if I surrender, I'm dragging you down with me.
Since the conversation was over, Isabella closed her barely-written notebook. Some things simply cannot be written on paper. Right then, Catherine—holding her drawing board—suddenly said, "Hey, Isa… Rupert Murdoch and Michael Eisner won't back down. So the others… they probably won't leave the stage voluntarily either, right?"
That comment made Isabella roll her eyes at her older sister. "Are you designing your island or listening to me?"
"Tch. I'm smart, okay? I can multitask, okay?"
"No."
"…" Catherine lifted her head.
She pouted at her little sister. "Sweetheart, do you want a pleasant vacation or not?"
"Fine. I don't know what they're thinking, but judging from their actions… I can only say 'take it case by case.'" Isabella clapped her hands. Not because she was scared, but because she didn't want some jobless person obsessing over her.
Her sudden kneel-down made Catherine raise an eyebrow before lowering her head again, continuing to work out how to build her island.
She just wanted to remind Isabella to be careful.
So she wouldn't get beat up every day.
And then whine about it.
It only takes twelve hours to fly from London to South Africa.
They took off the night of the 23rd and arrived on the morning of the 24th.
The moment they landed, the warm air made them take off their coats…
Yes. They were vacationing in the Southern Hemisphere simply because Britain was too cold.
What to say about South Africa?
In Western media, it's Mandela's democratic sanctuary, a paradise of wildlife, a cradle of diamonds and gold. And putting politics aside, it really is a beautiful kingdom wrapped in rainbows.
The scenery is stunning, and the untouched natural environment truly is heaven for many living creatures.
Isabella's family's first stop was a national park.
Cheetahs running free, rare black rhinos, easygoing elephants, meerkats that look at tourists like they're the monkeys… all of it gives you a taste of a beauty impossible to find among skyscrapers.
Especially the glorious sunset: that red sun and the lazy zebras are the real meaning of earning money.
What's the point of busting your butt making piles of money if you never spend it? That's just self-torture.
They celebrated Christmas on the vast savannah, bragged about their happiness to people who called them, then moved to the seaside to spot humpback whales and great white sharks.
Yes, they have shark-cage diving here.
Catherine and Vivian did it, but Isabella didn't.
Because the people from Warner and Disney were watching her like hawks.
The activity is dangerous, and nobody wanted anything to happen to her.
Yes! She was being very brave!
"Isa! The great whites in the ocean are so cool! Even cooler than in the movies!"
"They're insanely fierce! The moment they saw us, they charged right at us!"
"They were like—fwosh—just like that!"
As soon as she got out of the water, Catherine rushed over to share everything with her cowardly little sister.
Her wild arm-flailing made Isa wag her tail in boredom. Not impressed, not jealous.
She didn't dare see a great white shark, but she did hug the cute little penguins.
Yes, penguins aren't exclusive to Antarctica. Africa has penguins too.
Not only that, they look different.
They have a band on their chest, so they're called African penguins or banded penguins.
They're bold, too. They're not scared of people at all…
The sight of the poking, peeking penguins made Catherine laugh out loud.
"Isa, if the cartoon beaver animation works out, and if we make a second one, we should add penguins. I think their bold personalities would be adorable."
"Next time—"
"In the sequel we could have the cartoon beaver do a world tour! Show off her cooking! Then get challenged by African penguins."
"They're just like this—faces full of attitude."
Isabella loved the idea.
Because in her previous life, the Madagascar series also had adorable penguins.
Art comes from life.
South Africa has a lot of amazing scenery.
But they didn't experience much.
First, time was limited.
The second half of Goblet of Fire wasn't done filming, and they only had Christmas and New Year's break.
Second, vacationing isn't the same as sightseeing.
They weren't checking off attractions. The point was to have fun.
If they liked the place, they could always come back. Vacationing doesn't cost Isabella more than a breath anyway.
After two weeks in South Africa, eating giant abalone, plump oysters, fresh lobster, and sneaking a sip of a 20-year Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon… Isabella returned to London while getting smacked around by her mom.
Vivian didn't allow them to drink.
But…
The 20-year cab was too pretty. They only tasted a little.
Then Vivian got mad.
But sneaking wine or getting smacked wasn't the big thing.
The big thing was J.K. Rowling's due date.
Her third child would be born around the 20th.
So the moment they returned to London, Isabella took the train to Scotland.
After delivering the New Year gifts she bought in South Africa to the Rowling family, they all returned to Leavesden.
They greeted everyone coming back from break, exchanged gifts, and when it was Chris Columbus's turn…
He had empty hands, which made Isabella suspicious.
"Hey Chris, where's my New Year gift? Don't tell me you didn't get me anything. I brought you a gold coin!"
Isabella opened her box, revealing a shiny gold coin.
It was a one-ounce Krugerrand.
Named for the profile of Paul Kruger, South Africa's first president.
Even though it's technically a commemorative coin issued decades ago to promote South African gold internationally…
It's not something you treat like a souvenir, since it's 91.67 percent pure gold.
Not 99.99, but still.
A troy ounce is 31.1035 grams.
This thing is not cheap.
And Isabella prepared first-edition 1967 ones for the HP main creators.
Those are even more meaningful.
Since Krugerrands are the eldest brother of the world's five major investment coins.
So Columbus understood her "dissatisfaction."
And faced with her demand for answers, the man who always brought gifts to everyone laughed and said, "Oh Isa, I prepared a gift, but… everyone else gets one, except you…"
"???"
"So you're discriminating against me now?"
Her little face collapsed instantly, which made Columbus laugh harder. Then he asked, "Where's Margot? Still home for the holidays?"
Margot Robbie had gone home for the holidays after making some progress in her career.
But she said she'd be back after New Year.
She wanted to serve the princess well so she could get better opportunities.
Heh.
With that clumsy topic change, Isabella ignored Columbus.
She figured he just wanted to give Robbie her gift.
Which was indeed the case.
Margot returned to the set on January 9, 2005. That day, while delivering gifts to the crew, she immediately received Columbus's return gift, which made Isabella even more jealous, muttering irritably.
Everyone burst out laughing. Many comforted her, saying Columbus must have prepared something special for her.
And she thought so too.
Because Columbus wasn't the type to stir things up.
But the fact that he kept it a secret this long was honestly…
Exhausting.
And just as Isabella was wondering what sort of gift was worth all this suspense…
January 12, 2005.
The mystery was revealed.
Two old men with round glasses who looked exactly like Colonel Sanders walked onto the Leavesden set.
Their appearance triggered shouts of surprise. The HP crew rushed to greet them. Smiling kindly, they greeted everyone back before walking toward Columbus.
One of them, the slimmer-faced one, said with a smile, "Chris, your crew's atmosphere is pretty nice."
Before Columbus could respond, the man's gaze fell on Isabella.
"Isabella? May I call you Isa?"
"I've heard your name countless times over the years. Meeting you today… it's such a pleasure."
He extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm… well, you probably know who I am, the same way I know who you are. But either way, I should introduce myself. I'm Steven Spielberg. And this…"
The bearded old man beside him also smiled and held out his hand. "George Lucas. Just call me George."
Yep. Those two old men were Spielberg and Lucas.
And judging by the situation…
They were here specifically for her?
"Oh no, I'm really famous now."