Near noon, a black Mercedes wound its way up the widened mountain road into the studio lot Daenerys Entertainment had purchased. Though it was Saturday, the valley--now a construction site--bustled with workers. The surrounding hills no longer looked like the overgrown wilderness they once had.
Nancy Brill stepped out at the edge of the site just as Amy Pascal walked over to meet her.
Nancy surveyed the terrain ridges on two sides, a sheer cliff on the third and said to Amy, "From the choice of this parcel alone, our little boss is clearly someone who lacks a sense of security deep down."
Amy smiled curiously. "Why do you say that?"
Nancy gestured around them, then wrapped her arms around herself in mock embrace. "So obvious. Classic defensive terrain for someone with a closed-off mindset. No wonder he likes women older than him."
Amy gave a helpless laugh at Nancy's bluntness. "We're having lunch with Jenny in a bit, watch what you say."
"Of course I will. And an Oedipal complex isn't anything shameful; lots of people have it. Given our little boss's childhood and upbringing, it's practically inevitable."
Amy's helplessness deepened. After yesterday's events, much of the tension between her and Nancy had eased; they could now talk about things beyond work. "Keep talking like that and I'll secretly tattle to Simon, he'll fire you."
Nancy caught the protective note in Amy's voice and wisely dropped the subject. "Has he replied about yesterday?"
"He's agreed," Amy said, checking her watch. "But he wants a more detailed plan first, and he warned you to communicate properly with Blockbuster, no more boardroom ambushes like yesterday." She glanced at the time again. "We should head to Point Dume."
Nancy hadn't expected such quick approval and felt a spark of pleasure. "I'll ride with you. We can talk on the way."
She returned briefly to her own Mercedes, grabbed her bag and a thick folder, then slid into Amy's passenger seat. This was Daenerys property; leaving her car here was fine, she'd pick it up later.
With the eighteen-hour time difference, it was early Sunday morning in Australia and still Saturday noon here.
Amy waited for Nancy to buckle in, then her portable phone rang. She signaled, and the two women swapped seats without ceremony, Nancy drove, Amy took the call in the passenger seat.
Nancy eased onto the U-shaped mountain road, then the coastal highway. When Amy hung up, Nancy asked, "Meg Ryan?"
Amy nodded, frowning slightly as she thought it over.
After the fallout with CAA, Daenerys couldn't outright bench Meg Ryan, contractually allowed or not, it would invite massive industry backlash.
Freezing stars belonged to the old studio era.
Targeting a top actress that way now would make other talent wary.
Amy had opted for attrition: stringing CAA along with projects that would never sign Ryan, wasting her time. Last month they'd dragged out talks on Pretty Woman; CAA, perhaps tipped off, demanded a script swap.
This month the topic had become Ghost.
Half the month gone, CAA seemed to have caught on.
Meg Ryan's agent, Josh Lieberman, had just called: if no deal was reached within a week, he wanted Daenerys to release his client to take other offers.
Otherwise, CAA would sue Kirstie Alley to block her from Daenerys/Warner's Look Who's Talking.
Kirstie Alley, the actress who'd replaced Ryan was the original choice for the role. She'd been a CAA client until WMA poached her shortly before signing on. With a year left on her CAA contract, the parting deal gave CAA her commission for any project booked in that window a common arrangement most agencies accepted.
But if someone wanted to push the issue, things could get messy.
Seeing Amy nod, Nancy thought a moment. "I read in The Hollywood Reporter that Paramount just signed Tom Cruise for The Rocketeer and they're eyeing Meg Ryan for the female lead. Amy, if I'm guessing right, The Rocketeer and Top Gun scripts were deliberately leaked by Simon, weren't they?"
Amy glanced at her in surprise, then gave a small nod.
Nancy didn't press for details. "In that case, just let her go. Make her pay a big penalty, then star in a film that's likely to flop. Far better than dragging this out. Too many people in Hollywood already want to cause us trouble, no need to hand them an easy target."
Amy toyed with the phone still in her hand. After a pause she nodded. "I'll talk to Simon."
"If it were me, I wouldn't even bother consulting him on something this small."
Amy laughed. "So you really are after my job."
"Of course. I'm even eyeing the boss's chair. Too bad I don't have his uncanny talent." Nancy grinned. "Sometimes I wonder if the original Simon Westeros died and this one's a centuries-old vampire. How else does a twenty-year-old know so much?"
"Next time you see him, ask if he's a vampire."
"I'd rather not get silenced," Nancy said with an exaggerated neck-shrink. Her gaze landed on the sleek black phone in Amy's hand, far more compact than the usual brick. She nodded at it. "What brand is that? I've wanted a portable phone forever, but they're all so bulky."
Amy held it up. "Motorola's new MicroTAC. I only got mine a few days ago."
Nancy studied it and decided to buy one that afternoon. Then something else occurred to her. "This model's going to be huge. Motorola, looks like someone's going to regret dumping their stock last year. And lately I've been thinking selling down Apple wasn't the smartest move either. That company still has tons of growth left."
Both women were sharp business minds; even outside tech, their instincts were solid.
Westeros Company's Motorola sell-off had made waves last year, then Motorola released a device that could obsolete every clunky mobile phone on the market. When the stock soared, the inevitable mockery would follow.
"Simon has his reasons," Amy said loyally. She tapped the thick folder Nancy had handed her when they swapped seats. "This his birthday present?"
"No, that's in my bag, a fountain pen," Nancy shook her head. "This is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game plan plus some early prototypes. I want Janet to take it to Melbourne for him to review."
Amy flipped through: stacks of documents and a few floppy disks holding the demos. "He's so busy and you're piling more work on him."
Nancy nodded shamelessly. "Exactly. No rule says employees can't exploit the boss. Besides, he's a man, made for exploiting."
Amy paused, then smirked. "Didn't know you told dirty jokes."
"Dirty joke?" Nancy shot her a puzzled glance, then caught on and glared. "I can't believe how vulgar you are."
Amy's smile widened. "Fine, I'm vulgar."
They drove past the now-fenced and under-construction Point Dume estate, Simon's replica "Iron Man" mansion already rising and spotted Janet and Kathryn walking out from the grounds. Nancy pulled over.
The four women knew one another well. After warm greetings, they headed together to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Amy's purpose mirrored Nancy's, plus delivering birthday gifts from other executives.
After the meal, Amy and Nancy left. Janet began packing an enormous pile of luggage for Australia in the villa she and Simon shared on the estate's west side.
The next morning, Sunday, Janet boarded the private jet at eight.
Sixteen hours later she touched down in Melbourne just past six p.m. Monday local time.
Instead of heading to the Johnston estate with the driver sent to meet her, she arranged for the luggage and went straight to the Batman set downtown.
Tonight's scene pitted Batman against Catwoman, filmed in an alley in Melbourne's western Footscray district. When Janet arrived, the street was closed off and dusk had fallen.
Simon was blocking a scene with three actresses in full Catwoman suits.
Yes, three.
Though Daenerys had given Adam Baldwin and Valérie Golino extensive training, many sequences still required stunt doubles. Catwoman's physical and combat demands meant even more frequent doubling.
In total, seven stunt performers stood in for Catwoman: some for dangerous falls, others for complex gymnastic moves.
Hollywood fight choreography still largely resembled drunken bar brawls. To achieve his vision, Simon had invested as much time training stunt performers as the leads.
Catwoman's backstory included gymnastics; two of Valérie's doubles were former Olympic competitors, medal-less but highly skilled, capable of moves far beyond simple flips.
Simon modeled Batman's action on the polished style of much later Captain America films—fluid, tactical, and demanding meticulous breakdown. A few seconds on screen could take hours to perfect.
At two a.m. sharp, the crew wrapped.
After handling wrap-up, Simon asked Janet--who'd quietly stayed by his side--whether she wanted the Johnston estate or the crew's hotel.
She chose neither. She had an apartment downtown for just the two of them, and had Neil Bennett drive them to a high-rise in central Melbourne.