An older blonde but still well mantained Swedish therapist's thumbs dug into the muscle between Duke's shoulder blades as he exhaled.
The room smelled of almond oil. He had set up this room for his own space in the Paramount Lot, it was simple, close to his office and private, out of the eyes of anyone.
A big contrast compared to the usual stale coffee smell of the Paramount executive building.
He thought about the physical toll of the last few years, as the therapist worked down his spine.
Gently kneading the pressure on his muscles as he relaxed.
'I needed this.' After all, his dream of being a detached Chairman has been screwed over by too many people.
So he truly needed to take advantage of this time to get his head off- no- to get the stress out of his head.
He had been hoping for a shift in daily rhythm again. at least no more mornings screaming into telephones.
Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg were now in charge of managing this kind of friction.
He had been taking as much advantage of this time off, as much as he could.
Just this morning he had breakfast with Margaux and a 6 year old Bradley, who came dressed as green lantern despite the place they ate being more on the 'upscale side'.
He smiled while his face remained down on the masseau table. 'At least he isnt a Spider-man fan...'
He wasnt truly mad, but he also didnt believe that being outwardly aproving would make Bradley behave better.
This kind of Family-Work life was something that even the old studio moguls never managed to accomplish.
Yet a small part of him did missed the daily chaos. But steeping away, was neccesary specially after the monopoly investigation.
His thoughts drifted to Barry Diller, his loyal executive who had left when the FTC came to investigate Atari's trade practices.
Duke got tensed again, and the Swedish therapist lightly caressed his back to signal him to relax again.
His executive team had changed and that was something nobody could change.
He needed to just accept the changes, the Carter years had left scars.
Years of antitrust probes and government lawyers combing through filings.
Even the press had claimed to have 'coined' the nickname. "ParaBell." for them as a comparison to Bell.
And although, Duke had CNN woeking on defending them.
Washington send subpoenas, threatened forced divestitures, all in an attemp to rip Atari away from them.
Luckily, this year, finally Reagan took office.
Which could only meant one thing, deregulation.
The massage continued as Duke wondered if falling asleep would affect the result of this Massage, after all, this woman was recomended by Nancy Reagan and he didn't want to be rude.
A knock sounded on the door, and the therapist stepped back, to quickly hand him a towel.
Duke pushed up off the table, lazily covering his crotch with the towel and sat, streching his upper body.
Simpson entered the room, carrying a black folder.
Simpson had grown from a simple assistant, into a now a formidable VP of Production.
"Mr. Eisner is asking for you, sir," Simpson said. "They're setting up the table now."
Duke nodded, wiping some almond oil from his neck and dressed quickly. 'Relaxation time's over.'
The boardroom had a dozen leather chairs, each arranged with fresh coffee. At the far end, a presentation board displayed the Paramount logo.
Duke took his seat at the head. He didn't call up this meeting, that was Eisner's job now.
Michael Eisner stood near the door, smiling.
Besides Duke at the table sat Jeffrey Katzenberg, Head of DC Studios and the Paramount Animation Studio, reviewing financial matters on some pages.
Across from him was Robert Evans, still head of Ithaca label, wearing oversized tinted glasses indoors.
Beside Evans sat Dawn Steel, a young woman who had risen through the ranks and now held the status of Executive of Production.
At the far end, sat Jon Gould, a young marketing executive fidgeting with a slide projector remote.
Eisner cleared his throat.
"Gentlemen..., and Dawn," he began. "The ink dried at 9 am this morning. The details of our joint venture with MGM to acquire United Artists is finalized."
A small round of aplause and cheers started as people congratulated each other.
Duke just stayed quiet, looking at some magazines laying around.
He had gone to have meetings with Kirk Kerkorian for months, and after a political resource exchange they finally settled matters.
United Artists, the Studio founded by Chaplin had recently stumbled badly with a movie called Heaven's Gate that bankrupted them, forcing them into a fire sale.
And now together, Paramount and MGM had swooped in like vultures for the carcass.
Eisner made a motion to Gould who was still fidgeting with the remote, and quickly showed some pre-arranged images.
"Paramount takes full ownership of the post-1952 UA library," he explained. "We now own distribution rights to West Side Story, The Magnificent Seven, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Hard Day's Night."
Owning library titles was crucial now cause of VHS tapes.
"We also secured the Associated Artists Productions package," Eisner continued. A smile. "Pre-1950 Warner Bros. library. Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre."
"Plus the entire theatrical run of Popeye animated shorts and early Looney Toones library rights. Total cost for our part, 175 millions."
Duke nodded. it was a fortune. But classics and iconic cartoons provided a foundation for cable networks. Just the upside of denying them for other Studios was good for Paramount.
Eisner paused. "But that's just the catalog," he said.
"MGM took the lot and distribution. But we took the crown jewel." He turned the projector to a logo with a spiral, a man pointing a gun and the numbers 007 stapled on top.
"We have the James Bond rights," Eisner announced. This were only partial rights. The Bond rights were notoriously murky.
Duke payed attention, Bond was basically a license to print money.
He had been focusing a lot as of late into IP management and to add a new strong IP to their rooster was always appreaciated.
"With the UA deal closed," Eisner said, stepping back, "we shift focus to the immediate moment. Dawn, walk us through the 1981 slate."
Eisner took his seat and passed the baton.
Duke laid back and realized that Eisner hair loss seem to be getting even worse. 'Luckily, I have a hairline tougher than nigerian hair'
Dawn Steel stood, holding a stack of color-coded binders.
"The distribution is locked," Steel reported. "Superman II is in post-production. Despite the director problems mid-shoot, footage looks spectacular. We expect it to match, if not exceed, the 1978 original."
She flipped a tab. "But our crown jewel is Raiders of the Lost Ark, produced by Duke and to be released in December."
Optimism flowed through the room. The days of the Hollywood New Wave were gone.
The Era of the Blockbusters was here to stay and Paramount was going to dominate.