In the mansion on the hillside of Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Simon had just gotten out of the car when Amy Pascal greeted him.
The two went together to a living room on the second floor of the villa, and when they saw them enter, the two people on the living room sofa stood up.
Besides Simon's female assistant, Jennifer Raybould, the other person was somewhat unexpected: Meg Ryan.
With just a slight nod of greeting, Simon sat down on the single sofa beside him, looked at Meg Ryan, and said in a calm tone, "Tell me in detail, what exactly is going on?"
Meg Ryan cautiously looked at the young man on the opposite sofa.
The first time they met, he didn't have that approachable demeanour.
Having experienced ups and downs under this young man's shadow for over a year, seeing him again now, she felt he exuded an even greater sense of aloofness, keeping people at a distance.
Noticing his gaze sweep over her again, Meg Ryan quickly composed herself and began to talk about recent events.
After skyrocketing to become a first-tier actress with 'When Harry Met Sally', she suddenly found herself in a situation where she couldn't get a single film for a whole year after being inexplicably implicated in an incident last year.
Meg Ryan was almost on the verge of a breakdown and harboured extreme resentment towards a certain young man whose power in Hollywood was growing.
Therefore, when Michael Ovitz approached her, hoping she would publicly sue Daenerys Entertainment, Meg Ryan immediately agreed.
She had nothing to lose anyway.
However, as things gradually approached, Meg Ryan became increasingly anxious.
Because she gradually realized that Michael Ovitz only wanted to use this lawsuit to prevent Daenerys Entertainment from acquiring MCA.
Moreover, the more she thought about it, the more Meg Ryan felt that she was merely a pawn in the entire affair.
Michael Ovitz promised to help her seek huge compensation from Daenerys Entertainment and help her revive her career afterward, but Meg Ryan felt that the possibility of either of these two things happening was low.
Meg Ryan had secretly consulted lawyers more than once, and the responses she received were that the reasons and evidence for the lawsuit that Ovitz found for her were insufficient.
The best outcome would be that Daenerys Entertainment, under public pressure, would actively seek an out-of-court settlement to quickly resolve the matter, paying a sum of compensation to settle it.
However, this lawsuit could potentially destroy a multi-billion dollar deal.
That hateful young man had blacklisted her simply because she terminated her contract early after gaining fame.
If she ruined a multi-billion dollar acquisition because of her resentment, she didn't know what he would do in response.
As for CAA, the talent agency couldn't even protect her last year, and Meg Ryan didn't think Michael Ovitz would truly go out of his way to help her afterward, facing the pressure of the entire Daenerys Entertainment and a super-rich individual with a net worth of $21 billion.
Or, even if Ovitz was willing to do so, with more than half of Hollywood having close ties to Daenerys Entertainment, and with her ruining a multi-billion dollar deal for Daenerys Entertainment, leading to a complete escalation of their conflict, Meg Ryan didn't think major studios would risk offending Westeros by working with her.
When Michael Ovitz informed her yesterday that he would officially file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment soon, Meg Ryan, who had been wavering, finally made up her mind to seek cooperation with Simon Westeros instead.
Although doing so would definitely offend CAA, choosing the more powerful one between Michael Ovitz and Simon Westeros couldn't be wrong.
If Westeros still refused to lift the ban on her afterward, she had nothing left to lose anyway, and it wouldn't be too late to file a lawsuit then.
Simon listened to Meg Ryan's narration, still flipping through a draft of the indictment in his hand.
After she finished speaking, he looked up and asked, "Besides the Screen Actors Guild cooperating with your lawsuit, is there anything else?"
Meg Ryan thought for a moment and said, "There should be, but Mike…Ovitz only talked about my matters when he spoke with me".
Simon withdrew his direct gaze from Meg Ryan, leaned back on the sofa, and closed his eyes in thought.
At any other time, such a lawsuit would not be a big deal for Daenerys Entertainment; any large company is almost constantly surrounded by various lawsuits, big and small.
However, at the critical moment of Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of MCA, the sudden appearance of such a lawsuit, alleging that Daenerys Entertainment used its industry advantage to suppress actors, would undoubtedly easily arouse media and public concern and condemnation regarding Daenerys Entertainment's continued expansion.
In the original timeline, due to the 'phone hacking scandal', News Corporation had no choice but to abandon its long-planned full acquisition of British Sky Broadcasting.
Because the timing of the two events was very coincidental, it's hard to say if there was some causal connection between them.
Daenerys Entertainment was clearly about to face the same situation.
Of course, there were also differences in the circumstances.
In the 'phone hacking scandal' in my memory, if there really was some connection, it was probably that everyone in the UK, from top to bottom, did not want News Corp to expand further, because Murdoch's manipulation of British public opinion had made everyone feel uneasy.
Now, Simon knew that many people in Hollywood must have doubts about Daenerys Entertainment acquiring MCA, but not many would actually come out against it.
Michael Ovitz's actions were clearly just to ensure that his employer, Panasonic, could successfully complete the acquisition, and then he could receive tens of millions of dollars in consulting fees.
After carefully sorting through his thoughts, Simon opened his eyes and looked at the anxious Meg Ryan.
He took out his check book from his pocket, placed it on his lap, wrote for a moment, tore it off, and handed it to the coffee table in front of him, saying to Meg Ryan, "You can let Jenny help you contact them later, and sign a new agency contract. If you wish, Daenerys Entertainment can also sign a film contract with you again. Also, this is for you. Take this money and go play abroad for a few months; come back after the New Year".
After Simon finished speaking, Meg Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief, even feeling a sense of relief after enduring hardships.
Simon's assistant personally introducing her to a talent agency was already enough to show Daenerys Entertainment's attitude, and signing another film contract with Daenerys Entertainment meant she was completely unbanned.
Then, looking at the check on the coffee table, Meg Ryan didn't know if she should get up and take it.
Simon, however, did not wait for her to act, and said to his female assistant, "Jenny, please take Miss Ryan away first, Amy and I still have some things to discuss".
Jennifer nodded, stood up, and helped pick up the check, handing it to Meg Ryan, who was also standing up, and said, "Miss Ryan, please follow me".
Meg Ryan took the check and followed Jennifer out the door, through the corridor, and it wasn't until she stepped onto the stairs that she dared to cautiously glance at the check in her hand, and then she almost stumbled.
Five million dollars.
Far exceeding her expectations.
Speaking of which, Meg Ryan had not only been unable to get film contracts for the past year, but her finances had also started to become strained.
After becoming famous with 'When Harry Met Sally', the entire salary for her second film contract, 'The Rocketeer', was used to pay the termination fee for the option agreement to leave Daenerys Entertainment.
Several endorsements that were in contact with her at the time, due to rumours of her being blacklisted in the industry, also fell through.
Just now, when she heard that young man wanted to send her abroad, she thought he would at most sign a check for a few hundred thousand dollars, but she didn't expect the actual amount to be 10 times what she had anticipated.
Although she felt she was letting herself down, deep down, Meg Ryan found that the resentment she had accumulated towards that young man for over a year had almost inexplicably vanished, leaving only some ambiguous, complex emotions.
At least, he was much stronger than Michael Ovitz.
Both were Hollywood moguls, but Michael Ovitz only gave her empty promises that were difficult to fulfil.
Westeros, however, could directly write a check for $5 million and completely remove all restrictions on her.
After Jennifer took Meg Ryan away, Amy couldn't help but ask, "Simon, are you still planning to go to Japan immediately?"
Simon nodded and said, "Of course, now I need to go even more".
"Then, what about here?"
Simon said with a serious expression, "I might have thought things were a bit too simple, but there's still room for recovery now".
Amy didn't respond, just waited for Simon to continue.
Simon sorted his thoughts again and said, "The key to the matter lies in one thing: conflict of interest. Whose interests will be affected by our acquisition of MCA, that party might jump out to stop it. Here in Hollywood, our relationship with several major unions is not good, so it's not surprising that they would jump out.
However, the resistance from the unions is actually not that great. We have already joined the Producers Alliance and signed formal agreements with several major unions on various aspects. Even if they want to stop it, they can only broadly express some concerns, or provide actual evidence that Daenerys Entertainment has infringed upon the interests of union members. Now that Meg Ryan has backed down, I don't think they can find any other evidence. The other resistance might come from our Hollywood counterparts".
At this point, Simon suddenly stopped speaking.
Amy waited for a moment and then tentatively said, "Paramount?"
Simon nodded: "Paramount".
Among the current Hollywood Big Eight, Daenerys Entertainment has cooperation, whether deep or shallow, with the other six.
Moreover, three of the six major partners; Fox, Warner Bros., and MGM, will definitely not jump out.
Columbia and Disney are also unlikely to step forward.
Universal is the party involved, so it's impossible for them to oppose their own acquisition.
Finally, only Paramount, which Simon had deliberately left aside, remained.
The wave of media industry consolidation in the United States had already begun with the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Bros.
In the next few years, as legal restrictions on horizontal expansion in the film and television sectors of the media industry are further relaxed, this consolidation will accelerate.
Even if Daenerys Entertainment missed out on Universal, it wasn't without other options, but it would be extremely difficult to find another company at a suitable price that could strongly complement Daenerys Entertainment.
Even Disney, which would become one of Hollywood's overlords many years later, wouldn't work.
Although Disney also operates theme parks, it had little accumulation in records, television, and cinemas at this time.
As for its strong animation business, it would overlap with Daenerys Entertainment's, not to mention that Disney's current main 2D animated films were destined to be eliminated by 3D animated films.
Buying it would instead lead to the trouble of pruning.
Time Warner, which had close cooperation with Daenerys Entertainment but was internally fragmented and constantly in dispute, was even less suitable.
Simon didn't think much of the other few.
Having sorted these out, 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 hadn't brought them any good either.
Having made up his mind, Simon said to Amy, "You can contact Martin Davis of Paramount later. Ask him if he's interested in film contracts for two movies. Additionally, as long as Daenerys Entertainment completes the acquisition of MCA, I can guarantee that USA Network, which is 50% owned by both MCA and Paramount, will maintain its original equity status. Unless Paramount actively sells, Daenerys Entertainment will only seek management rights for USA Network. With our existing experience in the television industry, I believe Martin Davis will not be indifferent".
Amy nodded, admiring her boss's decisive judgment, and after a moment's thought, added, "I remember you previously wanted to buy the film and television adaptation rights for the 'Mission: Impossible' TV series from Paramount. Perhaps that could be included in the two film contracts".
Simon asked, puzzled, "Isn't 'Mission: Impossible' already greenlit?"
"It should still be delayed, anyway, I haven't heard any news of it starting production. As long as it hasn't started filming, there's no problem for us to get this project".
"As long as Paramount is willing to share this project, I can personally participate in the screenwriting and production".
Amy smiled, "Then there should be even less of a problem".
Simon added, "Besides Paramount, in the upcoming days have the company's PR team closely monitor the movements of various media outlets. Hmm, isn't the year-end slot about to begin? This time, for our several films, let's allocate an additional $20 million for promotion and distribution, but don't rush to sign contracts yet. Just slowly negotiate with the various media outlets and let them know how lucrative this advertising order is".
Amy hesitated a bit: "20 million, that seems a bit much?"
Among the films Daenerys Entertainment was personally distributing at the end of the year, the main ones were only 'Dances With Wolves' and 'Home Alone'.
The others either had no high expectations for box office or were distributed by other production companies.
Simon insisted, "It's decided. The money that needs to be spent must be spent, and this money will not be spent in vain. It will definitely benefit our movie box office. Even if it doesn't, it will let those media outlets know that Daenerys Entertainment is a very generous advertising client, and it's completely not worth it to abandon such a big client for a few articles".
"Okay, I'll discuss it with Bob and them tomorrow".
"Also, try to find out what other arrangements Ovitz has made".
"I will".
After Simon finished giving these instructions, he thought for a moment and asked Amy, "Do you have anything to add?"
Amy smiled and said, "You've covered everything for now, I can't think of anything at the moment, but anything I do think of, I'll definitely do as soon as possible".
Simon nodded and said, "In that case, I'll go to Japan later. If anything comes up on your end, contact me anytime".