On February 23, the day after Simon's low-key 25th birthday, one of the Westeros' most important annual reports was released.

For the full year of 1992, Daenerys Entertainment achieved a total revenue of $12.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37%, and a net profit of $710 million, an increase of 260% compared with the net profit of $270 million in 1991. At the same time, Daenerys Entertainment Group's debt scale has also been significantly reduced again, from $7.8 billion last year to $7.1 billion.

With an annual revenue of $12.7 billion, Daenerys Entertainment has completely confirmed its position as the largest media group in North America and even in the world.

Such a dazzling revenue figure is mainly due to the overall growth of Daenerys Entertainment's film and television entertainment, theme parks, consumer peripherals and other businesses, among which the film business still plays a very obvious locomotive effect.

The net profit of $710 million, although the net profit margin is only 5.6% compared to revenue, also exceeds that of several other Hollywood studios.

Moreover, the reason why profit margins are so low is mainly due to the consideration of reducing debt and corporate expansion.

In fact, if desired, Daenerys Entertainment's overall debt could be reduced to less than $7 billion. However, Simon did not do this, and maintaining an appropriate debt ratio can help companies offset a large part of their taxes, which is also the best way to maintain a relationship with capital from all walks of life as a private company.

Simon has always known very well that Daenerys Entertainment has become more and more powerful, and the foundation of the entire Westeros system is definitely not solid, and at this time, many things must be as cautious as possible.

In order to pave the way for next year's listing, after the financial report was released, Daenerys Entertainment quickly released detailed data on the Igrett portal, which sparked reprinting and discussion in traditional media.

The revenue of $12.7 billion not only exceeded the revenue scale of Time Warner's last fiscal year of $11.9 billion, but also left the seven major Hollywood studios far behind.

Take Columbia Pictures as an example, the total revenue of this large studio controlled by Sony in the past four quarters is only $2.6 billion, which is only one-fifth of Daenerys Entertainment's revenue. Other companies such as Fox, Paramount, and Disney were also left behind by Daenerys Entertainment.

In the midst of the discussion from the outside world, Daenerys Entertainment also took the initiative to release the news of the upcoming IPO again, which quickly attracted more attention for a while.

The planned stock listing date is next summer, but with the announcement of the new annual financial report, Daenerys Entertainment has also begun preparations for next year's IPO more than a year in advance.

According to the latest Fortune 500 data of Fortune magazine, the corporate giants with revenue volume of 10 billion US dollars have been ranked among the top 30 in the United States, and Daenerys Entertainment is basically an old giant with decades of historical accumulation, and the growth momentum is far from being comparable to that of Daenerys Entertainment, which is still vibrant.

At the same time, the overall growth rate of the global entertainment industry is also very fast, which makes Daenerys Entertainment in a very good industry environment.

When Forbes counted Simon's personal net worth last year, it had already made a $30 billion valuation of Daenerys Entertainment.

According to Daenerys Entertainment's latest 1992 financial report data, the valuation of $30 billion seems to be on the high side, but it is not an exaggeration.

If it weren't for Daenerys Entertainment's focus on corporate expansion and debt reduction, Daenerys Entertainment's net profit margin would have been enough to reach more than 15%. Based on $12.7 billion in revenue, a net profit margin of 15% means a net profit of $1.9 billion for the year.

The net profit of $1.9 billion is only equivalent to a price-to-earnings ratio of 15 times compared to the valuation of $30 billion.

For a company that can grow at an annual rate of 37%, the IPO valuation of 15 times P/E can be said to be very low. After the recovery of the U.S. stock market in the last two years, both the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ market have averaged more than 15 times the price-to-earnings ratio.

The $30 billion IPO will undoubtedly be the largest IPO in North America in the last decade.

Daenerys Studios.

In the past two days, the senior management of the group has been holding a summary meeting around the just-released financial report, and has made new planning adjustments for the development of the enterprise in the new year.

After the previous two years of integration, Daenerys Entertainment has basically digested the former MCA, and the company's expansion deployment in various fields has been basically completed. Now that the IPO is coming in the middle of next year, Simon plans to come up with an excellent financial report in 1993 that truly reflects the profitability of Daenerys Entertainment.

This is actually something that many companies do during the IPO process.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the two-day meeting ended, and Simon couldn't get off work right away.

Back in her office, Ella Deutchman was already waiting for Simon.

The 11-day 43rd Berlin Film Festival officially closed on February 22, and Daenerys Entertainment's "The Wedding Banquet" won the Golden Bear Award for this year's film festival just like in the original time and space. The difference is that in the past, "The Wedding Banquet" won the award together with another Chinese film "Fragrant Soul Girl", but this time, there was only one award-winning work, "The Wedding Banquet".

Because "The Wedding Banquet" is a work owned by Gaomen Pictures, it is easy for the media to link Simon's attendance at the opening ceremony of the film festival with the film's award, accusing the Berlinale of having an insider.

It's just that the results of the awards have been released, and the quality of "The Wedding Banquet" is good enough, this kind of controversy is destined not to cause too many waves, and some years later, the outside world will only remember that "The Wedding Banquet" won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1993.

As for whether there really is an insider?

Of course there is.

Gordon Pictures has been the best partner for art films in recent years, and the festival organizers may not be able to influence the judges who are already considered to be small achievements, but Gorgate Pictures can.

Unless they are completely uninterested in the Oscars, Cannes, Venice and Berlin, it is impossible for these judges to be unbiased in the award process.

The key to why Miramax's films in the original time and space can rampage at the Oscars and major film festivals lies in this.

The current Gaomen Pictures is even stronger than the former Miramax.

Therefore, there is no need to deliberately manipulate anything, as long as it is not a judge who does not have any fame and fortune at all, in the award process, Daenerys Entertainment's projects will definitely be given special consideration.

Through some close connections, Daenerys Entertainment can also get the judges' voting information that is not usually made public, and it is clear who is in favor and who is against.

Of course, the basis of all this is that the films produced by Gaomen Pictures are good enough. Otherwise, Simon himself would not have allowed the signboard to happen.

Not only that, but after winning this year's Golden Bear Award, in the next year or two, Gaomen Pictures will not plan to get involved in the top award again. Turning a film festival into your own 'back garden' is definitely not a great option.

got the Golden Bear, and the Gaomen Pictures team also began to promote "The Wedding Banquet", which is expected to officially launch the film in North American theaters on March 6.

Won the award on February 22 and released on March 6, although the number of screens planned to open is only about 200, this still shows Daenerys Entertainment's growing distribution ability.

If it is another second- or third-tier distributor, the film wins the award, gets the copyright, arranges the schedule, starts the publicity, and all kinds of tossing and turning, it may be half a year later, and by then, the heat of the Golden Bear Award has already cooled.

Moreover, the release arrangement of "The Wedding Banquet" was made on the day of winning the Golden Bear Award on February 22.

Even if you are confident, no one can guarantee 100% of the award before it is announced, and if the award is lost, a different distribution strategy will be adopted, and the schedule in early March may be out of date.

Simon was already aware of the arrangements on the closing day of the Berlin Film Festival, and today he and Deutchman discussed the working title films.

Because it has not been able to find a financier who can be attached to, the tentative name film industry has basically existed in a state of a leather bag company over the years, which is worse than Miramax, who was completely crushed to death by Simon before.

The two partners of the tentative famous pictures, Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe, don't even have a more formal office space, and over the years, they have basically held a few projects in their hands, raised funds everywhere, put into production, and personally operated the distribution, basically producing a movie a year, and the income is naturally not much, just making a hard money.

Simon took a fancy to the script of "Romeo the Blood" recommended to him by Tim Bevan, and asked Ella Deutchman to owe the two, and Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe finally found the "organization".

As for the tentative name of the studio, Simon has no plans to develop another sub-label. Therefore, the two only signed a contract to become permanent producers under Gaomen Pictures.

Moreover, from the script provided by the two, Simon also successfully found "Four Weddings and a Funeral".

The British film industry is not big after all, and since this script in the original time and space, which was not favored at first, fell into the hands of the two, it is not surprising this time. Not only that, Simon also saw another script from the hands of the two, "Death Row Prisoner Walk".

"Death Row Walk" is a screenplay based on a true story, which tells the story of Sister Helen as she gradually discovers the truth of the incident in her correspondence with Matthew, a condemned prisoner.

In the original time and space, "Death Row Walk" starring Tim Robbins became the favorite to be nominated for an Oscar in 1996, and sent Susan Sarandon to the throne, and of course, the film also performed very well at the box office.

Simon has no memory of "Romeo Stained with Blood", but being able to find two excellent scripts of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Death Row Walk" from the hands of Tim Bevan and Sarah Radcliffe can already confirm the vision of the two producers, and the outstanding performance of the tentative name pictures in the original time and space in the box office and awards also proves the ability of the two.

It can be said that signing these two under Daenerys Entertainment is even more worthwhile than winning one or two dark horse projects.

Although he discovered the scripts of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Death Row Prisoner's Walk", Simon did not start all of these things in one go.

Counting "Romeo the Blood" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral", Simon selected a romance film "Love Is Deep in My Heart" from the scripts held by the two, and made up three movies and handed them to the two. Production of Death Row Walk will be postponed.

Three films, among which "Romeo with Blood" is very uncertain, "Love in the Depths of My Heart" is just an addition, and the key is "Four Weddings and a Funeral".

These, of course, are not for outsiders.

Ella Deutchman's most important thing is obviously "Romeo the Blood".

Quentin's last "Reservoir Dogs", with a production cost of $1.5 million, is different from the strategic mistakes in the original time and space, this time, relying on the distribution of Gaomen Pictures, it has achieved a box office of more than $40 million worldwide, so the next work of this cutting-edge director has been quite valued by Gaomen Pictures.

The reason why the second film has not been launched for a long time is mainly because a suitable script has not been found.

Quentin himself was not too satisfied with "The True Romance", and saw "Romeo Stained Blood", which aroused some interest, however, Quentin also asked to personally modify the script of "Romeo Stained Blood" to fit his own style.

The project was personally selected by Simon, and if you want to modify it, you naturally need Simon's consent.

Simon himself naturally has no objections, and in the process of reading the script of "Romeo Stained with Blood", he also feels that if Quentin shoots it, the story obviously lacks some of the other party's chattering style.

Although she values "Romeo the Bloody" more, out of instinctive trust in Simon's vision, Ella Deutchman did not ignore "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Love in the Depths of My Heart", and personally analyzed the merits of the two scripts.

"Four Weddings and a Funeral" is full of typical British humor, and it should be able to be made into a comedy like the original "A Fish Named Wanda".

As for "Love in the Depths of My Heart", the selling point should be the polar romance. This is a story that takes place within the Arctic Circle.

So, according to preliminary statistics, if you want to shoot three movies well, the production cost of "Love in the Depths of My Heart" is the highest, because of the shooting in the North Pole, coupled with the good selection of the main creative team, the production cost may reach 20 million US dollars. As a cutting-edge director who has already made his mark, "Romeo the Blood" also requires $15 million to produce.

In the final "Four Weddings and a Funeral," Simon and Deutchman agreed and only gave a budget of $5 million for the production.

The discussion about the two producers and the three film projects lasted for an hour, and at six o'clock, seeing off Deutchman, A-girl Alison walked into the office.

The female assistant is pregnant and has to reduce her workload, and after some consideration, Alison is transferred to serve as Simon's second assistant.

Although she is a maid, Alison has assisted Janet in taking care of various affairs of the Westeros family in recent years, which is actually equivalent to the nature of Janet's assistant.