Ronald Goldberg only expressed his intention on the phone, and it was not completely finalized after all. In order to avoid another tug-of-war at noon and even another stalemate, Simon simply declined the other party's invitation to lunch, and only asked Jonathan Friedman to attend in his place.

Agents often act as a buffer between the filmmaker and the studio.

Near noon, Jonathan rushed to meet Ronald Goldberg's invitation, Simon borrowed a car from the WMA, still with a paparazzi, and rushed back to the villa in Montana first.

There are also paparazzi squatting in front of the villa.

Simon drove the car into the parking space in front of the villa, and after getting out of the car, he was still a little worried that the paparazzi would pounce on him, but fortunately, this group of people just stood on the side of the road outside the villa lawn and took pictures frantically, and some people also tried to communicate with him, but naturally to no avail.

Taking out the key to open the door, Simon listened to the dense clicking sound behind him and made up his mind to change his residence as soon as possible. The open community and the layout of the front house and backyard in the United States are difficult to give him much security, and if he continues to live here, he will not even have a little privacy.

Entering the living room and casually putting down his suitcase, Simon immediately noticed that the message light on the telephone was flashing.

I walked over and looked at it, and the messages were full.

Casually pressed play, and the voice of Mike Medowa, president of Orion Pictures, came out, not serious, just a few casual greetings, hoping that Simon would call him back when he got home. The second call was from Ron Macmillan, who congratulated "Lola Run" on its recent box office and asked Simon if he had been available recently.

Simon was still going to Malibu, listened to the two messages, realized that the subsequent phone calls would not be too important, so he let it play automatically, pulled up his suitcase and turned around and went to the study.

This villa is not even equipped with a home security system, and Simon does not plan to come back to live in the future, and plans to take all the important things with him this time.

After vacating the clothes in the suitcase, and carefully sorting out the manuscripts, notes, and newspaper clippings accumulated over the past half a year, and making sure that nothing was missing, Simon pulled the suitcase back to the living room.

Simon was in Arizona when the classification of "Lola Run" was determined, and he was also depressed for a while after hearing the news, but he was relieved at this time.

Movies are a business after all, and commercial competition is never calm. Since Simon rejected the Seven and chose Orion, he should be prepared to be cheated casually.

And.

After the pit is over, everyone has to continue to talk about business.

This is the way of the world.

Leaving Montana, Simon continued to ignore the paparazzi who were following him and drove towards Malibu.

Arriving at Janet's mansion near Cape Dumay Park in Malibu, Simon saw more than a dozen paparazzi standing guard on the side of the asphalt road, which was not very spacious, and the paparazzi who came with Simon were also trotting behind his car, all of whom had just parked their cars in a public parking lot outside the community.

At the moment, parking is prohibited on this asphalt road in the community.

Simon originally thought that if there were paparazzi driving after him, he should call someone to tow these people's cars away. Judging by the situation, he still underestimated these guys who were obviously 'battle-hardened'.

Taking advantage of the fact that the paparazzi behind him had not yet approached, in front of the gate of Janet's mansion, Simon quickly got out of the car, squeezed through the paparazzi who had gathered around him with the sound of dense shutters, pressed the intercom button a few times, and returned to the car again without waiting for Janet to respond, put on sunglasses, and let the surrounding paparazzi put the camera on the front window glass of the car for a wild shot.

Inside the mansion.

Dressed in a very homely knit sweater and jeans, Janet was holding a large bowl and stirring it while saying coquettishly to the other side of the phone clipped around her neck: "Mom, I know, I'm not a child...... How does this work...... Anyway, don't let Anthony and them come, don't let Dad come over, and don't let Iceberg come over, don't you want me to break up soon after I finally got a boyfriend...... Hehe, don't call her iceberg what to shout, it's been so many years...... Oh, the doorbell rings, it must be Simon, I'm going to open the door, that's it...... Bye, love you. ”

After saying so quickly, Janet put down the big bowl in her hand, threw away the microphone, and ran out of the villa.

Outside the mansion.

The black translational iron door slowly opened, and Simon still ignored the paparazzi who were even blocking the front of the car, stepped on the accelerator slightly, and slowly moved into the yard. The paparazzi insisted on retreating to the door with the car, and seeing that Simon's speed was still slow and steady, he had no choice but to retreat without worrying about hitting someone.

The sedan entered the courtyard, and the enclosed iron gate was reclosed.

Simon got out of the car and glanced at the whole row of cameras held up above the iron gate to shoot blindly in the yard, and while taking off his luggage from the car, he said to Janet who was hiding in the shooting corner: "The gate is good, it is stronger than the fence gate, if it can be a little higher, it would be perfect." ”

Janet smiled and said, "I'll call the workers to replace the gate later." ”

Simon shook his head and said, "Forget it, it's just right now, and it's ugly if it's heightened." ”

With that, Simon held a stack of folders brought back from the WMA, pulled his suitcase and hid where Janet was standing, Janet reached out to take the stack of papers, and the two walked towards the villa.

As soon as she entered the villa, Janet raised her chin slightly and gestured around, "How is it here?"

Simon looked at the simple decoration of the villa in warm colors, listened to the faint sound of waves lapping on the terrace, nodded, and said, "Very good, I don't want to leave now." ”

"Hehe," Janet smiled and put a stack of papers in her hand on the coffee table, "Then you hurry up and marry me, and half of this place will be yours by then." ”

Simon glanced up and down at Janet and said, "Only half?"

"Uh-huh," Janet leaned over and hugged Simon, and changed her tone softly, "It's all yours, even I am yours." ”

Simon lowered his head and pecked the woman's lips and said, "Help me find a study first, until I find a house, I can probably only live here." It just so happens that I can accompany you, and I'm still very worried about a lot of paparazzi staying outside. ”

Janet let go of Simon and walked him to another room, but she was a little dissatisfied: "Why are you looking for a house, isn't it good to live here?"

Simon shook his head and said, "I'm not used to it." ”

Janet pouted, "Hmph, machismo." ”

"It has nothing to do with doctrine. Lions don't live in other people's territory, where can you understand a kitten. ”

"Okay, okay, I'm a kitten," Janet said in a tone that she was too lazy to argue with Simon, and led him to a room by the sea, "Here, how's it going?"

Simon looked at a very spacious study. To the east is a wall of bookshelves with various crafts, a large desk next to the bookshelf, and to the south is a floor-to-ceiling window leading to a terrace with a set of sofas for sunbathing.

"Not bad, it would be nice to have another phone. ”

"Yes," Janet said, pointing to the cabinet under the bookshelf, "You look for it, in the cabinet, there is a telephone interface here, and you can use it when you install it." ”

"That's fine," Simon nodded, putting his suitcase aside, and said, "Are you ready for lunch?"

"I was going to bake a small cake, but I didn't have much left at home, so I had to make this. ”

Simon pushed Janet out and said, "That's for the time being, let someone buy us something in the afternoon and send it over." ”

After a brief lunch, Simon went into his study and got busy.

Since "Lola Run" is much more successful than expected, Simon also plans to re-plan his next development.

Before that, he had to build a team dedicated to himself.

Simon now only has an agent and a personal lawyer, and Jonathan Friedman and George Norman are good enough for those two positions at his side.

But that's not enough.

In addition to agents and private lawyers, Simon also needs a dedicated public relations manager to deal with media issues, Simon also needs a reliable financial manager to take care of his personal assets, and Daenerys Films, Simon also wants to find a professional manager with sufficient qualifications, and finally there is the security issue, although he doesn't like to have people around all the time, but at least when he is in public, having bodyguards by his side can definitely help him block a lot of problems......

There's a lot of it.

Simon spent the afternoon calling some of the contacts he had accumulated over the past six months, either seeking referrals or experience, and occasionally making judgments based on some information from his memory, which seemed very cautious.

He also had to be very cautious.

Take the financial manager as an example, Simon remembers more than one Hollywood star who was cheated to bankruptcy because of unladylike encounters in this regard. After some deliberation, Simon simply canceled the plan to hire a financial manager, and only planned to seek an accounting firm to help him and his two companies deal with the accounting details and tax filing issues.

As for the management of personal assets, there is no need to worry about this. What's more, although her own woman is lazy, she is a graduate of a real business school after all, and she will definitely be able to use a few whips once in a while.

During this time, Jonathan Friedman also made a phone call and said that he had spoken to Ronald Goldberg.

Simon's proposed sharing terms and absolute control of the project, Fox largely agreed, but Fox also demanded that Simon's minimum box office guarantee for a share be raised to $20 million.

Only if Simon agrees to this, the two parties will be able to continue to negotiate the specifics of the contract.

$16 million and $20 million, the difference is actually not that big.

Simon understood that Fox did this just to save some face, so he didn't insist and readily agreed.

Time flies when it's busy, and before you know it, it's already sunset.

Janet had been helping Simon with her staff, but she lost interest in less than an hour, holding the pile of documents he had brought back and snuggling up on the patio sofa with relish.

Hanging up the phone again, Simon glanced at the contact number of a PR agency called PMK in front of him, and felt quite funny, because the owner of PMK was named Pat Kingsley, the famous PR queen of Hollywood.

Pat Kingsley's most well-known client is naturally Tom Cruise. Of course, in Simon's memory, stars such as Jodie Foster, Al Pacino, and Will Smith were all clients of Pat Kingsley.

As for why Tom Cruise is best known for his collaboration with the other party?

Obviously, because Cruise's public image is so difficult to maintain, Pat Kingsley has done this job perfectly in the course of more than a decade of events.

In the original time and space, in 2004, Cruise fired Pat Kingsley and rashly appointed his sister to be in charge of public relations, with the result that Tom quickly became a clown jumping on the sofa.

Just as he was about to call PMK to make an appointment, Simon heard Janet suddenly laughing stupidly as she was nestled on the sofa.

Looking up, Simon also smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"

Janet raised a script in her hand, still smiling: "Hehe, this, it's so interesting." ”

Saying this, Janet simply got up, ran to Simon's side and sat down in his arms, showed a page of the script, and said, "Simon, will you make this in your next movie?"

"Well, you have to let me read the script first. ”

Simon took Janet's little hand, which was still shaking because she was too happy, and looked at the script in front of him, which turned out to be "When Harry Met Sally", and the most memorable part of the story.

Harry and Sally were eating in the dining room when they suddenly discussed the truth or falsity of a woman's reaction in bed.

Harry insisted that it was impossible for a woman to fake in bed, at least not himself. Sally despised this, and woke up in front of everyone in the dining room.

Simon looked at the short plot description in the script, but the relevant scenes immediately appeared in his mind.

Thanks to the superb performances of Meg Ryan and Billy Kristol, this episode does not seem obscene at all, but rather makes people feel that they can't help but laugh.

I remember an old lady who, after Sally had screamed, pointed to the food in front of her and told the waiter, "Give me a portion as she did." ”

The effect is even more hilarious.

However, there is no such detail in the script in front of me, and it should be the director's temporary play during the filming process.

Simon made a marker on the script with a pencil, reminding himself to fill it in in the future, and asked Janet with interest, "You can't be pretending in bed, right?"

"Uh-huh, how is it possible, you are so powerful," Janet posted a note on Simon, watching him draw a five-pointed star in the script, and added, "Simon, I really like this story." ”

Simon nodded decisively this time and said, "Shoot!"

"Hehe, you're so nice," Janet twisted around, kissed Simon on the lips, put her arms around his neck, her eyes sparkled, and said, "Or, let's try it now, and you can carefully observe if I'm pretending?"

"No, I'm still very confident. ”

Janet tugged at the collar of Simon's jacket and said, "You men are so arrogant. ”

Simon smiled and didn't say anything, and then casually flipped through the script in front of him, and said, "But, Jenny, this is a romance movie, and it's not suitable for my next movie." Even if I were to shoot, I would probably only be a producer. ”

"Uh-huh," Jenny nodded, and simply turned around in her chair, facing Simon, helping him sort out the collar that had just been messed up by herself, and said, "Then, Simon, what are you going to do in your next movie, you don't have to be a producer all the time, do you?"

Simon stretched out his hand to wrap his arms around the woman's slender waist and said, "I'll be busy with "Death is Coming" for the time being, maybe the current one." As for my next movie, I won't tell you about it for now. However, in order to maintain the popularity I gained from Lola Run, first of all, it must be even more amazing. ”