Anthony Johnston only made a brief stop in Los Angeles for a few hours before boarding a plane back to Australia that evening.

The renovation of the Fifth Avenue apartment is always in progress, and it is impossible to go unwatched all the time. After Anthony left, Janet also rushed to New York the next day.

Now that the idea of buying Dume-Point Park was decided, Simon then asked his personal lawyer, George Norman, to start working on it. There have always been cases of privatization of parks in the United States, and it is very feasible to buy Cape Dumei Park regardless of the cost.

In the original time and space, the streamlined mansion of Tony Stark, the hero of the "Iron Man" series, called "Liberty City", is located in the sharp corner of Dumaye Point Park, and compared to most other buildings in Malibu, "Liberty City" is indeed extremely stylish. Now that the decision has been made to restore the 'Avengers Tower' in Manhattan, the 'Liberty City', which is also very much in line with Simon's aesthetics, is naturally not to be missed.

The noise caused by the birthday party gradually dissipated in the following period, and Simon's life was once again in a low profile, focusing on a series of projects that Daenerys Pictures was working on.

"Vulgar" officially completed the final cut after Simon's birthday, and Orion, although he has always had doubts about this project, still began to work on the promotion of the film and the participation in the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Simon has no shortage of expectations for "Vulgar", but after finishing the film, he also didn't put much energy into the film. After all, Daenerys Films only enjoys a 10% share of the North American box office and 5% of North American videotape sales for "Vulgar", and Simon is more focused on Daenerys Films' other films.

After several internal test screenings, considering the quality and subject matter of the film, Disney decided to open a small-scale screening of the film two weeks in advance, and it is expected that about 30 screens will be opened in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other big cities on March 11.

"Instinct" officially started filming in mid-February, the estimated shooting cycle is two months, post-production is also two months, and the film schedule is determined to be July 15, as long as there are no accidents, it can be released on time.

For the rest of the films such as "Rain Man", "Steel Magnolia", "Scream", and "Dead Poets Society", Simon and Amy also adopted a division of labor and cooperation, and promoted it in an orderly manner.

On the other hand.

On March 7, the Writers Guild of America officially began its strike after the latest contract offered by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers of America was again rejected.

No one, except Simon himself, expected the strike to last for five months.

When the strike began, the operations of major television networks were quickly affected, with daytime soap operas shifting to replay mode, and late-night talk shows cutting back on many of the jokes about current events. Because of the preparation in advance, the TV series that are being broadcast in the prime time of the spring file have not been greatly impacted.

In addition, the postponement of the new Oscars, which was supposed to take place in March, was also announced after the strike began. "Lola Run" only received a consolation nomination, and Simon naturally had little expectation for it.

Now that the strike is coming as scheduled as in the original plane, Simon is busy with film affairs and begins to scout for several planned TV shows. He doesn't plan to make a TV series, the workload of TV scripts is much larger than movie scripts, although Simon has a lot of classic American dramas in his memory, he can't waste too much time on scripts, and Daenerys Pictures can't hire professional screenwriters now.

Simon is going to produce a reality TV show.

In my memory, it was the Hollywood screenwriters' strike of 1988 that spurred the germination of American television network reality shows.

However, due to the generally conservative business strategy of North American television networks, it was in the late nineties that reality TV really began to become popular, and a series of reality shows that had proven successful in Europe were introduced to the United States, which gradually led to the prosperity of various reality shows in the North American television industry in the following two decades.

Counting the Fox TV network, which has just been formed, there are now four mainstream national TV networks in North America, and Simon also plans to produce four reality shows at one time, and if possible, sell them to four respectively, as for whether the other party is willing to buy it, after a few months of strike, the TV network will not have much choice in the face of ready-made programs.

"The last time I went to New York, I met a VP of ABC, a very nice guy who wanted to poach him after the acquisition of New World Entertainment, but you know, it will definitely not be possible in a short period of time. However, he agreed to introduce me to a couple of TV producers, and I'll ask Jenny to give you the contact information later, and you can talk to him about it. ”

In the hallway of Daenerys Pictures' headquarters, filming of "Rain Man" is about to start next week, and the final production meeting of the film has just been held, and several main creators have been sent off, Simon and Amy have left the conference room and returned to their offices.

"Simon, such a ...... Reality TV, don't we really need to talk to the network first?"

"It's not the best time to communicate," Simon shook his head and said, "It depends, anyway, the budget of these reality shows will not be too high, and the pre-preparation cost will be even less." If the strike ends soon, there's a low chance that the networks will buy this novel program, so we'll just cut it. However, if this strike lasts for a long time and affects the production of TV dramas in the autumn season, we have a chance. As long as there is such an opportunity, we need to be prepared. ”

Amy nodded, and said: "In addition, Meg Ryan still owes us a film contract for "Steel Magnolia", and I think she is still very suitable for her to play Shelby." ”

"Meg Ryan's temperament is too sweet," Simon shook his head and said, "Moreover, I have already asked the heroine to come over, it should be here, do you want to come and see it?"

Amy was stunned and asked, "Who?"

"A newcomer," Simon said, "I only saw it in a movie yesterday, and I wanted her to play Shelby." ”

Amy thought for a moment and smiled, "Well, if you think it's appropriate." However, I'll have to go to Disney later, and I'll see tomorrow. ”

Simon knew that Amy must have thought of something crooked, and he didn't bother to explain.

The two separated, and Simon returned to his office, but there were three people waiting in the lounge outside.

Nodding to the other man and woman, Simon looked at Courteney Cox, who hadn't seen her for a long time, "Curt, we're making an appointment at four o'clock, you seem to be an hour early." ”

Courteney Cox also attended Simon's birthday party last month, but Simon seemed busier that time, the two just nodded and chatted, and Courtney never got a chance to talk to Simon again.

At this time, looking at the young man in front of him who was more and more calm than when he first met, thinking of the birthday party that cost $10 million last month, Courtney Cox's heart was even more sour, but he still had a smile on his face and said, "Simon, I was worried that I would be late, so I came over early." You can do the rest of the work first, I'll just wait. ”

"Then you wait a moment. ”

Simon said, turning to another man and a woman, and one of the middle-aged men also took the initiative to stretch out his hand to Simon, and said, "Hello, Mr. Westeros, I'm Marvin Josephson, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

Although I haven't met him, Simon also knows that Marvin Josephson is the president of ICM Brokerage in Hollywood, second only to MA and CAA.

"Hello, Marven, just call me Simon," Simon shook hands with Marvin Josephson, turned to the girl with long flaxen wavy hair next to him, smiled and reached over, and said, "Hello, Julia." ”

Julia Roberts was inexplicably flattered when she heard the young man in front of her not showing any alienation or even some familiarity, and hurriedly shook Simon and said, "Hello, Wei ...... Simon. ”

"Let's go in and talk. ”

Simon spoke, bowing to Susan, the secretary, and nodding to Courtney, before leading the other two into his office.

Courteney Cox looked at Simon's office door shut, feeling even more depressed as she didn't get any 'special treatment'.

Inside the office.

The two sat down in the reception area, and waited for Susan to bring coffee before Simon looked at Julia Roberts again.

The big-mouthed beauty, who is just in her early 20s this year, still looks a little young, Simon found the most box office appeal actress in Hollywood in the 90s in a song and dance film called "Satisfied" released last month, in which the girl plays the guitarist of a female rock band that pursues musical dreams, and Simon also sees another famous Hollywood actor in this movie who is now also rolling in various small roles.

Julia Roberts is the actress's daughter Shelby in the original "Steel Magnolia", and with this role, Julia Roberts was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. Compared with Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts's temperament is indeed very suitable for Shelby's role.

After a few casual casual conversations, Simon began to get down to business.

"Marvin, I saw Julia's performance on 'Satisfied,' and as you know for sure, Daenerys Pictures has been working on a series of films lately. So, I don't want to talk too much nonsense, I want to sign a long-term contract with Julia, five films, what do you think?"

Marvin Josephson and Julia Roberts had no idea that would be the case.

Everyone in the circle knows that Simon chose Meg Ryan to participate in "When Harry Meets Sally", and, including the two who sat again, many people do not suspect that Simon Westeros and Meg Ryan have some relationship.

Julia Roberts is now completely just a newcomer who has just played a small role in a solo movie, Marvin Josephson, as the president of ICM, rushed over today just to take the opportunity to have some friendship with Simon Westeros, and he didn't pay too much attention to the girl next to him at all, he had even convinced Julia Roberts of something in private, and originally planned to wait for the next person to go back.

Unexpectedly, Simon Westeros opened his mouth and gave a condition that made the two of them completely think that they had misheard.

For a newcomer who has just stepped into Hollywood, it is already overjoyed to be able to occasionally win a good role, but he didn't expect such a good thing to fall from the sky suddenly, Julia Roberts was slightly stunned, and nodded almost subconsciously: "West...... Simon, I do. ”

As Julia spoke, Marvin Josephson also reacted, calmed down a little, and asked, "Simon, can you elaborate on that?"

Simon said: "Of the five films, except for a supporting role in "Steel Magnolia" that I asked people to pass on to Julia, the other four, I guarantee that they are all absolute protagonists. ”

Julia Roberts immediately nodded again, only this time she stopped talking and looked at Marvin Josephson instead. She is absolutely willing to pay any price to get such a contract at once, and if Marvin Josephson dares to mess this thing up, she will definitely not hesitate to jump ship from ICM.

Marvin Josephson became more and more calm, glanced at the pretty girl next to him, and then looked at the young man opposite, and said, "Simon, I believe you have enough strength to provide Julia with a contract for five films, but how long is the term of this contract, and how is the salary calculated?"

Simon said: "The contract is for 10 years, and I buy Julia for the next 10 years. In terms of salary, Julia can only get a newcomer's salary in the first two films, and from the third part, Julia can restart. ”

Marvin Josephson added: "Simon, can Julia participate in other films during these five film contracts?"

"No, unless I agree. Moreover, since Juilliard was offered such a lucrative contract, Daenerys Pictures would definitely put very strict restrictions and liquidated damages clauses on the contract. ”

Marvin Josephson thought for a moment and said, "In this case, 10 years is too long. Five films, I think 5 years is very suitable. ”

Simon shook his head and said, "It must be 10 years, Marven, we all know that the state of an actor has ups and downs." ”

Marvin Josephson said: "But, you can only star in 5 movies in 10 years, Simon, don't you think that's too little?"

"I said that Julia could appear in other films if I agreed. Also, the contract is 10 years, but it doesn't have to really take 10 years to complete. As long as Julia is in good shape, maybe we can complete this contract in five years. ”

Marvin Josephson glanced at Julia Roberts beside him again, hesitated, but still couldn't suppress the curiosity in his heart: "Simon, can I ask why?"