Chapter 75: First Things First

Ronald Goldberg had only expressed some interest over the phone; nothing was finalized. To avoid another drawn-out and potentially stagnant discussion at lunch, Simon directly declined the lunch invitation, asking Jonathan Friedman to attend in his place.

Agents often serve as a buffer between filmmakers and production companies.

As noon approached, Jonathan rushed to meet with Ronald Goldberg, while Simon borrowed a car from WMA and, trailed by a line of paparazzi, headed back to his villa in the Montana area.

As expected, paparazzi were also camped out in front of the villa.

Simon parked in front of the villa, and after getting out of the car, he was somewhat concerned that the paparazzi might swarm him. Fortunately, they only stood at the edge of the lawn, frenziedly taking photos, with some attempting to communicate with him, to no avail.

Unlocking the door, Simon listened to the constant clicking of cameras behind him and resolved to move as soon as possible. The open nature of American suburban community layouts did little to make him feel secure; if he continued living here, he would have no privacy at all.

Entering the living room and setting down his luggage, Simon immediately noticed the blinking message light on the telephone.

Approaching, he saw the mailbox was full.

He pressed play, and the voice of Mike Medavoy, president of Orion Pictures, came through, casually hoping Simon would call him back after settling in. The second message was from Ron McMillan, who congratulated Simon on the recent box office success of "Run Lola Run" and inquired about his availability to attend a party celebrating the film's success with the rest of the team.

Simon needed to rush to Malibu, so after listening to these messages, he let the rest play automatically while he headed to the study.

This villa didn't even have a home security system, and Simon planned not to return. He intended to take all important items with him this time.

After emptying the luggage of clothing and carefully packing manuscripts, notes, and clippings he had accumulated over the past six months, he made sure nothing was left behind. Simon then pulled his suitcase back to the living room where Sandra was in the middle of a passionate rant on the answering machine about "Run Lola Run" being rated R.

Simon had been in Arizona when the rating was confirmed and had been frustrated initially, but now he was resigned to it.

The film industry was, after all, a business, and commercial competition was never harmonious. Having chosen Orion over the Big Seven, Simon should have been prepared for such setbacks.

Moreover, after the setbacks, business discussions would continue.

That was just the way of the world.

Leaving Montana area behind, Simon ignored the paparazzi tailing him and drove to Malibu.

Upon arriving at Jeanette's mansion near Point Dume Park in Malibu, Simon saw over a dozen paparazzi lined up along the narrow asphalt road. Those who had followed him had parked their cars in a public parking lot outside the community since parking was prohibited on this road.

Simon had considered calling someone to tow the paparazzi's cars if they had been bold enough to follow him into the community, but he underestimated these seasoned veterans.

Taking advantage of the moment before the paparazzi could regroup, Simon quickly got out of the car and pressed the intercom button at Jeanette's gate several times before hurrying back to his car, putting on his sunglasses, and ignoring the cameras pressed up against the window.

Inside the mansion, Jeanette, dressed in a cozy knit sweater and jeans, was playfully talking on the phone tucked in her neck, "Mom, I know, I'm not a child... that's not going to work... Anyway, don't let Anthony and them come over, don't let Dad come over, and definitely don't let the Ice Queen come over, you don't want me to break up with my boyfriend that I finally found, right... Hehe, why not call her Ice Queen, it's been that way for years... Oh, the doorbell, it must be Simon, I'm going to open the door... Bye, love you."

Saying this quickly, Jeanette put down the large bowl, hung up the phone, and ran out of the mansion.

Outside, the black sliding iron gate slowly opened, and Simon, ignoring even the paparazzi blocking his car, gently pressed the accelerator and moved slowly into the yard. The paparazzi, realizing Simon was careful not to hit anyone, reluctantly stepped aside.

The car entered the yard and the closed gate shut behind him.

Simon got out and glanced at the line of cameras raised over the gate taking blind shots into the yard. He took his luggage from the car and said to Jeanette, who was out of sight of the cameras, "The gate is good, much better than a fence. It would be perfect if it were a bit taller."

Jeanette laughed, "I'll call someone

 to replace the gate later."

Simon shook his head, "Let's leave it for now; it's fine as is. Making it taller would just look odd."

As they walked inside, Jeanette playfully hinted around the mansion, "What do you think of the place?"

Simon looked around at the mansion's warm, simple decor and listened to the distant sound of waves crashing on the patio, nodding, "It's great, I don't want to leave now."

"Hehe," Jeanette laughed, placing a stack of documents on the coffee table, "Then hurry up and marry me, then half of this will be yours."

Simon looked her up and down, "Only half?"

"Mm-hmm," Jeanette cuddled up to Simon, her tone softening, "Everything's yours, even me."

Simon kissed her lightly on the lips, "First, find me a study room. I might have to stay here until I find a place. It's also good to keep you company, I'm really not comfortable with all those paparazzi outside."

Jeanette led Simon to another room, slightly annoyed, "Why do you need to look for another house? Isn't it nice here?"

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

Jeanette pouted, "Hmph, typical male chauvinism."

"It has nothing to do with chauvinism. A lion won't live on someone else's territory, you wouldn't understand, you're just a little cat."

"Alright, alright, I'm just a little cat," Jeanette gave up arguing and brought him to a seaside room, "How about this?"

Simon inspected the spacious study room with a full wall of bookshelves adorned with various artifacts, a large desk beside the bookshelves, and floor-to-ceiling windows leading to a patio with a sunbathing couch.

"Not bad, just needs a phone."

"There is one," Jeanette pointed to a cabinet below the bookshelves, "Look inside, there's a phone jack. You can set it up to use."

"That's settled then," Simon nodded, placing his suitcase aside, "Is lunch ready?"

"I was just about to bake some cupcakes; there's not much left in the house."

Simon pushed Jeanette back towards the kitchen, "Let's settle for that for now. We'll have someone deliver some groceries this afternoon."

After a simple lunch, Simon got busy in the study.

Given the unexpected success of "Run Lola Run," Simon decided to reevaluate his next steps.

First, he needed to build a team dedicated to serving his interests.

Currently, he only had an agent and a personal lawyer, Jonathan Friedman and George Norman, who were sufficient for their respective roles.

But that was far from enough.

In addition to an agent and a personal lawyer, Simon needed a dedicated public relations manager to handle media issues, a reliable financial manager to manage his personal assets, a professional manager for Daenerys Films, and security—although he disliked having people follow him, bodyguards could certainly fend off problems at public appearances...

There was a lot to consider.

Simon spent the afternoon calling his contacts—seeking referrals, soliciting advice, and occasionally making decisions based on memories, all with great caution.

He had to be careful.

Take the financial manager, for example; more than one Hollywood star in Simon's memory had been bankrupted by untrustworthy financial managers. After some thought, Simon scrapped the idea of hiring a financial manager and planned instead to seek an accounting firm to handle the financial details and tax issues for himself and his companies.

As for managing his personal assets, that was not urgent. Besides, his girlfriend, though lazy, was a bona fide business school graduate and could be quite useful with a little prodding.

During this time, Jonathan Friedman called to say he had spoken with Ronald Goldberg.

Fox had essentially agreed to Simon's terms for revenue sharing and absolute control of the project, but they requested raising the minimum box office guarantee for Simon's share to $20 million.

Only if Simon agreed to this could they proceed with detailed contract negotiations.

The difference between $16 million and $20 million wasn't huge.

Understanding that Fox's request was just a way to save face, Simon didn't insist and agreed readily.

Time flies when you're busy. Before he knew it, the sun was setting.

Jeanette had initially helped Simon with some planning but lost interest after less than an hour and took to the patio couch with a stack of documents Simon had brought, thoroughly engrossed in reading.

After hanging up another call, Simon glanced at the contact number for PMK, a public relations firm led by Pat Kingsley, known as Hollywood's PR queen.

Pat Kingsley's most famous client was, of course, Tom Cruise. However, Simon remembered that Jodie Foster, Al Pacino, and Will Smith were among her clients too.

Why was Tom Cruise's collaboration with her the most famous?

Clearly, because Cruise's public image was

 particularly challenging to maintain, yet Pat Kingsley managed it flawlessly for over a decade.

In the original timeline, in 2004, Cruise dismissed Kingsley rashly and hired his sister to handle PR, leading to his quick downfall from charming leading man to a meme for jumping on couches.

Just as Simon was about to call PMK for an appointment, he heard Jeanette suddenly giggle from the sofa.

Looking over, he also smiled and asked, "What's up?"

Jeanette held up a script, still laughing, "Hehe, this, it's too funny."

Saying that, Jeanette got up, sat in Simon's lap, and showed him a page from the script, "Simon, your next movie should be this, okay?"

"Let me see the script first."

Simon took Jeanette's shaking hand as she showed him "When Harry Met Sally," including its most memorable scene.

Harry and Sally discuss the authenticity of women's reactions during sex at a restaurant.

Harry claims it's impossible for women to fake it and he's never encountered such a thing. Sally disagrees and demonstrates her point by loudly faking an orgasm right there in the restaurant.

Reading the short scene in the script, Simon could vividly imagine it.

Thanks to Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal's excellent performances, this scene was more amusing than indecent.

Simon remembered an old lady in the scene who, after Sally's display, pointed at her food and told the waiter, "I'll have what she's having."

The impact was hilarious.

However, this detail wasn't in the script; it must have been an improvisation during filming.

Simon made a note in the script to add this scene later and playfully asked Jeanette, "You don't fake it too, do you?"

"Heh, how could I with you being so amazing," Jeanette pressed against Simon, looking at his notes in the script, then added, "Simon, I really love this story."

Simon nodded decisively, "Let's shoot it!"

"Hehe, you're the best," Jeanette kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes sparkling, "Why don't we go try it out now, see if I'm faking?"

"No need, I'm quite confident as it is."

Jeanette tugged at Simon's jacket, "You men are all so arrogant."

Simon smiled without responding and flipped through the script again, "However, Jeanette, this is a romance film, not suitable for my next movie. Even if I were to make it, I'd probably only be the producer."

"Yeah," Jeanette nodded, then turned to face Simon in the chair, straightening his collar she had just ruffled, "Then what are you planning to direct next, Simon? You can't just keep being a producer, can you?"

Simon wrapped his arms around her, "I'll be busy with 'Final Destination' for now, maybe this one too. As for my next film, I won't tell you yet. But to maintain the momentum from 'Run Lola Run,' first of all, it has to be even more spectacular."