Chapter 215: Daenerys Studios

Simon glanced at the notes he had taken during Nancy Brill's report and addressed the woman at the front, "Nancy, your presentation was very comprehensive, covering toys, clothing, accessories, books, video games, image licensing, and temporarily, the distribution of original soundtracks by the consumer products department. However, these are all long-term, broad plans. Can you tell me about your immediate focus, say, within the next month?"

"In the next month, I plan to recruit a product design and sales team. I'll leverage my connections from previous roles to scout talent from other companies, ensuring they can immediately contribute to the development and promotion of merchandise for our current film and TV projects," Nancy Brill responded promptly and fluently. "Additionally, I believe planning for film merchandise should be proactive. We can't wait for a film to become popular before considering merchandise development. Hence, I also hope to get approval to assess the merchandise potential for all projects currently in development by Danerys Entertainment."

Simon nodded slightly, then asked, "With a diverse range of merchandise for projects like 'Survivor,' 'The Beverly Hillwives,' and 'Scream,' how do you plan to address this issue?"

Nancy Brill immediately answered, "In the short term, I'll selectively develop and promote the most commercially viable merchandise from these projects. This approach ensures that our team's limited resources and manpower are not spread too thin. As the company accumulates more intellectual property and achieves economies of scale, we can then expand our merchandise categories to maximize the value derived from our film and TV projects."

"And the distribution channels?"

"We aim to partner with a national chain store, possibly setting up dedicated counters for easier marketing and promotion. We have a portfolio of very popular film and TV properties, which retail networks would be eager to collaborate with. This strategy applies to all types of film and TV project merchandise. We can also utilize traditional cinema stores, toy stores, and other channels for distribution. This aspect mainly involves understanding the market and cultivating channels. The company needs to accumulate a rich portfolio of rights before seeking profits," Brill continued, then added after a pause, "Furthermore, considering the substantial profits the company is projected to generate in the coming years, I suggest investing in the rapidly growing video rental chain business. Compared to the highly competitive cinema system, the video rental market is far from saturated. Owning hundreds or even thousands of video rental stores nationally and internationally not only allows us to share in the profits of the emerging video rental market but also secures a comprehensive merchandise distribution network."

Even if Danerys Entertainment ceases to innovate from now on, the company will still secure substantial profits in the coming years, thanks to its popular reality show rights.

While Simon had been planning to accumulate cash for some activities two years down the line, he never gave up on the idea of continually expanding Danerys Entertainment. If necessary, he could continue to take out loans, as the company's debt ratio was still far from Simon's threshold.

Nancy Brill's sudden suggestion was indeed very tempting. Video rental chains could not only provide Danerys Entertainment with a comprehensive sales network but, like supermarkets, also offer significant cash flow advantages. Simon recalled that Viacom achieved the acquisition of Paramount through the cash support provided by the Blockbuster video rental chain.

However, venturing into the video rental business would undoubtedly face potential challenges.

Danerys Entertainment's biggest disadvantage was its insufficient content accumulation. Currently, Hollywood's major film companies could only watch as Danerys Entertainment rapidly expanded in the film and TV business. But if Danerys ventured into video rental, there's no guarantee that the major studios wouldn't use their content advantage to create obstacles for Danerys Entertainment.

"Great suggestion, I'll give it serious consideration."

After a brief moment of thought, Simon responded and returned to the meeting's main topic.

Nancy Brill continued to answer questions from Simon and other executives before leaving the meeting room. The team discussed other company matters, and the meeting concluded around six o'clock.

Amy, tidying her documents and as usual, staying behind, asked Simon, "So, what do you think of Nancy?"

"A very outstanding woman," Simon approved. "I look forward to seeing her turn her plans into reality."

"Amy chuckled, "Nancy was highly regarded in the marketing department at Hasbro. I almost got us into a lawsuit by poaching her, but she handled the situation herself."

With more male executives joining the company, Simon understood Amy's intention to bolster her position by recruiting a female executive, hence his generous praise.

After a brief smile and without further comment, Simon flipped through the remaining documents.

Amy, realizing Simon had seen through her intentions, awkwardly changed the subject, "Simon, what do you think about Nancy's suggestion on venturing into the video rental chain business?"

Simon nodded, "Prepare a proposal with her, and look for suitable investment targets. We don't need to start from scratch."

After discussing some more matters and Simon finishing his documents, they left the meeting room together. Amy then mentioned, "Also, Simon, we're running out of office space again. With Nancy setting up the consumer products department, we had to rent additional office space nearby. We need to think this through."

Danerys Entertainment, indeed, seemed scattered across various locations. In New York, the situation was better since the company successfully purchased a large building in Greenwich Village. However, in Los Angeles, the company had four office locations, including Danerys Entertainment headquarters on 4th Street in Santa Monica, Danerys Special Effects and Pixar Animation on 2nd Street, a Danerys Entertainment division in Burbank, and Marvel's studio nearby in Burbank. This dispersion was not conducive to the company's growth.

Driving back to Malibu, Simon, unusually, didn't use the time to go through documents or scripts, pondering the issue instead.

In recent months, Simon had considered establishing a Danerys Studios, but the locations he had seen all had various issues – either too small, too expensive, or too remote.

As the Range Rover veered off into a coastal road entering Malibu, an idea suddenly struck Simon, prompting him to instruct his driver, Neil Bennett, to stop and then backtrack to a certain junction.

Following a rough path up a slope, they reached a large, relatively flat area marked for development, with only a temporary shed and construction materials around. A scruffy old man emerged from the shed, initially wary but then greeted them without much fuss.

Simon, after exploring the area, envisioned a comprehensive plan for Danerys Studios on this expansive land, overcoming the potential high costs with the determination that, for him, cost was not an obstacle.

Back home, Simon began drafting a rough plan for Danerys Studios, envisioning a three-tiered layout with administrative areas, workspaces for subsidiaries like Danerys Special Effects, Pixar Animation, and Marvel Comics, and a large area for studios and post-production facilities.

The following day, Simon shared his overnight plans with key company executives and quickly set about acquiring the land, capitalizing on Malibu's ongoing development and the real estate slump following the stock market crash.

Meanwhile, as "Mulan" began its small-scale screening, North American media published glowing reviews, thanks to Danerys Entertainment's significant advertising investment and the film's intrinsic quality. The movie, directed by Mark Rydell and featuring a cast including Jessica Lange and Julia Roberts, received universal acclaim, setting a promising stage for its wider release.

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