Chapter 73

Coincidentally, the distributor of Monster was also Newmarket Films, which also distributed The Passion of the Christ.

Charlize Theron had already won three Best Actress awards this year for Monster: the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, the Berlin Film Festival for Best Actress, and the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Monster was the debut film of female director Patty Jenkins, who wrote and directed it herself. However, Charles's impression of her was that she would be the future director of Warner Brothers' Wonder Woman.

"Congratulations, Charlize!" This was the transformation from a trophy actress.

"Thank you! A lot of credits go to the director and other crew members, and Evelyn was a big help too," Charlize said cheerfully. After so many years, she finally proved herself.

Congratulations to the new Oscar-winning Best Actress, and for those who didn't win, comfort was necessary. Perhaps because they belonged to Evelyn's artist management company, Naomi Watts, who was nominated but lost to Charlize Theron, also came to celebrate.

"I saw the poster for your role in King Kong. It's stunning!" Charles praised while hugging Naomi.

Naomi Watts was 36 years old this year, and her condition was surprisingly good. Most European and American actresses age quickly, making Kate Beckinsale and Naomi Watts some of the exceptions.

"King Kong won't start filming until later in the year. Right now, I'm filming The Ring Two and another movie. It's a busy year," Naomi said. She had been involved in many projects in recent years, but not many were memorable.

The Ring series definitely counted, then there was her breakout role in Mulholland Drive. Even her Oscar-nominated performance in 21 Grams was in a niche film.

Charles took a sip of wine. DreamWorks was being split up; DreamWorks Animation was being separated from DreamWorks Group to get independently listed on NASDAQ.

Jeffrey Katzenberg was the chairman and CEO. The main issue was that DreamWorks' live-action and TV-music segments suffered significant losses over the past two years, while DreamWorks Animation kept the group afloat.

The company had expanded too broadly, and the high-concept films, featuring big productions, big stars, big marketing, and big markets, had budgets 20%-30% higher on average than the other six majors.

Vivendi Group was selling Universal Pictures to General Electric;

DreamWorks was splitting off to form the independent, publicly listed company DreamWorks Animation;

Disney chairman Michael Eisner and Steve Jobs, the head of their most profitable 3D animation partner Pixar, were at odds.

MGM was in deep financial trouble due to the massive losses from Windtalkers in 2002, and its debt was escalating. Die Another Day had received poor reviews, worsening its situation.

Sony Entertainment didn't have many issues, but Sony Electronics was suffering significant losses. Sony Entertainment's Spider-Man was undeniably a major success;

As for 20th Century Fox, the X-Men series kept them financially secure;

Paramount was falling behind; their cautious approach to film development and budget cuts hadn't expanded their market share.

The last free-to-air TV network NBC was merging with a Hollywood film group; after GE acquired Universal, they would form NBC Universal Entertainment Group.

Viacom owned cable channel V, CBS network, and Paramount;

Disney owned ABC network and ESPN channel;

News Corporation owned 20th Century Fox and Fox network;

The Fox TV channel was already a solid competitor to the traditional Big Three TV networks in the U.S.

Time Warner owned Warner Bros. and TBS cable channels (including CNN, TNT), not to mention HBO, the leader in pay TV. Additionally, Warner was preparing to merge with UPN (Paramount) to form the CW, the fifth major network.

As for Sony, as a foreign entity, how could it be allowed to hold a U.S. TV license?

Charles seemed to realize that disrupting these giants was nearly impossible. It could only be achieved through the internet and online streaming.

"Charles, what's up?" Scarlett Johansson shook the dazed Charles Carpe sitting in the corner.

"Oh, nothing," Charles replied, shaking his head. He had been thinking too much and quickly dismissed those distant thoughts.

First, he needed to get Carpe Films established and acquire Netflix. This would at least solve the issue of home entertainment distribution since Netflix's online DVD rental service already collaborated with numerous TV channels.

As for online streaming, the current internet infrastructure couldn't support high-definition movies' democratization yet; it required time to develop.

The DVD market was at its peak in terms of film copyright revenues. Sony and Toshiba were developing the next generation of high-definition DVDs separately, with a looming Blu-ray vs. HD DVD format battle.

Who could have predicted that Sony, after investing enormous financial resources to win this high-definition DVD format war, would be dragged down by streaming media later on?

"By the way, did you turn down Match Point?" Charles asked Scarlett.

Scarlett nodded, "Yes, they were shooting in London, and the schedule conflicted with Wedding Crashers. It was hard to arrange."

"Actually, I've been wanting to transition to commercial films to increase my influence!" she added.

Late at night, Scarlett took Charles back to her place in the Brentwood neighborhood.

Charles had been there before, but only to drop Scarlett off. Now, seeing it from the inside, the place wasn't very luxurious, just over a thousand square feet.

The layout included one bedroom, two living rooms, and two bathrooms. It was well-decorated and cozy. She definitely needed to take on commercial films to raise her paycheck.

In the living room, Charles watched Scarlett Johansson, in a lace camisole nightgown, sit on the sofa. She was indeed a sexy stunner.

"Charles, do you remember our first time?" Scarlett asked with a smile as she sat on Charles's lap.

Holding the gorgeous woman in his arms, Charles reminisced about their first intimate encounter, "It was at The Ring premiere. My mother left early and asked me to take you home afterward."

"Too bad you took me to your home," Scarlett teased.

"Hehe, wasn't it because you were spooked by The Ring?" Charles responded, recalling how she had clung to him at the theater that night.

Scarlett rubbed against him, teasing, "Your hands were inside my bra back then; who could resist?"

Charles didn't reply, instead lowering his head to kiss her. Wasn't that what women loved as an expression of affection?

"Charles, carry me to the bedroom!" Scarlett requested.

Charles picked her up and took the present he had prepared before heading into the bedroom.

*****

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