Chapter 226: So Short

After the lively New Year countdown, the cross-year party began to wind down.

Around one in the morning, Simon Westeros saw off James Rebelde and his family, then returned to the villa. The once bustling living room was now quiet, with only the waitstaff tidying up. There might still be a few guests in the backyard, but Simon didn't need to see them out personally.

As he ascended the staircase to the second floor, he heard Janet's soft laughter from a living room.

Upon entering, he found Janet, Catherine, Amy, and Nancy Brill in various relaxed poses on the sofa, chatting and holding wine glasses, clearly tipsy. Janet's fair face was now a rosy hue.

Simon sat on the armrest next to Janet's sofa and gently took the wine glass from her hand, advising against further drinking. He then turned to the ladies and asked, "Ladies, it's quite late. Are you planning to continue?"

Amy glanced at her watch, surprised, "It's already 1:25. Simon, have you seen Cliff?"

Cliff was Amy's new boyfriend, the owner of a French restaurant in the Brentwood district.

Simon thought for a moment, "He should be out on the lawn in the backyard."

"Well, then I should be going," Amy said, standing up with a slight wobble and smiling at Simon, "Boss, I might be a bit late to the office tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Of course," Simon nodded, smiling.

Amy's "tomorrow" was actually already today, but Simon didn't quibble over such minor details.

New Year's Day is a legal holiday in the United States, but Simon had to fly to Australia the next day and had many arrangements to make before leaving. Therefore, the senior executives of Daenerys Entertainment would need to continue working the next day.

As Amy stood up, the other three women also rose.

Simon, holding Janet who was leaning on him, couldn't help but notice Nancy Brill and commented, "So short."

It turned out that Nancy Brill, who had curled up on a single sofa, had taken off her high heels.

Previously unnoticed, now standing barefoot on the carpet, Simon realized that Nancy Brill was probably not even 1.6 meters tall. She was noticeably shorter than both Catherine and the roughly 1.7-meter-tall Janet and Amy. However, the mature charm of her curvaceous figure combined with her height created a very enticing demeanor.

Simon's remark caused Janet and the others to also notice Nancy's stature.

Unperturbed by the attention, Nancy sat back down, slipping her feet into at least 10CM high heels and glanced at Catherine with a slightly defensive tone, "Boss, is this discrimination?"

"Of course not," Simon quickly denied, then added as Nancy stood up again, the towering heels hidden beneath her rose-colored dress making her significantly taller, "Actually, it's not good to always wear such high heels."

Nancy didn't seem keen to continue this topic and simply responded, "It's worse without them."

Seeing that Nancy disliked discussing her height, Simon dropped the subject. He couldn't help but wonder if Nancy's strong character stemmed from her concern about her height, or if it was the other way around. Being around 1.5 meters tall was indeed on the shorter side among Western women.

Everyone headed downstairs together. Amy found her boyfriend in the last group of guests in the backyard. Simon noticed Nancy was still alone as a black Mercedes was brought around for her.

As Nancy prepared to drive off, Simon stopped her, "Are you going alone?"

Nancy, sitting in the driver's seat with her high heels off, looked at Simon, "Boss, is there a problem?"

Simon opened the door wider and suggested, "Sit in the back. I'll have a driver take you home."

Nancy hesitated but finally moved to the back seat.

Simon gave a few instructions to Neil Bennett, his driver, and watched as he drove Nancy away. Janet, amused, teased Simon, "Nancy obviously wanted you, the boss, to drive her home. You really don't catch on."

Neil Bennett, who was supposed to drive Simon and Janet back to Malibu, had to wait a bit longer.

Ignoring Janet's teasing, Simon asked Catherine, "Shall we head back to Malibu together?"

"Sure," Catherine agreed, surprising Simon, then added, "I recently rented a place in Paradise Bay, not far from Point Dume. It's on the way."

Ever since their last encounter, Catherine had not given Simon any more outrageous opportunities.

Seeing Simon's frustration, Janet cheerfully took Catherine's arm and headed back to the villa, saying, "The little rascal is off to Australia the day after tomorrow. Kate, come and stay with me."

Catherine glanced at Simon and asked, "Aren't you going with him?"

"We're about to start construction on our house in Point Dume Park," Janet replied, shaking her head. "Also, Daenerys Entertainment has a financial audit coming up, which I need to oversee here in Los Angeles. In February, for his birthday, we'll go visit him together."

After Neil Bennett returned from dropping Nancy off and more time passed, it was already past two in the morning when they finally went to bed.

The next day marked the start of a new year.

A senior meeting held from ten in the morning until one in the afternoon focused on the company's operations during Simon's absence from Los Angeles.

Daenerys Entertainment's priority in the coming months was to establish overseas distribution channels and promote the international release of films like "Scream," which had been successful at the end of last year.

In that era, Hollywood movies often couldn't be released overseas simultaneously with North America, commonly delayed by two to three months. Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment had concentrated all its efforts on domestic release.

Now, with these films' domestic success, it created favorable conditions for Daenerys Entertainment to expand overseas. With these hit movies as leverage, it was easier to establish connections with foreign theaters.

Besides movie distribution, the other significant task was the financial audit of the entire Daenerys Entertainment group.

As a private company, Daenerys Entertainment wasn't required to publish annual financial reports. However, due to rapid expansion, even Simon wasn't entirely clear on the revenue of Daenerys Entertainment and its subsidiaries, nor was he sure of any potential issues. A detailed financial audit was necessary.

To ensure the accuracy of the financial report, Simon authorized Janet to oversee the audit at today's meeting.

Lastly, the meeting discussed the award season strategy for several Daenerys Entertainment films.

Simon's attitude towards awards like the Oscars had always been lukewarm. Although he established Gaomen Pictures, which relied heavily on film awards for its art-house films, he believed awards should be an added bonus rather than the primary goal of a movie.

After lunch, Simon and several executives met with Wayne Hughes, chairman of Baishi Da, to discuss Daenerys Entertainment's investment in Baishi Da.

After hours of negotiation, they reached a preliminary agreement. Daenerys Entertainment would invest $120 million for a 35% stake in Baishi Da and promised not to interfere with its management for three years. In return, Baishi Da guaranteed that Daenerys Entertainment's shares would not be diluted for the same period. If Baishi Da needed more financing, Daenerys Entertainment would have the first option to maintain its share proportion.

Nancy Brill was appointed to the Baishi Da board following this meeting.

That evening, Simon invited the Rebelde family to dine in Malibu, discussing matters related to Westeros Company. Simon had completed his arrangements before leaving.

Despite his concerns about letting go of the steering wheel of Daenerys Entertainment, Simon understood it was necessary. A company that couldn't operate without a specific person was doomed to fail.

On January 2nd, Simon flew to Melbourne, Australia, with his entourage.

The pre-production for "Batman" was complete. After familiarizing himself with the environment, filming would start on January 9th, planned for 13 weeks, or 91 days. If all went well, the movie would wrap up in early April, lasting three months.

Simon's departure from Los Angeles hardly affected Hollywood.

Simon assigned the award season public relations for Daenerys Entertainment to Ella Doichman of Gaomen Pictures. After his departure, she began promoting "Dead Poets Society" for the Golden Globe Awards while preparing Oscar nominations for other Daenerys Entertainment films.

With the unexpected box office success of "Rain Man," Hollywood was particularly attentive to its Oscar campaign.

Previously, Daenerys Entertainment had given up on the Golden Globe Awards for "Rain Man," leading many to speculate they would continue to ignore the film for the Oscars due to conflicts with its creators.

"Rain Man" had become a phenomenon. If it entered the Oscar race, other films would have little chance.

The entire industry awaited Simon's decision.

However, abandoning the Golden Globes was just a strategy to pave the way for "Dead Poets Society." Simon maintained his stance: he wouldn't sabotage his own work. "Rain Man" would be nominated for all possible awards.

But this meant a challenging task for Ella Doichman.

Reverse PR was common among competitors, but preventing one's own film from winning awards was extremely difficult. This was also a test for Ella.

In addition to "Rain Man," Daenerys Entertainment would also focus on promoting "Dead Poets Society." The company aimed for "Rain Man" to win Best Picture and "Dead Poets Society" to win Best Director.

There was a noticeable trend in Hollywood to suppress Daenerys Entertainment. During such times, the Oscars' many judges, previously seen as a weakness, became a strength.

With over 3000 members in the Oscar jury and Daenerys Entertainment's willingness to invest, along with quality films, the chances of receiving nominations and awards were still high.

Simon also privately advised Ella, sharing the Weinstein brothers' PR tactics he remembered.

Unaware, another week of the new year passed.

Last year's films continued to reap box office returns, though compared to the Christmas week explosion, the box office from December 30th to January 5th shrank from $122.36 million to $91.56 million, with most films declining.

Except for "Rain Man."

Due to its unexpected second-week rise, Daenerys Entertainment negotiated with theaters to increase "Rain Man's" screens from 1136 to 1398. Coupled with its spreading word-of-mouth, "Rain Man" became the only film that week to see an increase in ticket sales, gaining 7% with $17.91 million, bringing its total to $46.23 million.

"Rain Man" also overtook "Dead Poets Society," becoming the weekly box office champion in its third week.

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