Simon watched the scene unfolding before him, somewhat puzzled as to why the first production meeting for *The Butterfly Effect* had devolved into such a confrontational standoff.
But considering the attitudes in David Giler's and Brian De Palma's words, Simon wasn't too worried about how things would progress. These two Hollywood heavyweights, who wielded plenty of influence themselves, clearly shared his stance.
With that confirmed, Simon relaxed and couldn't help but quietly analyze the situation.
Hollywood had its own intricate power structures. But usually, gauging someone's authority in Hollywood was straightforward—you just looked at their reporting lines, who they answered to in the hierarchy.
From David Giler's earlier words, Simon realized he likely reported directly to Fox Studios president Ronald Goldberg, not under the thumb of the Fox VP Peter Sanders in front of them. They were essentially peers.
In fact, from the vibe of their exchange, Simon sensed David Giler had the upper hand.
Since they were collaborating on *The Butterfly Effect*, Simon had naturally done his homework beforehand.
David Giler, now in his fifties, was the producer on Fox's currently screening *Aliens*, which Simon knew well. Tying that to the deliberate comparison in Giler's words, Simon figured Peter Sanders was probably tied to Fox's summer flop *Cocoon*.
An $18 million budget, prime early-June slot, and box office just over $9 million—that was a massive stumble.
Things played out just as Simon expected.
With David Giler's final words, Peter Sanders' expression soured, his mouth twitching slightly before he said, "David, I'm just looking out for the company's $10 million investment here. No one's being targeted."
Sensing Peter Sanders softening, David Giler eased off. "Of course, that's your job. But Peter, what you need to ensure is that the investment goes to the right places—not micromanaging the content. That's mine and Brian's territory."
Peter Sanders felt the unyielding firmness in David Giler's tone. After a hesitation, he shrugged. "Fine, but I hope you don't screw this up."
Power grab thwarted.
Simon noted that to himself, glancing at Peter Sanders again and pegging him as the type who bullied the weak and bowed to the strong, always shifting with the wind.
With Peter Sanders' attempt to seize creative control on *The Butterfly Effect* blocked by David Giler, the rest of the meeting normalized considerably.
Even so, David Giler and Brian De Palma still offered plenty of script revision suggestions.
David Giler's focused mainly on the title and ending, aligning with the memo's content.
As the producer responsible for the film's commercial prospects, David Giler also wanted a more mainstream title. He hoped Simon could rewrite a milder ending too, rather than the protagonist strangling himself in his mother's womb.
That would circle back to the original version's conclusion.
Brian De Palma suggested compressing the protagonist's childhood scenes to under twenty minutes, to avoid dragging out the setup.
Compared to the initial memo's near-nonsensical demands, their suggestions now were highly professional. Though Simon didn't fully agree, he engaged with them earnestly.
The three creatives discussed as if no one else was there, leaving Peter Sanders sidelined. Yet he didn't leave, lingering in the conference room and chiming in occasionally. It wasn't until lunchtime that Peter Sanders stood to excuse himself, saying he had other work in the afternoon and wouldn't return.
In Fox Studios' in-house restaurant, after a few interactions, both David Giler and Brian De Palma had taken a liking to this promising young man. After ordering lunch, David Giler casually shared some not-so-secret insider info with Simon.
It turned out *Cocoon*, the summer box office disaster, was a project Peter Sanders had brokered. Fox not only gave it a hefty $18 million production budget and the best release slot, but studio president Ronald Goldberg personally took an executive producer credit.
All because of the film's leading lady, Kate Capshaw—Steven Spielberg's fiancée.
Hearing this, Simon immediately understood Fox's motivations.
In the original timeline, it was no exaggeration to say that the last three decades of the twentieth century in Hollywood belonged to Spielberg.
With massive hits like *Jaws*, *E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*, *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, and *Jurassic Park*, Spielberg was the undisputed king, surrounded by admirers. Though he was core to Warner, Universal, and Paramount, every other studio was scrambling to build ties with him.
Beyond just *Cocoon*, Simon had recently read in *The Hollywood Reporter* that Disney had greenlit an animated-live-action hybrid with Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, called *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*.
To join the "Spielberg camp," Disney had budgeted a whopping $45 million for it. Keep in mind, in the '80s, big Hollywood productions typically capped budgets under $20 million. Only Spielberg-related films could effortlessly shatter that ceiling, often multiplying the average cost several times over.
In the restaurant, noticing the faint envy and aspiration on Simon's face, the two middle-aged men in their forties and fifties exchanged a smile.
Hollywood saw countless young hopefuls every year dreaming of becoming the next Spielberg, but few ever made it.
Yet this young man had drawn attention in under two months since entering Hollywood. Coupled with his undeniable talent, both David Giler and Brian De Palma knew Simon was destined to make his mark.
So these two established Hollywood figures, now in their prime, didn't mind giving the kid a nudge.
After lightly stoking Simon's ambitions, Brian De Palma, sitting across from him, chimed in. "Simon, Jonathan mentioned you're planning an experimental film. Care to share? Maybe David and I can offer some advice."
Simon didn't pick up on the subtle mentorship from the two middle-aged men, but even if he had, he'd only be grateful. After navigating a similar industry for over a decade in his past life, he knew how crucial connections were.
"Actually, I was thinking of bringing it up during the morning meeting," Simon said in response to Brian De Palma. He pulled the *Lola Rennt* script and storyboard sketches from his backpack on the nearby chair, handing them to David Giler and Brian De Palma respectively. "David, and Brian, I don't think we need to change the title of *The Butterfly Effect*. From all the media coverage of that recent incident, a lot of people have already noticed the term 'butterfly effect.' Plus, this experimental film I'm planning, called *Run Lola Run*, can vividly explain the concept too. If Fox throws some media support behind it, the idea could spread even wider through this movie. In the end, even if some folks still don't get the term, as long as we build hype around the film, those words could become a hook to draw audiences into theaters."
Though they sensed Simon's ploy to leverage Fox for his own film's promotion, his insightful take on marketing still earned a slight nod from David Giler, who'd just cracked open the *Run Lola Run* script. Beside him, Brian De Palma was captivated by Simon's highly professional storyboards.
Seeing their interest, Simon smoothly shifted the conversation to *Run Lola Run*. "About *Run Lola Run*—it's an experimental film with a parallel three-act structure. The story's simple: Lola's boyfriend Manni accidentally loses $100,000. To save him from getting killed by his boss, Lola has to scrape together $100,000 in twenty minutes and get to where Manni is. But I want to frame it like levels in a video game. With the game's save-and-reload mechanic, Lola makes three different attempts in the same scenario to get the money and reach her boyfriend. Each attempt ends differently. At the same time, every run Lola makes subtly affects the lives of people she encounters along the way. Those tiny influences snowball, leading to wildly different fates for them—that's the butterfly effect."
The *Run Lola Run* script wasn't long, and David Giler, listening to Simon's explanation, quickly flipped to the scene where Lola bumps into the woman with the stroller at the first intersection. Brian De Palma, drawn in by the storyboards, hadn't ignored Simon's pitch either. He looked up and asked, "Simon, how do you plan to show this 'butterfly effect'?"
"Photo montages," Simon replied crisply. "Every time Lola encounters a key character, we cut to a rapid photo montage showing their future life paths."
Hearing this, Brian De Palma pondered for a moment, his face breaking into an appreciative expression. He couldn't help tapping the table lightly. "That's a stunning idea."
Though he'd already seen it in the script, David Giler nodded in agreement, generous with his praise. "Brilliant."
Both David Giler and Brian De Palma had been steeped in Hollywood for decades—the longer they'd been in it, the more they appreciated how tough innovation was in this town.
As Simon continued explaining, they even vaguely sensed that if done right, his film could become a template for many Hollywood filmmakers to study and emulate.
The waiter had long since brought their lunch, but none of them touched it.
After a detailed discussion lasting over half an hour, David Giler finally said, "So, Simon, you're planning to fund this film with your *Butterfly Effect* screenplay payment?"
Simon nodded. "Yeah."
David Giler thought for a bit. "Your contract pay is $200,000 total. After agent commissions and taxes, you're left with maybe $150,000 at most. That might cover it if you shoot on 16mm, but it'd be a waste of your script. Why not make it a proper 35mm film?"
Simon paused. "David, I was planning to shoot on 35mm all along."
David Giler's tone hitched this time. "You mean $150,000 for 35mm? Simon, you have to understand—though it seems like just different formats, 16mm and 35mm are worlds apart in production scale. Your film has tons of exteriors too. Without a full professional crew, pulling off the shoot would be incredibly tough. $150,000 just won't cut it."
Hearing this from David Giler, a renowned Hollywood producer with decades of experience, Simon finally confirmed a nagging doubt that had lingered for weeks.
The original *Run Lola Run* had production values—picture, score, lighting, sets, even editing—that screamed anything but low-budget. Simon had always chalked it up to director Tom Tykwer's genius. Film production costs had huge flexibility, after all.
And he wasn't too familiar with standard German filmmaking specs.
In his memory, 350,000 Deutsche Marks converted to about $180,000 USD—or roughly 1.5 million RMB. In 1998, 1.5 million RMB could easily fund a film.
But as he'd delved deeper into prepping *Run Lola Run* these past days, Simon increasingly felt his funds were stretched thin—he'd even started subconsciously simplifying some scenes.
Now, with David Giler's insight, Simon realized he'd likely misremembered the budget scale for *Run Lola Run*.
Perhaps in the original timeline, Run Lola Run's production cost wasn't 350,000 Deutsche Marks at all. He'd probably forgotten a zero!