Who was Daenerys?
The question made Simon immediately think of the Dragon Mother's long list of imposing titles.
Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons.
But.
He couldn't say that.
It might scare them off.
Casually flipping through the documents in his hand, Simon shook his head calmly and said, "I forget where I saw that name, but I thought it was interesting, so I used it."
Sandra noticed Simon's nonchalant demeanor as he said this and knew he was bullshitting. But glancing at George Norman and Jennifer Rebold across from them, she didn't call him out, just smiled in agreement.
Jennifer, cradling her coffee cup, stayed silent, a smile playing on her lips as well.
George Norman didn't think much of it. Once Simon had roughly gone through the registration materials for the two companies, he started explaining some key points to watch out for.
More than an hour passed like this. Confirming Simon had no more questions, George Norman and Jennifer stood to leave.
Simon and Sandra escorted them out of the villa.
They said their goodbyes again, and as they approached the car, Jennifer finally mustered the courage to ask Simon, "So, Simon, are you planning to direct a movie yourself?"
Simon nodded with a smile. "Yeah."
Feeling the boy's gaze on her, Jennifer suddenly didn't know what else to say. She smiled shyly and added, "Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing it someday."
"If you're interested," Simon replied, "you could come to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival next year."
Jennifer looked puzzled. "Sundance?"
Her reaction wasn't surprising—the Sundance Film Festival, started by Robert Redford, had only begun last year, and next year would be just its third edition. In fact, it wouldn't start drawing widespread attention for another decade or more.
Simon explained patiently, "It's a film festival Robert Redford founded to support independent cinema, held in mid-January. Actually, even if you're not into movies, Park City in January is a great choice—the ski resorts there are fantastic."
Jennifer knew who Robert Redford was, of course. Hearing this, she nodded with a smile. "Okay, if I can make the time, I'll definitely go."
They chatted a bit more before Jennifer got into the waiting car by the roadside.
With the funds in place and the companies registered, Simon's production assistant, Bill Locke, soon put together the budget for Lola Run.
Based on Simon's shooting specifications, the entire film was projected to cost $650,000.
By that calculation, Janet's check alone would cover it.
But since he'd passed on partnering with Orion, Simon wanted to invest some of his own money too.
Before Janet pulled out her check, Simon had already sent his contract with Fox to several banks for collateral evaluation. The clauses involving videotape and TV broadcast rights splits were quite valuable.
After review, Wells Fargo offered him up to $100,000 in a collateral loan—the terms were better than the other banks, so Simon agreed without hesitation.
The federal tax deadline was April 15 each year, and you could apply for a six-month extension, so Simon wasn't worrying about setting aside taxes for now.
From the $200,000 base payment in the contract, after agent's commission and daily expenses, Simon could put up $150,000. Adding the Wells Fargo loan, that totaled $250,000.
After some negotiation, Simon invested $250,000 and Janet $400,000. Their shares in the film would be split proportionally: Simon at 38.5%, Janet at 61.5%.
On top of that, Simon completely waived his personal fees as director, writer, and so on. Janet's check for a round $680,000 had clearly emptied her pockets, and Simon felt deeply grateful—he had no intention of pushing for more benefits for himself.
With the crucial funding issue resolved, Simon finished revising the script for The Butterfly Effect around August 15 and dove right into producing Lola Run.
Then, he once again deeply appreciated the Hollywood truth that connections mattered more than talent.
Thanks to help and guidance from Jonathan Friedman, David Giler, Brian De Palma, and others, assembling the crew went far smoother than Simon had imagined.
Santa Monica.
In the midst of the busy work, time slipped into September without notice.
The headquarters of Daenerys Films was set up in an office building on 16th Street in Midtown.
At the end of August, Simon had rented three offices in this five-story building.
On David Giler's recommendation, Simon had hired a producer named Ron McMillan during this time.
Ron McMillan was a somewhat lanky white man in his forties, middle-aged. He'd reportedly worked as a set dresser on Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver years ago, and this would be his first time as a producer.
David Giler had introduced him because he was great at coordinating location shoots—exactly what Lola Run needed most.
But having been in a Scorsese crew a decade ago and still unknown after all these years, Simon had initially doubted his abilities. Ron McMillan clearly felt the same about a kid who might be only around twenty trying to make a movie—it seemed unreliable.
So, it took them a full week to grind through and mutually accept each other.
On salary, Ron McMillan didn't hold back, demanding $1,000 a week right off the bat.
The production budget was tight, so Simon suggested a base pay plus profit share contract, but Ron turned it down—the middle-aged man obviously wasn't optimistic about Run Lola Run's prospects.
After some haggling, Ron's weekly salary was set at $850.
The shooting schedule for Lola Run was basically locked in at six weeks, with prep work needing about the same amount of time. That meant Ron would earn $10,000 over twelve weeks.
Compared to standard commercial films, that pay was pretty meager, but for Lola Run, Ron McMillan was definitely the highest-paid behind-the-scenes crew member.
Fortunately, once the employment contract was signed, Ron showed plenty of professional chops.
By September, the crew's main task was casting the roles for Lola Run. Simon had to spend another week on The Butterfly Effect at the end of September, so casting needed to wrap in three weeks.
In the plan, while Simon did the final script tweaks for The Butterfly Effect, Ron McMillan would handle selecting lighting, set, props, and other behind-the-scenes staff in his place.
If all went well, Lola Run might start shooting in early October, just like The Butterfly Effect.
In the office temporarily set up as an audition room.
Four people sat behind the audition table: Simon and Ron McMillan in the middle, Sandra Bullock next to Simon—as the female lead, she was there today to help read lines with potential male leads. Beside Ron was a woman in her early thirties named Linda Vargas, the casting director for Lola Run, also introduced by David Giler.
After interviewing another young actor auditioning for Lola's boyfriend and watching him leave, Ron McMillan brought up something else again: "Simon, no matter what, I still recommend hiring a professional cinematographer. If you want to learn cinematography, you can practice on your own time—using this movie as a trial run is just too reckless."
Simon jotted a few notes on the last actor's profile, then said to Ron, "Ron, do you think this film has high demands for a cinematographer?"
Ron nodded. "Of course—with all those speed-ramping shots and a lot of really complex camera movements. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't keep bringing it up."
Simon replied, "Well, Ron, our budget is only $650,000. No way we can afford a top-notch cinematographer. Rather than hiring someone mediocre, I'd rather do it myself. I've already shown you a bunch of my shooting ideas for various scenes, so let's drop this. We need to move on with the actor auditions."
With that, Simon flipped to the next page in the profiles, glanced at the name, and his expression turned a bit odd. Still, he instructed Susan Landis—the first official employee of Daenerys Films, whom he'd just hired recently—to call in the next auditioner.
Seeing the two men weren't arguing anymore, Sandra Bullock and Linda Vargas on either side shifted their attention back to the list in front of them.
As another young man walked in, everyone looked over.
He was a tall, handsome youth in casual T-shirt and jeans, with long hair and a bit of stubble. But he walked with a noticeable pigeon-toed gait.
Simon recalled the original Lola Run in his mind and realized that Manny, Lola's boyfriend in the original, also walked pigeon-toed.
Was this a coincidence?
And besides.
When Simon had casually sent out this audition invite, he hadn't really expected the guy to show up.
Once the young man stood still, Linda Vargas, sitting next to Ron McMillan, glanced at Simon and Ron before speaking: "So, Mr. Keanu Reeves, could you start by introducing yourself?"