Daenerys Pictures Headquarters.
Jennifer Raybould gently knocked on the door of the editing room, and after receiving a response, she pushed it open and said to Simon, who was busy at the editing desk: "Boss, it's already four o'clock".
Simon merely nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the monitor screen of the editing desk, his hands moving without pause, and said, "Just a moment, I'll be done soon".
Jennifer said nothing more, lightened her steps as she walked in, re-closed the editing room door behind her, and quietly watched Simon work amidst the faint clicking sounds of the equipment.
'Pulp Fiction' had ample budget, so Simon didn't need to be involved in every detail.
The film's initial rough cut was completed by professional editors, but for the fine-cut stage, Simon decided to do it himself.
Back in Los Angeles, Simon had spent most of his time in the company's editing room these days.
After a while, Simon archived the footage and began to organize the tapes, notes, and other items on the editing desk.
Jennifer also walked forward, skilfully helping Simon put everything into the safe in the corner of the editing room.
After a brief, quiet moment alone with him, Jennifer spoke about the day's work as they left the editing room: "I've collected information on some mainstream record companies and second and third-tier labels in North America, and it's already on your office desk; Mr. Steve Jobs's secretary responded this morning, stating that Mr. Jobs has no intention of selling Pixar.
Silicon Graphics CEO Mr. Ed McCracken has invited you to visit Silicon Graphics headquarters in San Francisco recently; Mr. Bill Gates's assistant called, and Mr. Gates plans to come to Los Angeles next Monday and hopes to have lunch with you; also, um, an invitation to speak at Stanford University".
Simon walked through the corridor with Jennifer, took the Stanford University invitation from her hand, glanced at it, and handed it back, saying, "Just decline such invitations directly from now on. My giving a speech to them would simply be spreading negative energy: 'Look, that guy is the same age as us, God is really unfair".
Jennifer chuckled, put the invitation into a folder, held it to her chest, looked up, and asked, "What about Mr. McCracken's and Mr. Gates's invitations?"
"I'll definitely go to San Francisco once, but I don't have time recently, so it needs to be pushed back. As for Gates, book a restaurant. We are the hosts, so we should be more hospitable. Also, I suddenly thought of something today: since all those stocks have been exposed, according to Westerlo Company's shareholding ratio, I already have the right to request board seats in these companies.
Ask your father if he's interested in serving as a director for me in these companies. I don't have that much time myself. So, my idea is that George will be responsible for the companies located on the West Coast, and your father will be responsible for the East Coast".
Westerlo Company's 4.9% stake in 26 technology companies was generally enough for Simon to become a major shareholder in those companies.
If these shareholdings hadn't been exposed, Simon would have intended to be a silent individual shareholder, observing the development of these companies from the shadows.
Now that these shareholdings were widely known, Simon decided to claim the rights he deserved as a shareholder.
Theoretically, the board of directors is usually the most direct body for shareholders of a publicly listed company to exercise their power, and company management is mostly appointed through board votes.
As long as Simon secured board seats in the relevant companies, it would be enough for him to exert his influence on the future development of these enterprises.
Jennifer walked alongside Simon, jotting down the restaurant reservation in her memo.
When she heard Simon's last words, her expression immediately showed some surprise, and a hint of inexplicable shyness.
Just as she was about to say something, they had already arrived at one of the company's conference rooms, and Jennifer had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea of pressing further, following Simon to sit down at the conference table.
However, her heart found it difficult to calm down.
The most direct manifestation of power for American financial groups is their control over hundreds of board seats in numerous global corporate giants.
Simon's current wealth naturally couldn't compare to any of the top ten American financial groups, but if he could secure board seats in all 26 companies, this would certainly be a formidable force.
If Simon truly had her father and uncle serve as directors for these companies, leveraging Simon Westeros's status as a representative of enormous wealth and the influence represented by these board seats, the Raybould and Norman families could immediately cross from being moderately prestigious legal families into the most influential echelon of this country.
After all, billions of dollars in wealth are definitely more than just a simple string of numbers on the surface.
Simon and Jennifer sat down at the conference table.
There were actually only four people in the room: the other two were Amy and her assistant, Vanessa Lind.
When Amy was first poached, Daenerys Pictures was so short on funds that Amy even had to pay Vanessa's salary out of her own pocket.
Naturally, such an embarrassing situation would no longer occur.
However, a conference room with only four people still showed the essential nature of Daenerys Pictures as a small workshop.
Under normal circumstances, including Simon and the others, the two-story office building of Daenerys Pictures actually only had fifteen permanent employees responsible for all tasks such as finance, mail, and logistics.
As for film production, it was entirely handled personally by the boss, Simon, and Amy Pascal.
Today was December 16th, Wednesday.
Of Daenerys Pictures' three planned film projects for 1987, the theatrical run of 'Final Destination' was nearing its end.
From its opening on October 23rd until now, in seven and a half weeks, 'Final Destination' had accumulated a box office total of $67.53 million.
Due to the news of Simon suddenly becoming a billionaire in November, which inevitably boosted the film's box office, 'Final Destination' easily surpassed the anticipated $60 million.
Currently, 'Final Destination' ranks 7th on the North American box office annual chart with $67.43 million, closely following 'The Untouchables', starring Sean Connery, from the summer.
The film still earned $1.06 million over the weekend of December 11th to December 13th, and in the coming weeks, its total box office before leaving theatres will easily break the $70 million mark.
Simon had specifically paid attention to the films released during the two major holiday seasons at the end of the year.
According to information from memory, 'Three Men and a Baby', released on November 25th during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, as well as 'Moonstruck' on December 18th and 'Good Morning, Vietnam' on December 25th, were expected to enter the top ten on the annual chart; others were not sufficient to threaten 'Final Destination'.
As a result, 'Final Destination' unexpectedly moved from its original anticipated ranking among the top 15 on the North American box office chart into the top 10.
If no other box office dark horses emerge next, this film will precisely rank 10th on the North American annual box office chart.
Including 'Run Lola Run', which firmly held the number 1 spot, and 'The Butterfly Effect', which temporarily ranked 4th, all three films associated with Simon in 1987 made it into the top 10 of the North American box office chart.
Even though Simon's operation, which earned him over a billion dollars in the financial market, shocked the entire world, in recent weeks, as 'Final Destination' successively surpassed films like 'The Witches of Eastwick', 'Lethal Weapon', and 'The Secret of My Success' to strongly claim the 7th spot on the annual chart, Simon's personal feat of having three films all enter the top ten of the annual box office chart in one year still drew the attention of all of Hollywood.
Therefore, although 'Pulp Fiction' and 'When Harry Met Sally' were still in post-production, with the halo of over a billion dollars in personal wealth and three consecutive films in the top ten of the annual box office chart, the capital market finally completely opened its doors to Simon.
Simon actually also strongly agreed with the principle of not investing in movies with one's own money.
In this world, no matter the industry, making one's own profit with other people's money is absolutely the golden rule.
It's just that, even before the exposure of that wealth in November, Simon hadn't reached the point where he could get others to pay for him.
Now, Daenerys Pictures finally, like top second-tier film companies such as the majors and Orion Pictures, obtained the qualification to secure bank loans simply by brand guarantee.
Evidently, Daenerys Pictures' brand guarantee was Simon himself.
Inside the conference room.
Amy Pascal waited for Simon and Jennifer to sit down, then handed over a folder and said, "Simon, it's settled. This is the draft contract. Wells Fargo is willing to provide Daenerys Pictures with a $100 million loan, with a term of 5 years and an annual interest rate of 6.5%".
Simon took the document and opened it, unable to help but say, "6.5%, that's still a bit high".
"If it were before the stock market crash, we might have gotten 5%," Amy looked at Simon and explained, "Now banks are generally tightening loans. 6.5% is the result of my long negotiations with Wells Fargo. As you know, Paul Olson initially offered an 8% annual interest rate.
Also, the $10 million loan for 'Basic Instinct' is not included in this amount; it's still collateralized through the 'Final Destination' revenue-sharing agreement, with a 5% annual interest rate and a 3-year term".
Paul Olson was the Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo who had been in contact with them when Simon obtained the previous $20 million loan.
With the connection from the last loan, this collaboration could be described as an immediate agreement after mutual contact between both parties.
Simon smiled and nodded, continuing to flip through the draft contract in his hand.
With less than an hour left until closing, Amy didn't wait for Simon to finish reading and continued, "Simon, I've already spoken with Wes Craven, and he's very happy to continue working with us on the next film. However, he also hopes to see the script first".
'Final Destination' made it into the top ten at the North American box office.
Although everyone knew this was largely due to Simon's personal script and popularity, as a director, Wes Craven, like Brian De Palma who returned to the peak of his career, also successfully advanced to a top-tier director.
"I already have a good idea, probably a campus thriller. I'll make time to write a story outline these two days. However, I don't have that much time to refine the script right now. When the time comes, you and Wes can discuss it and hire other screenwriters to write it".
When Amy heard Simon say this, she subconsciously asked, "What about the credit?"
Simon smiled and said, "Three films this year are already enough, Amy. Do you think Hollywood audiences would still maintain much interest if seven or eight films written by Simon Westeros appeared in a year?"
Amy, however, caught another layer of meaning in Simon's words, leaning her arm on the conference table and gently raising her hand to gesture: "Simon, do you mean we're going to produce seven or eight films next year?"
"Of course, not just movies, but also TV shows," Simon tapped the contract draft in front of him and said, "Otherwise, why would we need so much money. So, going forward, you can continue to hire more people. Next year, we will not only venture into the television programming field but also try to independently distribute films".
Although she had somewhat anticipated it, Amy couldn't help but feel that Simon was a bit too eager.
However, thinking about the series of miracles this young man had created in the past year, Amy quickly nodded.