After a brief scare, Daenerys Entertainment quickly resumed its normal operations.
However, this incident made Amy and other heads of the Westeros system realize how vulnerable certain aspects of Simon Westeros' business empire were.
When various rumors suddenly emerged from Melbourne, Amy even heard that the Los Angeles County Government once planned to establish a special task force to prepare for taking over Daenerys Entertainment. Legally, Simon Westeros was a lone figure without any legal heirs.
Janet, undoubtedly the closest person to Simon Westeros, had no legal ties to him.
Moreover, during this incident, nobody thought that Simon Westeros, a man in his twenties, would consider drafting a will.
While in Melbourne to ensure their boss was safe, Amy and James advised Simon Westeros to re-establish his will and asset proxies for certain situations. They were aware that Simon had a will with George Norman, but with billions of dollars at stake, extra caution was necessary.
The huge estate lawsuit of Howard Hughes, who died in 1976, was still ongoing even after more than a decade.
There was a lot of evidence that Hughes had left a will, but due to the absence of a clear legal heir and driven by huge interests, all genuine and false wills were declared invalid, turning Hughes' enormous estate into a feast of contention.
Naturally, Simon Westeros did not want to end up like Hughes and hence followed the advice of Amy and others, redrafting a will and proxy documents with multiple safeguards.
Entering March, following "Rain Man", two other films from Daenerys Entertainment's last year's schedule, "Steel Mulan" and "Dead Poets Society", also successively broke the hundred million mark at the North American box office.
Thus, 1988 saw 11 films in the North American box office billion-dollar club, 7 of which were produced by Daenerys Entertainment. The other four were Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Paramount's "American Tour", Fox's "Flying Over the Future", and Paramount's "Crocodile Dundee 2".
The 1988 year-end blockbuster films "White-Haired Detective" and "Dragon Brother Rat Brother", amidst the onslaught of Daenerys Entertainment's successful movies, ultimately failed to reach the billion-dollar threshold.
Both films were still in theatres, but based on current box office data, "White-Haired Detective" was expected to earn around 73 million dollars in North America, and "Dragon Brother Rat Brother" around 95 million.
Of the 7 billion-dollar box office films from Daenerys Entertainment, 6 had already entered the top ten of the 1988 box office chart, with only "Dead Poets Society" still chasing the tenth-placed "Crocodile Dundee 2".
However, "Dead Poets Society", though not as hot as "Rain Man" during the awards season, was still highly topical and had no difficulty catching up with "Crocodile Dundee 2", which had been released earlier in the summer.
On the other hand, "The Bodyguard" and "The Sixth Sense" had recently wrapped up smoothly, and John Hughes' "Uncle Buck" was over halfway done. Daenerys Entertainment had officially announced the release dates for these three films as June 2, June 30, and August 11, respectively, and some preliminary promotional activities had already begun.
Following "Blue Angels" on February 24, Daenerys Entertainment's Gao Men Film label released its first movie, "Metropolitan People". Directed by Whit Stillman, this small arthouse film did not win awards at the January Sundance Film Festival, but received great reviews.
The production budget for "Metropolitan People" was 3 million dollars, far exceeding Stillman's initial plan of a few hundred thousand dollars to gather friends and family for filming.
Due to the use of some moderately famous actors and the film's positive reception, "Metropolitan People" opened in 127 screens and earned 1.39 million dollars in its first week, achieving hot-selling levels per theater.
Ella Deutschman invested 2 million dollars in the film's promotional budget.
With a first-week revenue of 1.39 million dollars and a slight increase in screening scale, "Metropolitan People" was expected to earn between 8 to 10 million dollars in total at the North American box office, allowing Daenerys Entertainment to recoup the entire cost from its North American earnings alone.
Although the expected total North American box office revenue for "Metropolitan People" might not match the first-week figures of some of Daenerys Entertainment's blockbuster films, this was the positioning of Gao Men Film. Simon Westeros was very satisfied with Ella Deutschman's operations.
Easter this year was on March 26, earlier than usual.
Following "Metropolitan People", another Gao Men Film production, "Sisters", was set to release on March 17, and New World Cinema's "Ghostbusters 2" was scheduled for the Easter period of March 24.
Overseas, Robert Lamm's work in establishing a distribution channel from scratch was progressing slowly. However, with the rights to hot-selling films like "Scream", "Steel Mulan", "Dead Poets Society", and "Rain Man", everything was moving smoothly.
Daenerys Entertainment was expected to achieve revenue sharing distribution in major box office countries overseas for its four blockbuster films from the end of last year, by the first half of this year. Once this channel expansion was completed, Daenerys Entertainment's future film overseas distribution would be much faster.
Finally, with a slew of projects like "Pretty Woman", "Ghost", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and "Driving Miss Daisy" in various stages of preparation, Daenerys Entertainment's film business was truly entering a state of sustainable, positive development.
Los Angeles.
Sophia Fesi arrived here yesterday after leaving Melbourne.
The upcoming fashion week in the second half of the year was crucial for Gucci's revival. Although she had received funding and promises from Simon Westeros, she flew to Los Angeles to discuss matters with Amy in person.
Additionally, Gucci had a boutique on Beverly Drive, and Sophia planned to conduct some financial auditing and personnel adjustments there. These tasks also required assistance from Daenerys Entertainment, as she wouldn't be able to find a suitable accounting team on short notice, similar to the boutique in New York.
After signing the equity transfer agreement, Sophia unhesitatingly appointed herself as President of Gucci. As Melisandre Company had obtained absolute controlling interest, Gucci no longer had a board of directors, and core members of the original Gucci family were only given advisory titles.
It was Saturday.
Sophia had spent two days at the Beverly Drive boutique and arrived early in the evening at Malibu for a PR party organized by Daenerys Entertainment.
Due to Daenerys Entertainment's continuous PR efforts for the upcoming Oscars, the Palisades mansion had become a focus of many gossip tabloids, and the company had to change the venue for various parties.
Today's party was held at a mansion Amy had just bought in Malibu, near Paradise Bay and not far from Point Dume.
After the '87 stock market crash, property prices across North America continued to fall, including Malibu. Real estate development in Malibu, which was booming in the early '80s, had almost halted in the last two years, and property prices were at their lowest in years.
However, Amy astutely realized that with the construction of Daenerys Entertainment Studios and the Point Dume Estate, Malibu would undoubtedly become a gathering place for many Hollywood celebrities and stars.
Buying property in Malibu now was perfectly timed.
Although she wouldn't receive her bonus until late March, Amy had already started looking for a suitable beachfront mansion in Malibu.
As evening approached and most guests had arrived, Amy, along with her restaurant owner boyfriend, greeted the guests, finally getting some free time.
After officially announcing the start of the party, Amy came alone to the adjoining living room.
As Simon Westeros had casually predicted, Sophia Fesi and Nancy Brill had hit it off immediately, having been talking for over an hour since they arrived early.
Holding a glass of red wine, Amy sat down on a sofa next to Sophia and Nancy and asked, "What are you two discussing?"
Nancy said, "Sophie plans to ask the boss to shoot a commercial for Gucci, but I don't think it's a good idea. Although I don't doubt his ability to shoot a stunning set of commercials, such a gimmick won't promote the brand as much as one might imagine."
Amy looked at Sophia, puzzled by Nancy's train of thought, which could sometimes be hard to follow.
Sophia explained with a smile, "It's about Gucci's promotion. I hope Simon can personally shoot a set of ads for Gucci, but Nancy suggested another idea - to shoot a fashion documentary about Gucci, focusing on the preparation for the upcoming fashion week."
"A fashion documentary, that's a novel idea. If you decide to go ahead with it, I can help."
Sophia replied, "Without Daenerys Entertainment's help, I couldn't do it."
Realizing Sophia was serious, Amy pondered and said, "If we're really doing this, it could be placed under Gao Men Film, led by Ella, and operated as an art film. But Sophie, aren't luxury brands supposed to maintain restraint and a low profile? Wouldn't this be a bit ostentatious?"
Before Sophia could reply, Nancy shook her head and said, "Luxury brands that are too low-key have probably already disappeared. I've studied Bernard Arnault's management of Dior in private. When he first bought Dior's parent company, Boussac Group, the company was near bankruptcy, and Dior could barely survive. Bernard Arnault sold most of Boussac Group's assets, focused on Dior, and revitalized the brand within a few years. His main strategy was massive advertising campaigns and eye-catching public relations activities to maximize Dior's exposure. In this regard, we actually have an advantage."
Amy nodded and looked at Sophia, saying, "If that's the case, you can talk to Ella later."
Sophia was already contemplating how to produce the documentary and agreed, then asked Amy, "What about you, Amy? What's keeping you busy these days?"
Amy laughed, "A lot of things, I feel like I'm about to fly."
Nancy suddenly interjected, "I can help share some of the load."
Amy poked Nancy's waist, laughing, "Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to replace me."
The two had resolved their previous issues, and as Simon Westeros recently started delegating important decisions, Amy found herself too busy to entertain past worries.
If necessary, she wouldn't mind letting Nancy help with some tasks.
However, Nancy was also extremely busy with Daenerys Entertainment's consumer goods department, Blizzard Studio, and the recently established Daenerys-Analytica-Company. Additionally, her strong management style at Bysight made it impossible for her to spare any extra effort to help Amy.
Nancy pushed away Amy's hand, saying, "Speaking of which, why did the boss faint last time? I don't think it was due to overwork. It feels strange."
Amy replied, "The doctor didn't find any issues, but as you know, his experience three years ago makes it hard to be sure," then turned to Sophia, "Sophie, you just came back from Melbourne. What do you think happened?"
"I'm even less sure," Sophia said nonchalantly, shaking her head but couldn't help recalling her time alone with Simon Westeros in the Tasmanian cabin. Despite limited interactions, she distinctly felt Simon had changed since the fainting incident, but couldn't quite describe how.
Or perhaps, she didn't want to be too explicit.
The three women chatted for a while before returning to mingle with the party guests.
Sophia, with Nancy's introduction, found Ella Deutschman, who was enthusiastically conversing with guests. They began discussing the production of the Gucci documentary.
Ella Deutschman had been focusing on the PR of films like "Rain Man". However, upon hearing the women's proposal, he showed great interest.
There hadn't been many successful fashion documentaries in the industry, with most leaning towards interview-style shows limited to television. But this presented an opportunity.
Moreover, Gucci as a brand and the Gucci family had been full of talking points in recent years.
If executed well, the documentary could even hit the big screen.
Additionally, such a documentary wouldn't require a high production budget, estimated at around three to five million dollars. Since it was for Gucci's promotional needs, Gucci would likely cover part of the cost as sponsorship, further reducing the budget.
Ella Deutschman had 30 million dollars at his disposal, excluding the distribution of "Metropolitan People", "Sisters", and "Sid and Nancy". Gao Men Film had only confirmed production plans for "My Left Foot" and "Driving Miss Daisy", with combined costs under 10 million dollars, leaving plenty of funds for other projects.
After a brief discussion, they tentatively agreed on the Gucci documentary's development plan.
After the party, Ella Deutschman arranged to meet with Sophia the next day to further discuss the project, with the enthusiastic Nancy Brill also participating.
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