This year, the Sundance Film Festival opened on January 15. Robert Redford personally called Simon to invite him to the festival's opening ceremony. Coincidentally, it was a Friday, so Simon planned to take Janet for a weekend getaway to Park City.
The Westeros system had grown so vast that Simon could always find endless work if he chose to. Though he filled his weekdays with a packed schedule, he now ensured he set aside enough time for rest and relaxation.
The opening ceremony was set for Friday afternoon at 1 PM, held as usual at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City. Compared to Simon's first visit when "Run Lola Run" was featured, Sundance had grown significantly over the years.
In the past six years, Sundance had showcased a series of critically and commercially successful films such as "Run Lola Run," "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "Some Girls," "Metropolitan," and "Reservoir Dogs." Even the massively successful romantic comedy "Pretty Woman" had its screenplay emerge from Sundance. The festival had also nurtured a new generation of filmmakers, including Simon himself.
All these factors had steadily increased the festival's prominence, creating a positive feedback loop that attracted more filmmakers and audiences each year.
Simon and Janet arrived at the Egyptian Theatre ten minutes early. The atmosphere outside the theatre was buzzing with energy, a stark contrast to the quieter scene during "Run Lola Run's" showing. While there was still no red carpet, the press and fans gathered in large numbers, creating an electric atmosphere.
Navigating through the enthusiastic crowd, amid the media frenzy and fans' screams, Simon and Janet finally entered the theatre. Robert Redford was there to greet them personally, along with Robert De Niro, who was also attending the festival.
When Redford had initially called, he hadn't expected Simon to accept. Given Simon's now-legendary status, even the rapidly growing Sundance seemed small in comparison. Yet, to Redford's delight, Simon agreed to attend.
For Sundance, Simon's presence was a powerful endorsement. Just his attendance could elevate the festival's prestige and make numerous initiatives easier to accomplish. After all, if Westeros appeared, what couldn't be achieved?
After a quick round of greetings and hugs, they moved backstage for more introductions and conversations.
Robert De Niro's presence was tied to the opening film of the festival, "This Boy's Life," in which he starred. This biographical drama tells the story of a boy and his mother who move to Seattle and face a series of challenges.
Simon was also familiar with the young actor playing the 'boy,' Leonardo DiCaprio, and the actress playing his mother, Ellen Barkin. Simon knew Barkin from acquiring the rights to "In the Name of the Father" from her husband, Gabriel Byrne, through Gaumont Films last year.
The opening ceremony started promptly.
As everyone took their seats in the screening hall, Redford, as usual, took charge of the proceedings.
Simon had already reviewed the lineup for this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Gaumont had two films in the competition. One was an in-house production titled "Bodies, Rest & Motion," starring Tim Roth, Phoebe Cates, and Bridget Fonda. The film explores the lives, desires, promises, and journeys of a group of young people in a small Arizona town. With a production budget of $2.5 million, it wasn't Gaumont's flagship project for 1993. Simon had seen the finished film and found it decent but not exceptional, although it fit well within the Sundance ethos. Despite this, its chances of winning were slim, given the strong competition.
The other film was "El Mariachi," by a new Mexican director, Robert Rodriguez, who had self-financed the film with a mere $7,000. Given Daenerys Entertainment's close ties with Gaumont, this film caught their attention as soon as it was submitted. Gaumont acquired it for $100,000 and also secured Rodriguez for his next project with Daenerys.
Beyond these two films, Simon was interested in a few others, including "Boxing Helena" and Bryan Singer's directorial debut, "Public Access."
"Boxing Helena," starring Julian Sands and Sherilyn Fenn, tells the dark tale of a surgeon who amputates the limbs of a woman he is obsessed with, keeping her confined in a box. "Public Access," on the other hand, was noted in Simon's memory as the film that would win the Grand Jury Prize at this Sundance.
Though aware of "Public Access" and its producer's interest, Simon did not instruct Gaumont to buy its rights. Simon had a personal aversion to Bryan Singer, not due to Singer's rumored personal controversies, as Hollywood was rife with people of worse conduct. Hollywood is, to a large extent, a hunting ground with a brutal food chain. If one doesn't rise to the top as a hunter or chooses to stay in the industry without leaving, one must accept their place.
Simon's distaste for Singer stemmed from his tendency to inject his personal preferences heavily into his films, like the "X-Men" series, where the films were overpopulated with attractive young men, creating a distinctly homoerotic atmosphere.
With no other immediate engagements, Simon decided to stay for the screening of the opening film after the ceremony.
As evening fell, they left the Egyptian Theatre. After dining with Redford and others, they headed to the Sundance Institute near the base of the Park City West ski slopes for the opening night party.
"Regarding 'Quiz Show,' Simon, it's a pity we couldn't work together again on this project. I definitely preferred collaborating with Daenerys Entertainment. But the project was led by Michael, and you know about his relationship with Eisner," Redford said, referring to Robert De Niro as they chatted at the party, his tone carrying a hint of regret.
"Quiz Show," based on a real-life 1950s television scandal, tells the story of a quiz show producer who feeds answers to a contestant for the sake of ratings.
Last year, Redford had worked with Daenerys Entertainment on two films: "Indecent Proposal" and "A River Runs Through It."
Both films were significant successes. "Indecent Proposal" was a massive hit, and "A River Runs Through It," released in September, grossed over $40 million, bringing good returns to Daenerys Entertainment and helping to establish Brad Pitt, who would later be cast as Superman, as a rising star.
With Redford's contract at CAA and the success of his recent films, his next project, "Quiz Show," quickly drew significant interest. As soon as the project was announced, Daenerys Entertainment expressed interest. However, competition from other studios was fierce.
Ultimately, due to Michael Ovitz's relationship with Disney's Michael Eisner and their offer, "Quiz Show" went to Disney. The film recently started production, aiming for a holiday release at the end of the year.
Discussing the business of films, it's clear that if Daenerys Entertainment had increased their bid, they might have secured the project. But Simon, recalling the film's performance, had no real interest in it, using it as a strategic maneuver instead. During the final bidding rounds, Simon personally halted any further offers.
Disney acquired the film but ended up raising its production budget from an initial $30 million to $40 million due to the bidding war. With a $40 million budget, the film needed to match that in North American box office gross to break even across all channels.
Simon remembered that "Quiz Show" only grossed around $20 million at the box office. Now with Disney owning it, they would face financial losses and miss out on valuable holiday release slots.
This was another move in Simon's broader strategy to subtly undermine Disney. Since deciding to constrain Disney's influence, Simon had been deliberate in his actions. The "Quiz Show" project was just one more piece on the chessboard.
Of course, Simon maintained a composed demeanor, showing a look of regret. "Quiz Show" is an intriguing project. It's a shame we couldn't work together this time, but I'm sure we'll have more opportunities in the future."
After chatting for a while, Redford moved on to mingle with other guests, leaving Simon to approach De Niro to discuss another project.
Janet, who had been holding Simon's arm, smiled once Redford was out of earshot. "You didn't really want that project, did you?"
Simon nodded. "No, it was just a way to trip up Disney."
"Did Eisner offend you?" Janet asked.
"No," Simon replied, greeting Denzel Washington who had just walked over before continuing in a lower voice, "For Daenerys to keep expanding, we have to squeeze out other studios as much as possible."
Over the past year, Daenerys Entertainment's films had claimed nearly 40% of the North American box office. In the film industry, this was an impressive, almost ceiling-level figure. With Hollywood still home to seven major studios, Daenerys' aggressive expansion had pushed the remaining six to a combined market share of under 10%.
Take Sony's Columbia Pictures, for instance. Their top-grossing film last year was Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," which barely crossed the $80 million mark by December 31, 1992. Out of 15 films released by Columbia that year, only "Bram Stoker's Dracula" had a significant box office return, with the rest earning less than $50 million. Collectively, Columbia's 15 films earned $330 million, capturing a mere 6.1% of the year's $5.36 billion total box office.
After these disappointing results, rumors resurfaced about Sony potentially pulling out of Hollywood.
Paramount had a similar plight. Their highest-grossing film, "Patriot Games," released during the summer, barely reached
$83.35 million. Paramount's total box office from their 16 releases was $310 million, resulting in a 5.7% market share, even lower than Columbia's.
The other four major studios fared slightly better but still couldn't compare to Daenerys Entertainment's dominance.
As for second-tier studios like New Line and Orion, they barely managed to hold 11% of the market share, without any standout hits.
Clearly, Daenerys Entertainment's competitors were being pushed to their limits.
In this scenario, for Daenerys to continue growing, they had to pursue a strategy of weakening or even eliminating their competition.
While large studios like Disney were not immediate targets, Daenerys could still use various tactics to weaken them. Simon's more immediate goal was to eliminate Hollywood's smaller, independent studios with their own distribution capabilities. Recently, Simon had effectively sidelined Miramax, and Orion and New Line were struggling under Simon's strategic maneuvers.
Independent studios aspiring to grow must possess independent distribution capabilities. Without that, they would always be subsidiaries to major studios. When Simon started Daenerys Entertainment, he aimed to break this monopoly. Now, having switched sides, his goal was to further consolidate Daenerys' control over Hollywood's distribution channels.
After completing the planned consolidation, small independent producers could still exist, but only as subsidiaries to major studios. They would serve as content providers rather than competitors. Any company showing ambitions to venture into distribution would be swiftly and ruthlessly suppressed by Daenerys Entertainment.
As Simon and Janet quietly conversed, they approached De Niro, pausing their talk to discuss another project with him.
After working with Michael Mann on "The Last of the Mohicans" last year, Mann had presented a new project titled "Heat."
"Heat" happened to be one of Simon's favorite Hollywood movies. He had vividly recalled it while looking out over the glittering lights of Los Angeles from the Beverly Hills party at Brian De Palma's house when he first entered the industry.
Despite many changes over the years, "Heat" remained on track. Mann had conceptualized the project in the 1980s, and with the success of "The Last of the Mohicans," it had finally received a green light from Daenerys Entertainment.
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