After work, I still chose the restaurant at noon for my meeting with Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Butler.
Although he met occasionally for more than a year and was invited to attend the grand birthday party at the beginning of the year, Peter Butler still felt as if he had been separated from others when he saw Simon again.
Earlier last year, his Los Angeles Times article about Simon also caused controversy over his praise of an 18-year-old. But now, even the most conceited people can only be described as miracles in the face of Simon's achievements over the past year.
After a casual dinner, and the waiter left, Peter Butler turned to the subject and asked, "Simon, how do you feel about the Forbes rankings?"
Simon said with a smile: "these days are too busy to feel much."
"I don't know how many people will envy you for your busyness," Peter Butler joked, and continued: "recently, there has been a lot of controversy about your personal wealth on the Forbes list. Do you think the figure of $3.1 billion is accurate?"
Simon didn't want to cause a series of chain problems, so he nodded and said, "Forbes is still very professional."
There is still a lot of time for dinner, and Peter Butler is not in a hurry to discuss this issue in depth. Instead, he said: "speaking, I recently got a set of data, which is obviously influenced by your series of success in Hollywood. The number of students applying for film and television colleges in North America this year has more than tripled compared with the past. Do you want to give some suggestions to these young people?"
"I'm actually a young man," Simon said with a smile. "Besides, I don't like to give advice because I always think it doesn't make much sense."
Peter Butler said: "it seems that you haven't changed much from a year ago. You are still a pessimist who is very alienated from the world."
Simon was noncommittal: "maybe."
Peter Butler said tentatively, "do you mind if I write this judgment in the article?"
Simon said, "it's your freedom."
"It seems you don't care too much about what the media thinks," Peter Butler said, adding, "well, let's talk about movies, Simon. From the original "Lola Run" to the recent "instinct", in two years, you have dominated six films, and all of them have achieved amazing box office results, which has never happened in the whole history of Hollywood. So, can you tell me what is the key to the success of these films? "
Simon thought about it and said, "maybe these films just cater to the needs of the audience."
"As we all know, the taste of the movie audience is always the most difficult thing to guess, otherwise the risk of the industry would not be so great," Peter Butler asked. So, how do you judge that the films you create and choose just meet the needs of the audience? "
"It's classified as personal talent," Simon said, shaking his head with a smile. "And, Peter, if there's a certain measure of judgment, do you think I'll tell you?"
Peter Butler also realized that the problem he just had was a little silly.
In two years, all six films sold well at the box office. If Simon really had a knack, and no Hollywood film company would mind paying any price to get it, how could he tell himself casually.
However.
After carefully considering the conversation, Peter Butler suddenly realized one thing. He looked at Simon and said, "Simon, do you really have some talent to ensure the success of a film?"
"Peter, there are too many variables in a movie from script to film. Even after the film is finished, the publicity process of the film will have an unpredictable impact on its market performance, so I just try to make sure that a film is the best from beginning to end. "
Peter Butler retorted: "but Simon, few people in Hollywood joke about tens of millions of dollars in investment. Everyone is trying to do their best in their own projects."
The waiter just delivered two appetizers. Simon waited for a moment, pointed to the seafood salad on the plate and said, "in fact, Hollywood is very similar to the catering industry. No matter how hard Michelin chefs try, they can hardly do better than three-star chefs."
More than lunch, dinner was served one after another, and their conversation continued.
Although Simon can't be without reservation, compared with many media that can't get contact with Simon, Peter Butler still gets enough to write an exclusive article Wood.
It's nine o'clock in the evening after dinner.
Sitting in the car, looking at the city lights by the sea road, Simon's thoughts still stay in the conversation with Peter Butler tonight.In more than two years, from nothing to billions of dollars now, even though he was full of confidence in the future, Simon still could not predict that he could achieve this level in such a short time. Simon really spoke from his heart about how Peter Butler felt at the dinner just now, because he rose so quickly and suddenly that he didn't have much time to feel that he had already stood on the top of the pyramid.
Maybe.
It's time to stop and think about it.
Simon has always been very clear that the two major industries under his name, westero company and Denise entertainment, have accumulated a lot of problems with such rapid expansion.
The most obvious point is that he, the third richest man in the Federation, does not have a matching network and considerable social influence. All he has is a vague personal fame and a huge fortune, even like a child standing in the downtown with a gold nugget.
It is true that the United States is a very mature and developed capitalist country, but it does not mean that having capital means having everything. After all, this is a world controlled by human beings. Human beings make rules, control rules, and destroy rules.
If he continues to run like this, Simon thinks that one day, he will find that the commercial territory he built in a short time may be as fragile as the houses of the two lazy pigs in the story of three little pigs.
It was only when Land Rover stopped in the courtyard of the mansion that Simon regained his mind.
There was light in the living room of the villa, but there was no sign of Janet. Simon takes off his tie and goes to the living room next to the living room. He finds Janet and Sophia fessie sitting on the sofa watching TV together. They are both enjoying a glass of red wine.
Seeing Simon, Janet put down her goblet, got up and hugged him again. She said, "Sophia has brought us a very good red wine from France. Would you like to try it?"
"Good."
Simon nodded, went forward, shook hands with Sophia fishy, exchanged a few words, and sat down on the sofa next to him.
Sophia Fischer sat down again and watched Janet help Simon with a glass of red wine. She shrank into a man's arms and took the initiative to find a topic. She said, "this is the 1982 red wine of St. Julian District of Bordeaux. In that year, the comprehensive score of climate, precipitation, light and other aspects of this region reached 98 points. In the previous 20 years, no major wine producing areas in the world could find such outstanding wine It may be difficult to reappear in the future. That year's red wine will definitely become a classic worthy of collection. "
Janet waited for Sophia to finish and said, "I'm still talking with Sophia about buying a winery during the day. Simon, what do you think?"
Simon took a sip from his goblet and said with a smile, "I don't know much about this. You think it's OK."
"Then I'll let Sophia start looking," Janet helped Simon take off his tie and put it aside. She added, "Sophia has brought 16 sets of real estate information this time, including London, Paris, Rome, Venice Anyway, all the big cities in Europe. I have a look. They are all wonderful houses. "
As Janet says this, Sophia Fischer notices Simon's searching eyes and takes the initiative to hand Simon a pile of information under the coffee table. Simon took Janet's soft body and put the information on the woman's lap to read.