Chasing Stars in Hollywood

Burbank, Universal Studios.

Victoria's Secret CEO and President Grace Nichols was being led by a staff member to a setting that resembled a fairytale town. Meanwhile, Simon had just concluded a production meeting for "Desperate Housewives."

This "fairytale town" was, of course, the Wisteria Lane set that Simon had recreated from memory.

After bidding farewell to the key creatives of "Desperate Housewives," Simon greeted the short, bespectacled woman with black hair before walking with her along the neat asphalt road.

Leslie Wexner remained primarily focused on transforming LTD's fashion business towards a 'fast fashion' operational model, and Simon couldn't spend too much time on this matter. Therefore, the preparation of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was overseen by Grace Nichols.

Grace Nichols, formerly a marketing executive, had just been promoted to the top position at Victoria's Secret by Leslie Wexner last year. This promotion reflected Wexner's business style.

Simon wasn't entirely confident that Wexner could shift LTD's fashion business from a marketing-focused model to a fast fashion operation. However, as long as Victoria's Secret thrived, the acquisition of LTD by Cersei Capital would be considered successful.

Having met several times before, Simon and Grace Nichols quickly moved to the main topic after a casual exchange.

Grace Nichols still had concerns about the media's response to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show: "There's been ongoing criticism in the media that our fashion show is indulging in sensuality and objectifying women. I think we might need to be more conservative this time."

Simon, however, did not share her concerns: "Leslie and I have already discussed this issue. Controversy is inevitable. Regardless of external opinions, our primary focus should be on conveying a message through this show: the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show aims to promote a fashionable, charming, healthy, and romantic lingerie consumption concept."

"I understand that," Grace Nichols continued, "but the media often won't see it that way."

"Some things, even if they're lies, if you tell the public a hundred times, most people will believe them," Simon said, suddenly aware of something. He turned to Grace with a smile. "Alright, I'll help manage the media aspect."

The freedom that Western media often boasted about was largely an illusion when there were no conflicting interests. If certain statements risked causing major advertisers to withdraw their support, that freedom would quickly disappear.

Daenerys Entertainment, or the entire Westeros system, was undoubtedly a major advertiser that no mainstream media outlet could afford to ignore. This included major newspapers and magazines, specialized publications in film, technology, or fashion, as well as cable and broadcast networks, all featuring ads from Westeros companies.

Moreover, North American media platforms were mostly owned by large, comprehensive media corporations. For example, Hearst Group owned numerous newspapers and magazines, and Metropolis/ABC Group owned ABC Television Network, ESPN, AE, and other cable networks. Even if a particular newspaper or TV station didn't have direct ties to the Westeros system, other media under the same parent company might.

Ultimately, most matters in this world boiled down to one thing: interests.

Grace Nichols had brought up the media's criticism in hopes that Simon would leverage the Westeros system's connections to sway public opinion. Sensing this, Simon readily agreed, primarily because LTD was now part of the Westeros system's collective interests and was also a significant advertiser.

To facilitate the preparation of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Simon allocated a soundstage at Universal Studios for the team.

While it might have been better to use a soundstage at Malibu's Daenerys Studios, those were mostly occupied with film production, and more than half were specialized virtual soundstages for shooting. Only the older soundstages at Universal Studios were available.

After acquiring MCA last year, many buildings at Universal Studios were scheduled for demolition to make way for new attractions. Functional soundstages and post-production centers would primarily be used for TV production.

Hollywood film production increasingly favored location shooting, whereas soundstage filming remained widely used for TV series for many years.

The Victoria's Secret team chose a small soundstage approximately 45 meters long and 25 meters wide.

As Simon and Grace approached the soundstage, they saw many slender figures waiting at the entrance, who immediately noticed Simon, causing a stir.

Today's task was the final round of interviews for the Victoria's Secret Angels.

Of the 40 slots, around 10 were already decided, including the 5 planned spokespeople and a few other famous models who would participate in the show but not serve as spokespeople. The remaining 30 slots would be selected from various modeling agencies.

To find the perfect bodies, Simon set very high standards.

Models under 175 cm tall were eliminated, as were those whose faces weren't attractive enough, whose runway walk wasn't good enough, or who couldn't agree to the stringent contract terms.

The first three criteria were easy to apply.

The last criterion was more challenging. Non-famous models were offered only $5,000 for the show, roughly equivalent to a month's salary for a regular worker.

However, once the contract was signed, selected models had to prepare for the November show, which included further body training, dietary control, runway rehearsals, media activities, and so on. Additionally, revenues from the TV broadcast and videotape sales of the show wouldn't involve these models.

Of course, the Victoria's Secret company would cover additional expenses such as fitness and travel for the models over the next four months.

Modeling was a career based on youth.

Spending four months focusing on one event with uncertain outcomes and meager pay deterred many models who were already on their way up.

The Victoria's Secret team didn't make any concessions or force anyone.

Like Hollywood actors, the fashion industry was also full of beautiful women.

For Victoria's Secret, the fashion show was a grand promotional event. For the models participating, it was a rare opportunity to be introduced to the general public. Victoria's Secret and the Angels had a mutually beneficial relationship, and the company had designed a promotion plan specifically for the Angels.

As always, models sought fame through beauty pageants, relationships with celebrities, magazine covers, and high-profile runway shows. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show offered them a dazzling platform to stand before the public.

When Simon and Grace reached the entrance of the soundstage, they were greeted by a chorus of enthusiastic greetings, with many women looking at Simon eagerly. However, possibly due to the large number of people, none dared to approach him directly.

Simon also spotted several familiar faces from his memory but felt little excitement now.

After several preliminary rounds of selection, 100 candidates remained for the final 30 slots.

The waiting area inside the soundstage couldn't accommodate everyone, so the line extended outside.

Inside, the large space had been divided into several work areas, including a makeup room, dressing room, and an area for designing and making the Angels' outfits. The widest open space at the back of the soundstage featured a 20-meter-long runway for the auditions.

The audition process had been designed long before.

Models would change clothes, walk the runway to showcase their bodies and walk, have a brief conversation, and then move on to the next.

Thus, in just one afternoon, the 100 candidates would be quickly processed, leaving many hopeful models without any chance to interact with Simon.

By 6 PM, with the lights bright inside the soundstage, the auditions concluded, and Simon continued to discuss the 10 predetermined slots with the Victoria's Secret team.

For the five spokespeople, Cindy Crawford was the first. This commercially inclined supermodel quickly accepted the three-year spokesperson contract, of course, at a considerable fee of $5 million over three years. This cost was covered by Victoria's Secret and not included in the show's budget.

Next, Yasmeen Ghauri, whom Simon had helped rise to fame by chance last year, was the second. This "waist genie" had originally been one of Victoria's Secret spokespeople. Her appearance, body, and racial diversity made her a perfect choice.

Although Yasmeen Ghauri added Asian representation, a Black model was necessary. This brought in 19-year-old Tyra Banks. Having started modeling at 15, she was considered a mature model at 19 and was sufficiently well-known.

Naomi Campbell was also recommended.

Despite her troubled past leading to her being dropped by Elite Model Management last year, her solid reputation kept her active in the fashion industry under a new agency.

However, Campbell was notoriously difficult to work with. While short-term collaborations were feasible, a long-term spokesperson role promised continuous trouble.

After Cindy Crawford, Yasmeen Ghauri, and Tyra Banks, Simon chose Helena Christensen and Stephanie Seymour for the remaining slots.

While Cindy Crawford's three-year contract cost $5 million, the other four spokespeople were offered $3 million over five years each.

Apart from the five spokespeople, the other five supermodels participating in the show included well-known names like Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer.

The next day was Friday.

It was already July 3rd, with Independence Day falling on a Saturday this year.

As the hottest release window in July, July 3rd saw three major films hitting North American theaters: "The Last of the Mohicans" from Daenerys and Warner Bros., Disney's sci-fi family comedy "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid," and Paramount Pictures' "Patriot Games."

The previous week's "A Time to Kill" had opened with $23.73 million.

Given its subject matter, this was not a high opening but met expectations. The key was its subsequent box office performance.

Although Independence Day fell on a Saturday, many American workers planned their annual leave around this time, keeping the release window popular.

After spending the entire afternoon on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show preparations yesterday, Simon flew to San Francisco again this morning.

After six months

 of preparation, Blockbuster's online platform was set to launch during the Independence Day holiday, and Nancy Brill wanted Simon to attend the launch event.

As the largest video rental chain in North America and possibly the world, the "Blockbuster Online" launch naturally attracted significant media attention. The event was held at the Marriott Hotel conference hall in downtown San Francisco.

When Simon arrived at the Marriott, the launch event was about to begin.

After briefly greeting the attending guests, they all took their seats.

At 10 AM, the event officially started.

Blockbuster executives detailed the development process, application procedures, and future prospects of "Blockbuster Online," while Nancy Brill discussed the challenges Blockbuster faced with Simon.

In the few years since taking over Blockbuster, the chain had grown to over 4,300 stores worldwide. Nancy's ultimate goal was 5,000 stores globally, with 3,500 in North America and 1,500 overseas.

This target would likely be achieved by next year at the latest.

While the peak Blockbuster of Simon's memory had over 9,000 stores worldwide, the current target of 5,000 stores seemed halved. However, under Nancy Brill and the Blockbuster team's management, the optimized operating model and logistics system made this version of Blockbuster stronger than the scale-chasing original.

Nonetheless, Nancy Brill believed that Blockbuster still faced many issues needing resolution.

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