After attending the production meeting, Simon spent the following days buried in script revisions.
Although he worked from home, Simon couldn't afford to be complacent. The crew members came daily to pick up Simon's revised drafts, and David Giler and Brian De Palma frequently communicated with Simon over the phone about various details.
The main creators of 'The Butterfly Effect' had been confirmed, and all the funding was in place, so the production schedule was very tight, with filming expected to begin in early October.
Simon needed to complete the second draft of the script within the next three weeks. Then, a week before filming began, Simon would need to make further adjustments and revisions to some details of the script based on the specific preparation status of the project. These were the two script revision tasks included in Simon's contract with Fox.
After completing these tasks, Fox would progressively pay the remaining $60,000, and Simon would have completely fulfilled his contract. During the future filming process, if the production company wanted to revise the script again, they would need to sign a new contract and pay additional compensation.
While busy revising the script for 'The Butterfly Effect', Simon also didn't give up on the preparations for 'Run Lola Run'.
At David Giler's recommendation, Simon spent $3,000 to hire a production assistant to help him complete the detailed budget for 'Run Lola Run'.
Simon had originally intended to do this work himself, hoping to gain some experience.
All the memories in his mind came from professional technical personnel. Although Simon in his previous life had some production experience, it was not suitable for Hollywood, and this aspect could be said to be a weakness for Simon.
It was precisely because of this that after Simon misremembered the budget cost of 'Run Lola Run', even though he noticed something was amiss, he, like a newborn calf, continued planning with his idealised budget.
Fortunately, the end result was not bad.
Giving up on personally creating the film budget was, in a way, a result of being helpless to do otherwise.
The subsequent revisions for 'The Butterfly Effect' would still take a total of one month. If Simon were to personally complete the very tedious film budget, it might also take a month. Then, fundraising, assembling the crew, casting actors, and so on, would take at least another one or two months.
Even if everything went smoothly and all preparations were complete, it would likely be December by then, with Christmas and New Year's Day approaching. To avoid frequent production halts and increased budgets, Simon would then have to delay until after the New Year.
Now, $3,000 took care of all of that.
Simon would work for a month and receive $60,000. Hiring a production assistant for a month only cost $3,000.
The cost-effectiveness was quite high.
Simon also realized from this that having others do the work was indeed the way to go.
Giving up the idea of doing everything himself, he could revise 'The Butterfly Effect' script and prepare 'Run Lola Run' simultaneously. As long as he could secure the funding, the film could start shooting in October and be completely finished before the Sundance Film Festival next year, as was Simon's plan.
Simon worked diligently for two weeks, and good news also came from David Giler's side: Orion Pictures was very interested in 'Run Lola Run'. Coincidentally, Brian De Palma was planning to host a cocktail party this Saturday, and Mike Medavoy, the president of Orion Pictures, agreed to make time to chat with Simon at the party.
Since he was going to attend a formal event, Simon made a special trip out on Saturday morning to buy a formal suit and leather shoes.
Nearing noon, Simon had just returned to his villa in the Montana district and was trying on the outfit he had bought that morning when the doorbell rang.
Today wasn't a workday, and Simon didn't know many people, so he went to open the door with some confusion, and then saw Janette Johnston standing gracefully at the door, carrying a handbag.
The woman looked noticeably more beautiful today, wearing a pink knee-length dress and white strappy sandals, which gave her a playful, girlish charm.
However, Simon had already deeply experienced the terrifying potential for this delicate exterior to crumble at any moment. He glanced at the woman at the door, then looked around, and subconsciously asked, "Where's Kathryn?"
Janette was already quite displeased with Simon's distracted attitude. She had gone to great lengths to get dressed up, and he wasn't even looking at her? Hearing Simon's question, she became even more annoyed: "How interesting, Kate and I aren't conjoined twins".
Simon nodded helplessly, feeling a strong urge to close the door, but thinking of the consequences, he gave up on that fleeting idea. He stepped aside, letting Janette in, and asked again, "Janette, is there something you need me for?"
Janette didn't answer immediately. She took a small turn in the empty living room, blinked her big eyes, and asked Simon innocently, "Where's the furniture?"
A house rented for $2,700 a month, and it's empty. How dare you ask that, don't you feel any damn guilt? Simon secretly grumbled. He shrugged unhappily, "Yeah, where is the furniture?"
If it were his own house, being a bit empty wouldn't matter; he could slowly decorate and furnish it. But this was a rented house, and Simon was a bachelor, so he really didn't have the heart to meticulously take care of it.
After moving in, Simon had only simply added a few essential pieces of furniture like office desks and chairs, a wardrobe, and a mattress, leaving the rest of the space empty.
During this time, Simon had even contacted a real estate agent, trying to sublet the house, but the few potential tenants who heard that the villa not only had no furniture but also had such a high asking price immediately gave up the idea of renting.
Now, Simon could only patiently endure until the one-year contract expired, then check out and be done with it.
Janette seemed oblivious to Simon's resentment, and in a blink of an eye, she became happy again: "But, this is good too. We can redecorate this place together".
Simon suspiciously caught a word: "We…?"
Jeanette said enthusiastically, "Yes, Simon and Janette. Doesn't it sound like Bonnie and Clyde?"
Simon nodded, took a step forward, and placed his hand on Jeanette's back: "Come on".
Feeling Simon's broad hand gently pushing her forward, Janette's fair face immediately flushed. She obediently moved with Simon's force and said, "You little rascal, it's noon right now. But, hmm, the basement is actually not bad either".
Simon forced himself to take a deep breath. He went to the door, pulled it open, pushed the woman out, and said, "Janette, it was nice of you to come. Goodbye now".
Janette stood blankly at the door, blinked a few times, then turned around, staring fixedly at Simon who was standing inside the door, with a peculiar look that said, 'I'm watching you, dare you close the door.'
Simon genuinely didn't dare to close the door. After a moment of standoff, he still gave in, and 'restarted' by saying, "Hi, Janette, what brings you here?"
Janette gave Simon a disdainful look, re-entered the house, pulled out a sixteen inch picture frame from her handbag, and handed it to Simon, saying, "Here, coward".
Well, alright then. It seems I have another nickname.
Simon thought this as he took the picture frame and found it was a very crude crayon drawing. Several strange little figures with an alien-like appearance held hands on a patch of grass, surrounded by flowers, plants, and trees, with the sun and moon hanging high above.
The entire painting clearly showed it was a child's work.
Then, noticing a few small lines of text in the lower right corner of the painting, Simon realized that this was a very special thank-you letter from UNICEF. It thanked Simon for his generous donation of $500,000 to the foundation, and the painting was by a disadvantaged Latin American child who would receive aid.
The $500,000 was clearly the compensation Simon had received from Matthew Broderick a while ago.
At the time, Simon casually gave it to Kathryn, asking her to donate it for him. Although 'Run Lola Run' was currently short on funds, Simon didn't regret his earlier action at all; he had never considered that money to be his rightful possession. If Janette hadn't brought this painting today, Simon would have almost forgotten about it.
Janette waited for Simon to examine it for a moment before speaking again, her tone much more normal. She said, "Actually, there were some receipts and such, but I guessed you wouldn't be interested, so I just threw them away. I personally framed this painting, what do you think?"
Simon nodded and said, "It's very good. I'll hang it up later, and this room will finally have some decoration".
"Well, that's that, my business is done".
As Janette spoke, she took the picture frame from Simon's hand again, looked left and right, and found an inconspicuous small hook on the wall opposite the living room entrance, likely left by the previous residents of the place. So she walked over and directly hung the picture frame on the wall.
After stepping back a few paces to examine it, she nodded with satisfaction. Only then did Janette walk back to Simon, take his arm, and say, "Alright, let's go have lunch, your treat".
Simon was forcibly dragged out by Janette, and he weakly suggested, "Actually, there's still some spaghetti I cooked last night in the kitchen, enough for both of us".
"Don't worry, I'll pour it out when I get back".
"Uh, can you not come back?"
"Kate went to Arizona, and I'm scared living alone in Malibu, so I'll stay here with you for a few days".
"Janette, that's not a good idea".
Janette lightly patted Simon, "Alright, I'm just kidding with you, you timid little boy".
The two walked out of the villa, and the woman's burgundy Ford was parked by the roadside. Simon had rarely gone out these days, so he hadn't found time to buy a car. At this moment, he could only drive Janette's car out to eat.
Opening the car door, Janette very proactively gave the driver's seat to Simon, instructing the boy to drive all the way to a French restaurant near the Brentwood Country Club.
After sitting down in the restaurant, Janette suddenly realized that Simon was wearing a very formal shirt, dress pants, and brand-new leather shoes. Before this, Simon had always dressed casually in T-shirts and jeans. Simon was a typical clothes hanger, and this formal attire didn't make him look out of place at all. The somewhat oblivious Janette hadn't really noticed it until now.
Now that she noticed this change, Janette naturally had to dig into the reason.
And then through no choice of his own, Simon gained a female companion who would accompany him to tonight's cocktail party...