"Rita, what were you talking about with Charles?" Tom Hanks walked over, smiling, and gave Charles an enthusiastic hug.
"Oh, we were talking about this movie, The Terminal. The trailer looks great. Movies co-produced by the great director Steven Spielberg and Oscar Best Actor Tom Hanks are always highly anticipated!" Charles responded with a smile. He still held some respect for Tom Hanks and his wife.
After all, it was Tom Hanks's discerning eye that first discovered and promoted him.
"You're doing well too, Charles! In just three years, your Capet Pictures has developed so much that many people are green with envy," Tom Hanks said with a laugh.
Charles raised his hand helplessly, feigning innocence. "I can't help it. The competition in Hollywood is fierce. If I don't work hard to develop movies, I'll soon be forgotten."
"Haha," all three laughed.
Meanwhile, on the other side, DreamWorks' two giants, Steven Spielberg and the bald Jeffrey Katzenberg, were discussing the IPO of DreamWorks Animation.
"The SEC has issued a notice. DreamWorks Animation will begin public fundraising early next month," Jeffrey, as the chairman of DreamWorks Animation, was very much looking forward to it, as this would allow them to truly expand their operations.
Spielberg also nodded. DreamWorks Animation was going public, but the distribution of animated films was still handled by DreamWorks.
David Griffin, himself, and Jeffrey Katzenberg all held a significant number of shares in DreamWorks Animation, but the one in power was Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had a talent for 3D animation production.
Spielberg, of course, knew that his old friend Katzenberg always harbored a desire to compete with Disney.
Currently, in the animation market, DreamWorks Animation ranks first, followed by Pixar, and Blue Sky Studios, which developed ice age two years ago, can barely be considered third.
However, at present, the animation market is still dominated by DreamWorks Animation and Pixar.
Jeffrey Katzenberg and the current Disney chairman, Michael Eisner, were both previously deputies to Paramount chairman Barry Diller before leaving Paramount together to join Disney.
One was responsible for Disney Animation, and the other for developing Disney live-action films, making significant contributions to Disney's rise.
Then, when competing for the position of Disney chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg lost to Michael Eisner and was subsequently ousted.
The establishment of DreamWorks (SKG) was in the same year Jeffrey was ousted from Disney, with investments from David Griffin, Steven Spielberg, himself, and wealthy businessman Paul Allen.
Disney, under the leadership of Michael Eisner, acquired ABC Television Network, bought Miramax to expand into the independent film market, and increased investment and promotion for Disneyland expansions, becoming the undisputed king of Disney.
Even now, Jeffrey Katzenberg's attitude towards Disney is very clear: he dislikes it. Beating Disney, which started with animation, in his own most skilled field became an obsession.
With the development of 3D animated films, DreamWorks Animation gained its biggest competitor, Pixar, and Pixar's distribution is handled by Disney.
Over the years, the rivalry between Disney and DreamWorks Animation has been common.
From DreamWorks Animation's Antz early on against Pixar's A Bug's Life;
Later, when DreamWorks Animation released Shrek, Pixar came out with Monsters, Inc.;
Then, DreamWorks Animation's Shark Tale went head-to-head with Pixar's Finding Nemo;
There have been many disputes between the two, and they were real, head-on clashes.
"David is managing very little of the company's affairs now, and the music and interactive media departments have also been closed," Spielberg is now only focused on film and television production, and David Griffin is essentially semi-retired.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is the most capable manager among the three for a film entertainment group. Many approaches were difficult to handle within the DreamWorks Group before.
Now that DreamWorks Animation is listed, it might be possible to establish DreamWorks movie theme parks and resorts, just like Disney.
After all, DreamWorks Animation holds many animation IP copyrights, which are powerful tools to attract children.
"Don't worry, DreamWorks Animation won't reduce its output after going public, and with our distribution contracts for animated features, I believe DreamWorks' market share won't decrease!" Jeffrey reassured him, as he was aware of DreamWorks' current situation, and the losses from live-action films were not small.
Spielberg has always been responsible for DreamWorks' live-action film division, producing five to seven films annually, many of which are collaborations with various studios.
war of the worlds was directed by Spielberg himself in collaboration with Paramount, and munich was also directed by him in collaboration with Universal.
He also participated as a producer in a series of films and TV shows such as the island, The Legend of Zorro, and the ring 2, as well as TV series like Into the West.
Spielberg is very busy because he is involved in almost all of DreamWorks' film projects, whether as a director or a producer.
"Don't worry, as long as our box office performance is validated by the market, banks will also have confidence in our film company!" Spielberg has always been confident in himself. For the island, he hired Michael Bay, who is good at handling action and explosion scenes, for a sci-fi blockbuster with a budget of 100 million dollars.
After chatting with Tom Hanks and his wife for a while, Charles discussed films with some independent filmmakers he met.
Cape Pictures now has some money, which naturally attracts independent producers or directors looking for financial support.
"Alas," Charles sighed, seemingly finding no projects worth investing in. The difficulty of finding a good script was indeed too great.
"Charles!" His arm was touched, and Charles turned to see Catherine Zeta-Jones.
"Catherine, good evening!" For the British beauty who had her second child last year, her high Appearance is probably only going to last for the next two or three years.
"By the way, I have something to ask you," Charles wanted to know more about ocean's twelve.
"You participated in ocean's twelve, right?"
Catherine Zeta-Jones nodded. "I was a cameo, not many scenes. A little over a week of filming in Rome was enough!"
"Why didn't I hear about a sequel before?"
"Well, George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh came up with the idea on a whim while attending an event in Rome, after seeing the good reviews and box office of Ocean's Eleven," Catherine didn't hide much.
"After the script was quickly written, they showed it to Brad and Matt, and they immediately hit it off!"
Catherine Zeta-Jones said, making a clapping gesture with both hands.
"Come sit down for a bit," Charles said.