With the arrival of 2005, Hollywood's overall box office performance in 2004 increased by more than % from 2003, exceeding 9.3 billion US dollars.
The awards season is also Hollywood's busiest time. brokeback mountain, with its delicate and bold expression and subject matter, swept the best picture awards from the Writers Guild, Actors Guild, and Producers Guild after its release at the beginning of the year.
The most direct competitors at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards are brokeback mountain and the aviator; as for the American inspirational film Million Dollar Baby, it is not favored by the Foreign Press Association.
While Hollywood was bustling, Charles was currently vacationing on Paradise Island near Nassau in the Bahamas, Caribbean Sea.
In a luxurious beachfront villa, Charles, lying on the bed, was kissing Britney Spears.
A mobile phone ringtone broke the silence. As Charles picked up the phone, Britney Spears complained, "Charles, you have too many calls. We've only been here for a week, and you haven't spent any quality time with me!"
This place was specifically arranged by Britney Spears for a vacation with Charles. Britney Spears had made all the arrangements three days after her New Year's Eve celebration in Las Vegas.
"My dear, this is really important!" Charles said, embracing the Lady, as he saw that the caller ID was Donna Williams.
Britney was too lazy to speak, resting her head on Charles's shoulder.
"Donna, you finally called back!" Charles answered the phone.
"Boss, two things. First, Facebook was founded in February last year, and in September, it received angel investment, with a valuation of 5 million US dollars!"
"You mean they don't need investment now?" Charles asked in surprise. His memory wasn't good; who remembers exactly when Facebook was founded? If Camille hadn't mentioned it by chance, he would have forgotten.
"I found the angel investor, and he is willing to sell 5% of Facebook's shares, asking for 2 million US dollars!"
"Buy it, buy it immediately!" Charles did not hesitate. The valuation is 5 million US dollars, so 5% is 250,000 US dollars. This guy is asking for 2 million US dollars; he is indeed a businessman.
"Okay, I'll have someone handle it immediately." Donna now has a team including lawyers, accountants, and risk assessors.
"What about the second thing? Have you found those engineers who resigned from eBay?" Charles had asked Donna to find the founders of YouTube. He only remembered a Chinese American named Chad Hurley, who was originally an engineer at PayPal in the US. After PayPal was acquired by eBay, he seemed to have left with a few colleagues.
Finally, they created YouTube, which was acquired by Google for over 1.6 billion US dollars in just over a year!
"Yes, that's what I was going to say for the second thing. We found them, and they do have the idea of building a video-sharing website!"
"Do they have a name?"
"Yes, they plan to call it YouTube, and they will form a company soon. Boss, you want me to join them and provide funding to help them set up the company. Are you really going to do that?"
"Of course it's real! We can consider this angel investment, right? How are the negotiations going?"
"Boss, I've made a very high offer. Shuguang Fund will invest 1 million US dollars in YouTube, but our stake can only be at most 40%!" Donna Williams reminded him over the phone.
"Oh, that's fine, that's quite a lot!" Charles was quite pleased to hear that.
"Boss, they haven't even launched yet, it's just an idea. Are you sure you want to invest?" Donna asked again.
"Yes, we must invest. My friend said Chad Hurley is a genius and has great potential!" Charles just spouted whatever came to mind. It's venture capital, after all; what kind of venture capital is it without risk?
"Oh, well then, Boss, our shares will also be diluted in subsequent funding rounds!"
"Understood, no problem. Hurry up and get things done as quickly as possible, then you can take a good long vacation!" Charles always made sure Donna had a good rest to spend time with her family.
Putting down the phone, Charles excitedly pressed directly onto Britney Spears.
"Are you done with work?" Britney Spears, beneath him, wrapped her arms around Charles's neck and asked.
"Yes, I'm done!" Charles finished speaking and then kissed the Lady's lips.
An hour later, Charles and Britney Spears, exhausted, lay intertwined on the bed, admiring the sea view outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
Blue sea and sky, seagulls perched on palm tree tops, occasionally spreading their wings and soaring, with distant sailboats and yachts dotting the ocean.
"Are you happy, Charles?" Britney Spears opened her eyes and asked.
Charles nodded, "Yes, I'm happy. The Caribbean Sea is indeed suitable for winter vacations. In the future, we can buy a private island here, build a dock, a vacation villa, and other necessary buildings."
Britney's eyes lit up, and she smiled, "That's a great idea!"
"Are we going back to the country soon? It seems Hollywood is holding the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar after the New Year?"
Charles nodded, "The Golden Globe Awards are soon, and the Oscar is in the latter half of next month. What about you? I remember the Grammy Awards ceremony is at the end of this month, right?"
Britney Spears nodded, "I'm going to the Grammy Awards, so I need to go back to Los Angeles to start preparing!"
Los Angeles, ETA headquarters, in Evelyn Capet's office.
"Charles hasn't returned to Los Angeles yet?" Evelyn asked her assistant.
The assistant shook her head, "Fili said not yet, probably until the day before the Golden Globe Awards."
Evelyn shook her head and smiled, "This year, his brokeback mountain is doing so well, it could contend for the Oscar for Best Picture, but he seems not to care much."
"Recently, there's been a lot of promotion for brokeback mountain, and the cast and crew have been making frequent appearances, so Capet Pictures must have made arrangements," the assistant reminded her.
Evelyn nodded in agreement. brokeback mountain is now showing in over 1,200 cinemas, and its North America box office has exceeded 40 million US dollars!
"Never mind, let him vacation. His company is basically on track now." Evelyn was just a little worried that her son was moving too fast, and Capet Pictures had already started several new projects.
The budget for production and distribution is substantial, and Evelyn didn't know how Charles planned to solve it.
"Go and inform Naomi that I'm inviting her to dinner at Capa Restaurant in Beverly Hills tonight." Evelyn now manages more people and businesses, but she still needs to maintain good relationships with the artists under her.
Naomi Watts had just finished filming Universal's sci-fi monster blockbuster King Kong, a special effects blockbuster with a 200 million US dollar budget, which is highly commercial!