American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 133 Dragon Tamers: Royal Island

"Oh—Isa—the scenery here is amazing—"

"Look, those rolling mountains look like clumps of cotton candy!"

"The water here is so beautiful! It's such a deep blue! It looks much cleaner than the Thames!"

"My God! There are archipelagos over there!"

"Isa, from my perspective, doesn't that island look like a few giant sea turtles that suddenly appeared out of the ocean?"

Catherine clung to her younger sister's arm, extended her right arm, and excitedly pointed at everything within sight.

At this moment, the sky, the earth, the sea, and the islands seemed to have become a canvas that she could knead at will. With a stroke of her brush, these natural landscapes would transform into one lovely pattern after another, lying quietly on the canvas.

“Oh—Miss Catherine—you have such excellent taste—”

A middle-aged white man, wearing a suit jacket, a trench coat, and a scarf, with a bright red nose, smiled and said, "What you just mentioned are the unique highlights that set our 'Eilean Righ' apart from other islands."

"Because our 'Royal Isle' is located right on the coastline of County Argyll, we have an unobstructed view of the mountains in western Scotland. And because we are very close to the Slytherin Isles to the west, we can perfectly capture the scattered landscape with our naked eyes. This is a view that other independent islands do not have. Most importantly, our island also has a very rich historical background, with two Iron Age sites on it..."

April 23, 2004, Scotland.

Isabella was with her mother and older sister.

Accompanied by the bald Valentine O'Connor.

They were examining the islands that the other party had chosen for them.

This 'Royal Island' boasts stunning scenery that pleases them. Its 261-acre, approximately 1056229-square-meter area can even be described as enormous, as a standard football field is only 7140 square meters.

This island is roughly the size of 150 football fields, and once the land is leveled, it could even be used to build an airport.

However, this island does not need an airport.

Because it is so close to Scotland.

Its actual location is Loch Craignishe in Argyllshire, Scotland. Loch Craignishe is a bay near the Jura Strait. Even by boat, it takes less than an hour to get from the island to the mainland. By helicopter, it is even faster, taking a maximum of twenty minutes one way and less than an hour round trip.

To put it dramatically, if you think you're a good swimmer, you could even swim to the island.

It was precisely because this island was close to the secular world yet could embrace seclusion and independence that Isabella longed for it.

Well, actually, back in the middle of the year, the bald Valentine had already presented the island he had carefully selected to Isabella. The reason she only looked at the island now was simply because she was too busy.

If it weren't for the fact that Christmas is approaching and the Goblet of Fire crew is already on holiday with filming not resuming until after the new year, Isabella wouldn't be visiting the island at this time.

because--

"Oh—although the scenery here is nice—and the island is large, but—"

The little beaver tightened its down jacket, blew its nose, and pursed its lips, complaining, "But the winters here are just too cold! This sea breeze is almost blowing me crazy!"

"Oh—darling—the way you're saying that—it doesn't sound like something an Englishman would say at all—"

Vivian had already turned her head away when Isabella complained of being cold.

Then, the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat.

Because she saw that her eldest daughter, Catherine, straightened her younger daughter Isabella's clothes and hat the moment she complained of being cold.

On the surface, Catherine's behavior seemed perfectly normal, even somewhat heartwarming, but...

As Catherine pulled down the brim of Isabella's knitted hat, she also covered her eyes completely.
When Catherine helped Isabella pull up the scarf, she also wrapped it tightly around Isabella's face, binding her like a mummy;
Not only that, it seems they felt that wrapping it loosely might cause it to fall off?

As she finished, Catherine even grabbed both ends of Isabella's scarf and tied a knot for her from behind.

"Oh—Keisha—are you trying to strangle me—"

Isabella protested loudly.

"No way! You're just cold. I'm trying to keep you warm!"

Catherine, dressed like a terrorist, put her hands in her pockets with satisfaction. After "fucking" her younger sister like a Japanese person, Catherine chuckled and then naturally looked at her mother.

"Mom, what do you want to say?"

Vivian was both amused and exasperated by the incredibly smooth transition. After watching her youngest daughter untie her scarf by herself, she added, "I say—a Scottish winter is like the three witches in William Shakespeare's Macbeth."

“‘There always seemed to be dark clouds and thick fog, a gray and gloomy scene, cold and somewhat gloomy and biting.’”

“I remember Isa had read Macbeth.”

"So, she said the winters in Scotland are too cold?"

"Oh—has she forgotten all the knowledge she learned from her teacher?"

Her quotations and allusions transformed Vivian into a cultured young woman.

Isabella, who had already escaped, covered her face with her scarf and said, "Mom, even if you could recite all of Shakespeare's poems, your actions still wouldn't bring me enough warmth, so... am I really your biological daughter?"

"..." Vivian stopped smiling and rolled her eyes at Isabella.

"Hahaha--"

Catherine burst into laughter, her body went limp, and she leaned directly onto her mother's shoulder.

"Mom—look at Isha, she's getting more and more mischievous—"

She's sowing discord!
Vivian snorted, put her hands in her coat pockets, and glared at her eldest daughter. "You're so good with words."

"Go down the mountain! Go back to the house!"

Before she finished speaking, Vivian had already taken a step.

This situation made Isabella, who was almost freezing to death, as happy as a little duck, and she followed along with it, wagging her wings.

Catherine pouted and followed behind, looking unhappy.

Okay, she was faking it.

Royal Island is not an isolated island.

His previous owner was named Johnston.

That's right, it was the foreign teacher of the last emperor, Puyi.

Johnston spent his later years on this island, which was then inherited by his descendants after his death.

Therefore, the island has complete living facilities.

The island's current owner is a Goldman Sachs partner in the UK.

This guy bought the island in 1999, intending to turn it into a vacation paradise. However, the performance of the fund he managed in recent years has not been good, which has led to a significant decline in his income. He is unable to continue to support the development of the island, so he decided to put the entire island up for sale.

Then, the price is very attractive, at only £150 million.

That's right.

An island nearly the size of 150 football fields is selling for only £150 million.

The reason for selling it so cheaply is simple: it's difficult to develop.

"Mrs. Haywood, Isa, Miss Catherine, although the island has excellent scenery and location, it is very complicated to build. There are three major problems. If you cannot overcome them, I do not recommend that you buy it."

"Let's start with the first point. Although there is fresh water beneath this island, the water level is at 310 feet."

“This depth wouldn’t be a problem on land, but on an island… it would make getting water extremely difficult.”

"Secondly, there are two Iron Age sites on this island, which are protected by law and cannot be developed by anyone. Therefore, the development of the island has natural limitations."

"Finally, the third point is that because this island is so big and close to the mainland, the number of security personnel it will need after it is officially developed will be astronomical. Without twenty or thirty people, it will be difficult to guard the core area."

"So, the price of £1.5 million is just the beginning. To build a dock here, secure water resources, lay solar and diesel power facilities, and bring fiber optic cables from Scotland to ensure communication, this whole setup will cost at least £50 million. And if you want to demolish and rebuild the houses on the island..."

"That would cost at least 100 million."

"Because the current house is still the retirement farm left by Sir Johnston, it can only accommodate ten to fifteen people in total."

"and……"

"It's not very good-looking."

Upon entering the villa on the island, the bald Valentine immediately spilled out all the information he knew.

Uh……

These things were actually in the materials he gave Isabella.

but……

He was just worried that the young lady was too busy to look at it closely!
The kind words made the little girl smile.

After glancing at the bodyguard beside him, the man decisively turned around, guarded the door, and prevented the island agent from entering the house.

As he left, the little girl shared her opinion: "I think it's great."

"Hehe." Catherine chuckled.

She also thought it was pretty good.

"I can buy it, and I can develop it myself, but before I buy it, I want to confirm one thing, and that is the security team..."

Isabella glanced at Valentine, then looked at her mother.

Mom understood what she meant, nodded, and said, "Iron Age sites need to be protected. I asked Annie, and she asked around. As long as we fence off those two places, we can legally buy equipment."

“Under normal circumstances, it is only for use in protected areas. In other cases… she said that 50 million could complete all the procedures.”

"This procedure is not only valid within our country, but it's also common in the Commonwealth, and beyond that..."

"Then we need to add a step to the process."

"Add a little more money, and then you can get diplomatic immunity."

"Oh, then this will do."

Isabella stretched and laughed, "I'm going to build this place just like Edensol in Derbyshire!"

Ok.

Isabella's core purpose in buying the island was to legally use certain equipment.

She admitted that she cared a lot about her dog's life... oops... I mean, her raccoon's life.

Vivian had no objection to this.

As for Catherine...

She also hopes that her life can be peaceful and quiet.

but……

“Oh—Isa—I feel like you and the manor…are somehow connected? Building a manor on an island really…I feel like it’s a bit of a pipe dream, it seems so difficult…”

"No? I think it's fine, because there are real-life examples."

"What? Someone actually built a manor on an island?" Catherine asked, somewhat surprised.

Isabella nodded. "Of course, Mar-a-Lago is an island estate, isn't it?"

"..."

Catherine remained silent.

She knew Mar-a-Lago; it was indeed an island estate.

Furthermore, Mar-a-Lago only occupies 80,000 square meters, while Royal Island…

It's reasonable to build a 100,000-square-meter estate on an island that covers one million square meters, right?
That's not big!

Only half the size of Buckingham Palace~
Now that the important business was done, Isabella packed her bags and left.

She wouldn't spend the night on the island.

Just as Valentine said, the houses here are as dilapidated as a farm.

On the way back, although the yacht blocked out the cold air from outside, the zero-degree environment when entering and exiting still made Isabella feel a little uncomfortable. So, she waved her elbow and nudged her older sister, "Keisha, what do you think about us buying another island in the Southern Hemisphere? That way we can have endless summers."

Isabella's words made Vivian burst out laughing. Catherine rolled her eyes at her and said, "I have no objection, I also like Infinite Summer, but... do you have enough money? Aren't you still making dramas? Aren't you still making animations?"

"Oh—Keisha—you know how fast I make money—"

"Now, I only need to take one breath and a hundred million US dollars will be deposited into my account."

The little beaver wagged its tail cockily.

She added, "And—Keisha—please stop talking about work during your vacation—"

"I only get a few days off a year, isn't it good to relax and have a good time?"

Isabella doesn't like to talk about work during her time off.

Because after talking to her, she would feel like she was dirty.

Furthermore, she has always felt that talking about work during vacation is not a good sign.

If I had to describe it, it would be like someone saying, "I'll quit after this job," and then they're done for.

She always felt that if she talked about work on her days off, jobs would come knocking on her door.

Faced with this kind of mystical dilemma, Catherine could only shrug and spread her hands.

no way.

It's because she doesn't have a job.

This made it difficult for her to understand Isabella's thought process.

hee hee~
However, just as they were preparing to leave London for their pre-arranged Christmas holiday in South Africa...

She had just arrived at London Airport when the security guard assigned to her by Disney suddenly told Isabella that her boss was looking for her.

Well, although her mother has acquired a small security company with more than fifty employees, it's not uncommon for security teams to kidnap their bosses, so for safety reasons, they still use the security personnel provided by Warner and Disney.

This is just like what the great philosopher Kennan said—

"Balance exists in all things."

Okay, enough of this nonsense.

Isabella was speechless when the security guard handed her the phone. She glared at her older sister, and after making her laugh and hide behind her mother, Isabella took the phone and said, "Hello, hello, hello—".

"Bob, are you calling me at this hour to send me a red envelope?"

The little beaver said irritably.

"Uh... a Christmas red envelope? Of course... I've prepared one for you..."

It seems like the guy on the other end of the phone had a strange tone.

But it also seemed to detect Robert Iger's anxiety.

Isabella stopped joking and asked directly, "Did something happen? Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"

"And you didn't call my cell phone, you called one of your own people's cell phones."

"Yeah~ I ran into a little trouble~"

Robert Iger bluntly revealed Michael Eisner's move.

Upon learning that Michael Eisner had turned the tables on Robert Iger when he left Disney, Isabella burst out laughing, "The rivalry between you guys is really... exaggerated..."

"There's nothing we can do. There's only one chairman position at Disney, but there are many people who want to take it."

Aiger sighed on the other end of the phone.

"So you can't win over people at Disney headquarters anymore?"

Since they were allies who had exchanged core objectives, Isabella decided not to play dumb.

She went straight to the point: "Once you're pushed into the spotlight by Michael Eisner, you can no longer win over people at Disney headquarters, because they will see you as a challenger to Roy Disney."

"Yeah~ You're very smart~"

So what do you plan to do now?

"I'm thinking now..."

Due to the time difference, it is currently the early morning in California.

Robert Iger, at home in the middle of the night, looked up at the sky. The starry sky was not the ending he sought; he did not want to be the brightest star in the night sky, but the moon.

So……

He licked his lips and said, "Isha, we've been bound together for a long time, so I choose to believe you."

"My goal now is simple: put pressure on the people at Disney headquarters and then dismantle them."

"The method is also simple."

"Isn't animation Disney's main business? So as long as excellent animation continues to emerge from the outside world, while Disney's business continues to shrink, the existence of Disney will arouse dissatisfaction among shareholders."

"At that time, I can take advantage of the shareholders' anger to split up and reorganize the headquarters and replace it with my own people."

"..." The decisive thinking made the little beaver sense Robert Iger's ruthlessness.

But at the same time……

She also had her own questions.

"I have three questions."

"You said."

"My first question is, does this mean you've decided I'll do the animation myself?"

"Yes."

"My second question is, won't the contraction of Disney's core business affect you?"

"No, although I'm in charge of the business, Disney's headquarters business is also under my jurisdiction. If they shrink, people will definitely say that there's something wrong with my management. But what if external growth is under my control? As long as you give me the distribution rights for animated films, I won't be affected."

"Okay, you just want to publish it?"

"As long as it's released."

"My third question is, how can you guarantee that Disney's headquarters operations will definitely shrink?"

Upon hearing this question, Robert Iger, who was gazing at the night sky, immediately burst into laughter.

He gritted his teeth as he said, "Isha, are you familiar with the development of Disney headquarters?"

"After Mr. Walt Disney's death, Disney's animation division lost its soul until Jeffrey Katzenberg came along and Disney's animation business got back on track."

"Unfortunately, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg disagreed, which led Jeffrey Katzenberg to leave Disney and co-found DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and others."

"In the process, he took many of his subordinates with him, an action that plunged Disney's animation division into another slump."

"But at the same time, some people stayed, namely Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois."

"The former is the designer of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan, and also the director of Lilo & Stitch; the latter is also the director of Lilo & Stitch and the screenwriter of Mulan."

"Although they have made great contributions, because they belong to Jeffrey Katzenberg's faction and DreamWorks Animation is getting better and better, they simply cannot integrate into Disney headquarters. They have always been ostracized by people at headquarters."

“My initial plan was this: before you created the little beavers, I thought that after I became the chairman and CEO of Disney, I would promote them and make them the backbone of Disney headquarters.”

"As long as they can achieve results, it's only a matter of time before I take control of Disney headquarters."

"but now--"

"I assume you haven't contacted Industrial Light & Magic or Pixar yet, right?"

"So, do you have any plans to start your own animation company?"

"I can recommend them to you."

"They are really talented. I've seen their latest project outline. They want to turn last year's British bestseller, 'How to Train Your Dragon,' into an animation. The idea is very interesting. I was originally thinking of buying the rights from them, but..."

"If you're willing to invest 200 million yuan to set up an animation company now, then all of this is yours."

"I'll help you get the rights to 'How to Train Your Dragon'."

"So, Isa? I'm really sincere about working with you, aren't I?"

"Oh~~~ Of course~~~" Isabella's voice seemed to echo in the air!

At this moment! Where was the gloom of not wanting to work on her face?
When the "How to Train Your Dragon" IP came out, a surge of joy immediately spread across her face!

Because this is a well-known IP from DreamWorks in her past life.

It's so famous that its entire film series is a hit!

It's so famous that an animated film can be turned into a live-action film!

And Robert Iger just let go of projects like this and people like this?
This……

Power really is a beautiful and alluring poison, isn't it?

then……

She wanted to say...

When this kind of person appears...

She could indeed fund an animation department out of her own pocket?

"So, it's a pleasure working with you?"

Robert Iger laughed at the little beaver's joy.

"Pleasant to work with."

The little beaver stood with Robert Iger without hesitation.

At the same time, she added, "We'll discuss the specific details after the New Year? Right now... it's Christmas..."

"Of course, of course we'll talk about it after the New Year. Uh... Merry Christmas in advance?"

Oh—Merry Christmas to you too!

After hanging up the phone and calling Disney security, Isabella returned the phone to the caller and looked at her older sister with a smug look on her face.

"Oh, Keisha, we'll have to put the plan to buy an island in the Southern Hemisphere on hold."

"Right Island is the only place we can develop right now."

"Because the money... might not be enough?"

Since Isabella hadn't hidden her conversation with Aiger from her mother and sister, only sending all the security guards away, Catherine wasn't surprised after hearing the gist of it. However, she still wanted to be a little mischievous—

"Tsk, I didn't expect you to have times when you're short of money."

Upon hearing this, the little beaver, who had been all smiles, suddenly looked displeased.

"Didn't you always say that you earn money faster than you spend it?"

"You said earlier... that a single breath could generate a hundred million?"

Catherine continued to tease her younger sister's mustache...

"mom!"

Miss Beaver was displeased. "Look at what Keisha is saying! Aren't you going to do anything about your daughter?!"

"hehe--"

Vivian chuckled softly and held up the newspaper in her hand.

She couldn't be bothered to care about her two daughters' argument.

Anyway, no matter how much noise they make...

They couldn't reach a conclusion from their argument.