New CEO's Inaugural Banquet

The news that Stark Studios has a new CEO should have been unremarkable and caused no stir in society. But in reality, things in Hollywood are not as calm as they appear to outsiders.

Founded by Howard Stark, Stark Pictures was one of the eight major studios during the early Golden Age of Hollywood. In terms of both history and seniority, Stark Studios can be considered one of the top tier of Hollywood film companies.

The film copyright library also contains many classic films that have gone down in history, such as "King Kong" and "Citizen Kane".

Even after World War II, when Stark Studios scaled back its production and might not release a single low-budget independent film a year, it remained one of Hollywood's most important equipment manufacturers and suppliers.

From cameras and editing machines to projectors, light stands, and large camera cranes, Stark Industries manufactures virtually every piece of equipment related to film production and projection. It's fair to say that Stark Studios, from another perspective, still holds a place in Hollywood.

Since its decline, Stark Studios has never had a competent leader. Whether it was the Old Man Stark or younger Stark, the nominal CEOs had their focus and attention elsewhere.

Now, this company is about to welcome a new CEO. Those who knew about it beforehand were all investigating who "Henry Brown" was and how he could win Tony Stark's favor.

Yes, everyone is simply curious about who got the favor; no one even considered whether that person was qualified.

Because there are very few people in the industry who have the ability to run a film company, including top producers, and their movements are closely watched by those in the industry. And "Henry Brown" is clearly not among them.

When Henry Brown's resume was revealed, many bigwigs were stunned. What does it mean to have only been a minor actor in Hollywood? His only notable role was probably as the young assistant to Oscars actress Audrey Hepburn.

After learning that Tony Stark was unsure whether he would attend the banquet, many bigwigs felt it was pointless. The more polite ones sent an assistant or secretary; the less polite ones simply ignored him.

Henry was not surprised by this outcome. At Tony's insistence, the main guests at the inauguration banquet were the various factions within Stark Studios.

These people have been acting on their own for too long, and suddenly a leader appears above them. If he's parachuted in without a word, then you can forget about controlling anyone.

Of course, one could use drastic measures, such as dismissing a senior executive as a warning to others. However, considering the severance pay for dismissing a senior executive is less expensive than the cost of holding a banquet, it's better to hold an inauguration banquet instead.

Furthermore, if everyone behaves themselves and doesn't cause trouble, but only refuses to cooperate in their attitude, firing someone without finding a good excuse can easily lead to even bigger problems.

Since taking over, Tony has consistently presented himself as someone who treats his employees well. Even when adjusting positions, he always uses salary increases as an incentive. If he were to casually shatter this persona, all his past efforts would be wasted.

This banquet also served as a reminder to certain individuals that another fish has been added to Hollywood's fishpond. Don't forget him when you're up to something disgusting or sordid.

Even if Henry wanted to keep things simple, Tony was going to throw a party out of his own pocket. Could Henry, as an employee, say no? If his inauguration and resignation happened on the same day, it would definitely be a huge joke in Hollywood.

However, at the banquet, even more eye-catching than "Henry Brown" was a pair of actors, one old and one new, who were not mother and daughter but looked more like one than mother and daughter: Charlize Theron and Catherine Hepburn.

Since 1993, the reclusive Hollywood queen's return to Los Angeles didn't actually cause much of a stir. However, given her stature, her attendance at such an event inevitably sparked speculation.

Furthermore, Ms. Hepburn seemed to get along very well with the new CEO of Stark Studios and his female companion, which made people curious about their relationship.

It's worth noting that Catherine Hepburn was once considered half the mistress of Stark Studios. Although many of her older colleagues had long since retired or passed away, new employees still recognized that connection.

There was no way around it; when Old Man Stark was still around, whenever Ms. Hepburn came to Los Angeles, whatever she wanted to do, Old Man Stark would instruct the Stark Studios employees to do it.

Catherine Hepburn could even direct Stark Studios to do trivial things without asking for permission, simply by using her connections. Of course, serious matters would still have to follow procedures, but she probably wouldn't be refused by Old Man Stark.

So today's banquet felt like a home game for Catherine Hepburn.

However, her attendance wasn't solely to support Henry. She had arranged for Charlize to meet a very capable agent to introduce them.

In order to make a good impression on the agent she had never met, Charlize had specifically consulted him on how to behave appropriately and present herself at such a banquet.

Perhaps it was the perfect match between the South Africa diamond and the aura of the Hollywood queen that allowed Catherine to master the art of applying Charlize's guidance in such a short time. The only drawback was probably that the girl had too much collagen in her face, giving her a slightly chubby appearance.

Even though Charlize had never experienced anything like this before and was inwardly panicked, she was able to calmly and appropriately react without resorting to the obsequious behavior often seen at parties.

She wore a blue plaid pencil skirt paired with a hunting top, a classic Catherine Hepburn style. To many, it was as if Catherine Hepburn from the Golden Age had stepped out of black-and-white films into this colorful reality.

So the entertainment reporters present focused most of their film on the veteran and new actresses. Even though most people didn't recognize the younger one, they only knew she was the companion of the new CEO of Stark Studios.

Some even speculated that perhaps one of Catherine Hepburn's grandnieces was preparing to reign supreme in Hollywood again under her great-aunt's patronage.

"Oh my God. Is the golden age of Hollywood about to return?" An older woman wearing black-rimmed glasses exclaimed as she approached Charlize Theron.

Catherine happily hugged the other person. "Jane, you're here! I was so worried you wouldn't come."

"How could that be? You told me you'd introduce me to an uncut diamond. Even if I didn't have the chance, I'd overcome every obstacle to see it. Could this one be your grandniece?"

"None of my brother's kids are interested in Hollywood. This is Charlize Theron, a kid I really like." After introducing her, Catherine introduced the other side:

"Charlize, this is JJ Harris, Jane Joseph Harris. A fantastic agent and producer, and of course, a very talented woman."

Charlize Theron smiled and extended her hand, greeting, "Ms. Harris, it's an honor to meet you."

Call me JJ Harris, or like Catherine, just call me Jane. It's an honor to meet you.

"You can just call me Charlize, Jane."