On Saturday night, the Regent Hotel was lit up bright, and the place was packed with industry people.
20th Century Fox had thrown a banquet in honor of Titanic, and the entertainment world had shown up in force.
"Over there."
After weaving through two groups of people, Robert Lee tilted his head toward the front left. "The man standing across from Leonardo is Saleh Zayed. I caught a glimpse of him from a distance when my friend met with him."
Ryan nodded, handed his glass to Robert, and made his way toward a small group near Leonardo.
Walking straight up to Saleh wasn't the right move yet. The banquet had only just started, and there would be a better moment if he was patient.
Saleh's group had four or five people in it. Ryan took a quick look. The clear center of attention was Leonardo DiCaprio, who was at the peak of his popularity right now, while Saleh stood slightly on the outside of the circle, not quite included.
Ryan moved instead toward the group closest to Leonardo, where five or six people had gathered around Kate Winslet, talking loudly and animatedly.
Flattering the powerful and ignoring the rest was the most basic rule of survival at any Hollywood party.
As he walked, Ryan kept stealing glances at Saleh. The man was young, around twenty-five by the look of him.
Robert's contact had dug up some background on him.
Saleh had graduated from Cambridge University the previous summer with a double master's degree and was one of the deputy directors of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's US office. A textbook overachiever.
But his position had nothing to do with his academic record. It was the name Zayed that mattered.
In plain terms, Saleh Zayed was a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
There were dozens of princes in Abu Dhabi, of course, and Saleh wasn't one of the more prominent ones. But the name still opened doors.
Robert found an empty spot at the bar, ordered a glass of champagne, and watched Ryan from a distance. The kid really had changed lately. The painful failure of the last project had knocked the arrogance and impulsiveness right out of him. He was more deliberate now, more organized in how he moved.
Would this financing plan actually work?
Robert wasn't sure. Ryan might not even be able to get close to that Arab tonight.
And if it failed, it would be time to start looking for a way out. He'd stayed with Starlight long enough to honor what he owed to the late Old Anderson. That debt was more than paid.
Arabs were difficult. They didn't have a good impression of Hollywood, and the feeling was largely mutual. He shook his head and took another sip of champagne.
Ryan reached the group around Kate Winslet, adjusted his bowtie, and pushed up his non-prescription glasses. The dark suit and gold frames gave him a more put-together, mature look than his actual age suggested.
Two people stepped away from the edge of the circle, and Ryan moved quickly into the gap. He turned to Kate Winslet with a wide smile and extended his hand. "Hello, Miss Winslet. Congratulations on the Oscar nomination."
In the nominations announced recently, Kate had been recognized for her role in Titanic. Leonardo had not.
"Thank you." Kate gave his hand a brief, polite squeeze.
Ryan was about to say something more when a familiar voice cut across from Leonardo's direction.
"Do they even have movies in the Arab world?"
Leonardo's tone was full of easy mockery. "Can you actually see films in Abu Dhabi?"
Laughter rippled around him.
Kate glanced over. Ryan turned to look as well.
A middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses added his voice to the pile-on. "That part of the world is a cultural desert."
Saleh kept his composure. "The UAE is a free, open, and modern country. We have over a hundred cinemas."
Leonardo spread his hands and looked around at the people near him with an amused smile. "Has anyone here actually seen a UAE film? Can anyone name a single one?"
Saleh started to respond, but Leonardo cut him off smoothly. "Go ahead. Name a UAE film and educate us all."
The people around him played along, echoing the challenge.
Ryan watched quietly. Leonardo was at the absolute height of his fame right now, the undisputed darling of the industry. Not long ago he had publicly announced he wouldn't be attending this year's Academy Awards ceremony, claiming it was so he wouldn't overshadow the event. Ryan recalled reading James Cameron's private assessment of Leonardo during this period from an interview years later: arrogant, and thoroughly spoiled.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Cameron's words held up.
As for the Arab world, even ten years from now it would still sit firmly outside the boundaries of what most Hollywood professionals considered the civilized world.
"An Arab trying to break into Hollywood," someone muttered, walking away with a shake of his head. "Pure wishful thinking."
Saleh stayed calm. "The UAE's film industry is only just getting started..."
"Which means right now it's a complete desert!" Leonardo wasn't letting up.
He looked nothing like the warm, easygoing figure he would eventually become, once the years had caught up with everyone.
"That is completely wrong."
Ryan spoke up, stepped into the circle, and said, "The UAE has always had a very open film policy. Hollywood blockbusters and Bollywood musicals both do strong business there. The cinemas are packed most of the time."
Leonardo, Saleh, and the others all turned to look at him.
Ryan kept his tone polite and even. "Starting a film industry from scratch is genuinely hard. Hollywood itself grew from nothing. It took nearly a hundred years to get where it is today."
Leonardo's easy smile tightened slightly. He didn't look pleased.
Saleh gave Ryan a small nod, then turned back. "Abu Dhabi is actively pursuing international partnerships to develop the industry further. We're very open to working with Hollywood."
"Ha." Leonardo laughed, then stopped bothering with Saleh entirely. He looked at Ryan instead. "I know who you are now. You're that spendthrift."
Kate Winslet gave his arm a quiet tug, a subtle signal to watch what he said.
Ryan clocked the gesture. Their friendship was one that would last decades. He could even recall the words Kate had once said about Leonardo publicly: that she loved him with her whole heart, that she'd loved him for thirteen years. A declaration of friendship as much as anything else.
Rose had always kept Jack close in her heart. Jack, for his part, clearly wasn't interested in that particular dynamic.
Leonardo ignored Kate entirely and addressed the people around him. "Let me introduce someone. This is Ryan Anderson. You might know his father, John Anderson."
"John Anderson? From Starlight Entertainment?" someone offered.
Leonardo was still irritated by the rebuttal. "When I was on Growing Pains, John was the associate producer on set. Genuinely talented guy. It's a shame what happened to the company he spent ten years building."
The middle-aged man in black-rimmed glasses leaned toward Leonardo and said something in a low voice, pitched just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "Leo, did you hear? The spendthrift is getting ready to make another film."
Ryan said nothing. His eyes drifted sideways toward Saleh for just a moment.
Keep it coming.
He had known exactly how overbearing Leonardo was at this stage in his career. That was precisely why he'd jumped in when he did. The mockery wasn't a problem. It was useful.
Leonardo's smile was easy and handsome, but his words weren't. "Not everyone has the self-awareness to know when to stop."
Kate pulled at his arm again. Leonardo laughed, turned, and walked off with her, muttering as he went. "Kate, he disrespected me first. People like that, every time I see them..."
"Just say less," Kate said, and that was the end of it.
The rest of the group drifted away quickly after that.
Ryan and Saleh were left standing there.
"Hello." Saleh stepped toward him. "Thank you for saying something."
Ryan waved it off. "I was just saying what's true."
"They went too far," Saleh said, and there was real feeling behind it.
"I'm used to it." Ryan gave a wry smile. "In their eyes I'm already an outsider. I get it from both sides."
He shook his head. "These people all think they're above everyone else, and they can't even manage basic respect."
"It's alright," Saleh said, borrowing Ryan's own phrasing. "I've been getting used to it myself lately."
Ryan lowered his voice slightly. "If you want to get anywhere in this industry, you have to understand who actually holds the power here. The Jewish community has a very strong grip on the discourse in this town."
Saleh nodded slowly. "I've been in Los Angeles for two months. All I've run into is mockery and hostility." He gave a small, sheepish smile. "You're different from the others."
"That's just how this circle operates," Ryan said, keeping his tone measured. "Certain interests shape what gets made and what gets said, on screen and off. There's no real effort at fairness toward people like you."
"Exactly." Saleh felt like this was someone worth knowing. He introduced himself properly. "I'm Saleh Zayed. From Abu Dhabi."
Ryan shook his hand. "Ryan Anderson. I run a small production company. New producer, still finding my footing."
They exchanged a few words. Having just stood on the same side of an unpleasant situation, the conversation came easily.
After a little while, Saleh remembered what Leonardo had said and asked, "From the way they were talking, it sounds like you're going through a rough patch?"
Ryan shook his head with a rueful smile. "I had a film go badly wrong and lost a lot of money. Now they all call me a spendthrift. And with my new project running into obstacles, they've been enjoying that too."
"What kind of obstacles?" Saleh asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Ryan gave a small shrug. "It's nothing, really. It's just those..." He ran a hand through his hair. "Listen to me, saying things I shouldn't."
"You're telling the truth," Saleh said. The Hollywood people he'd met over the past two months had all fallen over themselves to appear friendly toward the right people. This guy was different.
"I just can't stand that whole attitude," Ryan said, letting a little heat into his voice. "Playing the victim constantly, collecting every advantage available, and still acting like the whole world is against them."
Saleh nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."
Ryan let out a slow breath. "But when you're working in Hollywood you have to make compromises. They control distribution and publicity. It's extremely easy for them to quietly bury someone if they want to." He paused. "And then there are the ones who control the serious money. My new project needs financing and they simply won't move, and there's nothing I can do about it."