‘I don’t mean to sound like a cliché, but this is not just any hotel,’ Grace began. ‘What they’re planning for the Kamasan breaks new ground. I’m still trying to get my head across all the levels of management. MGI – Masari Group International, have you heard of it? – is a specialist hotel management group that looks after hotels across Asia, a bit like the Marriott Group. The hotel owners, the Pangisar family, are Balinese-Chinese. They’re based in Jakarta and are involved in a lot of different investments: telecommunications, real estate, tobacco, and they also have philanthropic foundations. The family don’t want to be bothered with the day-to-day running and staff dramas of the hotel, which is where MGI comes in.’

‘Yes, I’ve heard of the Pangisars,’ Steve said. ‘They seem to keep out of the limelight but they’re very clever businesspeople, and powerful.’

‘That’s right. Their hotel and real estate investments and holdings are financially managed under the Kamasan brand. Their son, Johnny, is the front man for the family. I haven’t exactly worked out what his role is yet, but he seems to be a shrewd operator.’

Steve leaned his arms on the table. ‘Okay, to start with I’d need to do a comprehensive location survey. Not just for inspiration but to develop the concept and narrative as I see it, along with the brief you gave me. And that will determine my budget and crew and so on.’

‘Of course,’ Grace said, putting down her coffee mug. She felt a frisson of hope shoot through her – did this mean he was interested? ‘Who do you think you’d need in your team? This has the potential to be a major job so you could need a large crew.’

‘I’d initially allocate a drone operator and some tech people, and take it from there. We’d need to liaise on all this when there’s a clearer script direction.’ He spread his arms, giving a disarming grin. ‘I’m very collaborative. It’s just that my name sits out there in front of it all, so I like my projects to live up to expectations. I’ll give you my latest show reel for your next round with them. I assume the hotel management group are footing our bill, not your agency?’

Grace nodded. Allison had told her the initial launch budget would be generous and covered by MGI, but she merely answered, ‘I do need your reel, I’m sure it’s impressive, plus your fee estimate for the concept development, survey costs, travel, accommodation, per diem.’ She knew that the survey was necessary to develop their creative approach and to help them gauge accurate production costs. ‘Once that’s calculated I’ll do a presentation to the management of the hotel group. Then we’ll need to wait for their decision to know whether it will all be approved.’