There are those who are dissatisfied with Ovitz, and there are those who admire Ovitz, even envy his customers, and want to become his customers.
Tom Hanks was talking to his "Grown Up" co-star Diane at the post-Oscar party dinner. He is a comedian, so it was not easy for him to be nominated for Best Actor this time. This man knows how to act, and he acted very well as the adult who possessed the child in "Grown Up".
This kind of role is not easy to play. It is very difficult to tell a child's personality and way of doing things from an adult's expression, body language, etc., without causing weird feelings.
He actually admires Edward James Olmos, the male star of "Stand and Deliver". This Latino actor doesn't rely on his looks to play a high school teacher, but he's really into it.
Everyone has a high school teacher, so it is not easy to play this role convincingly and brilliantly.
But these were all in vain, and in the end it was Dustin Hoffman who won the Best Actor Award twice. He wanted to know how Ovitz's CAA was achieved.
"I really don't know. I only signed with CAA's Paula Wagner the year before last. But she is really good and has planned a good career for me. Unlike my previous agent, who only wanted to find me a career. The next highest-paying movie, so he can get more points."
Diane heard that Tom Hanks was interested in jumping to CAA, so he introduced some experience. If he can sign under the names of Paula, his wife, and agents like Richard, he will obviously be able to form a synergy with himself and Ronald...
"This is Paula, this is Tom..." Diane found Paula Wagner who was at the scene.
"Mr. Hanks, no introduction is needed, I am Paula."
After connecting the two of them, Diane didn't need to worry about the rest. She began to look for signs of Ronald.
"Ronald and Rick (Nicita) are over there..." Paula knew what Diane was thinking and pointed to the corner. Ronald is discussing things with Niceta and Richard.
"Be independent? Maybe it's not the time yet." Ronald and the two agents were whispering in the corner.
The two people also saw the scene where the three winners thanked Ovitz, and came over first to express their solidarity with Ronald.
Brokerage companies are different from ordinary production companies in that they adopt a partnership-like system. Although Ovitz holds more than half of the equity, other agents have strong autonomy.
Every broker survives by collecting fees from clients. To be honest, with irreplaceable star directors or actors like Ronald or Tom Cruise, agents don't need much help from CAA.
Therefore, if the two of them, plus Niceta's wife, Paula Wagner, take some apprentices, and clients to leave CAA, they will not lose much income in the next five years. Of course, this requires both Cruise and Ronald to go with them.
Ovitz's income far exceeds that of his agents. This is because his main income is not agent fees, but relying on packaging services, playing the role of de facto producer.
For a blockbuster movie like "Rain Man," CAA's production business can get a share of the box office revenue, which is no less than what Ronald earned from "Dirty Dancing."
And Ovitz bought the equity of several CAA founders at that time, and he could get the majority of the box office share.
Now that he understands that Ovitz is his biggest obstacle to winning an Oscar, he needs to come up with a plan to defeat him. As for whether to let his agent become independent from CAA, it is not the most important thing.
Niceta and Richard breathed a sigh of relief. Their most important customer was sentenced by his own boss. It is highly likely that Ronald will leave CAA in anger and switch to William Morris.
They have prepared for the worst. Instead of losing important customers such as Ronald and Tom Cruise, becoming independent is the best choice. The most important thing is to convince Ronald that they will continue to serve him.
Since Ronald
Rather than making impulsive choices when angry, they also offer better terms to repay their customers' kindness. Loyalty is always relative. It is the same between the client and the broker and the broker against the client.
"We will lower your rates..." For the time being, the two of them have not broken through Ovitz's network of power. Ronald is sure to win the Oscar next time, so they will first use the small fee to reduce the agent's share. Favor came to show that they stood with Ronald.
"I see your goodwill, but it doesn't matter. We will still follow the original agreement. However, this time we have to unite more actors and agents. We can do what Michael can do."
Ronald actually didn't care about the money the agent took away from him. As agents, the law stipulates that they can only share in the creative remuneration from their roles as directors and screenwriters. And his main income has long been separated from the director's salary and dividends, and is mainly the producer's income and investment income.
If you want agents to work hard, you have to give them enough money. If Ronald were Jewish, he would probably take this opportunity to negotiate an agreement that was most beneficial to him, and then wait until the chips in the next negotiation changed, and the agent would weigh the costs of betrayal and loyalty, and then give them a chance to consider whether to Stabbed himself in the back.
Ronald thought it was unnecessary to scheme against people every day for such a small amount of money. Besides, Niceta is of Italian descent. Their cultural traditions are similar to those of Chinese descent. They emphasize long-term loyal investment. In this way, when the critical moment comes, the other party will not consider the short-term cost of betrayal, but the long-term income. will be affected.
In short, Ronald has made up his mind. We need to learn some of Ovitz's methods and use drama contracts to tie up more CAA clients and let them stand in the same boat as themselves.
The reason why Ovitz can influence the Oscar voting results is simply that he has a large number of TV series and movie resources, which allows him to control most of the agents in CAA, and then through the agents, he can influence the Oscars. The largest voting group - actors.
Coupled with the influence of some Jews, this time it was possible for "Rain Man" to monopolize the most important awards at once.
The best way to break this chain of influence is to imitate Ovitz and then surpass him. What Ovitz can do, Ronald's two agents can do too. Integrate resources to provide studios with convenient casting options.
"Ronnie", Diane came over and interrupted the three people's whispers.
"Dear... do you still want to be here? If there is no one else you want to see, I want to go back."
Ronald held Diane's hand. The big goal had been set, and all that was left were the details. Ronald didn't believe that he could do worse than an agent who didn't know how to make movies.
The major Hollywood studios have been suffering from Ovitz for a long time. Many people are forced to accept his packaging strategy, because if they don't listen to him, the most important directors and screenwriters will not sign contracts with them.
Relying on this bundling strategy, Ovitz was able to dominate the seven major Hollywood studios. But a domineering approach will undoubtedly arouse resentment from others.
Confucius once said, "To go too far beyond the boundary is as wrong as not to have reached the boundary."
"Tom Hanks wants to talk to you more... I introduced him to Paula." Diane pointed to Hanks, then leaned towards Ronald, "No one wants to see me anymore. Let’s go back with you…”
Of course, everyone did not let Ronald go so quickly. Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster and others came over to chat with Ronald. Especially Jodie Foster, she was most grateful to Ronald for giving her the opportunity to perform in "Pear Blossom".
Although he won the Best Actress, he had to play good roles in the future and not give Ronald the impression that he was ungrateful.
After dealing with them, Ronald finally walked out of the award venue with Diane. They called little Bud and asked him to drive over and pick him up.
"Judy seems to thank you very much..." Diane asked.
"Yes, it was me and McGillis who told her that she had the opportunity to star in this movie. At that time, she was not the first person the producer considered..."
There's nothing Ronald can't say, and everyone knows by now that Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis are an item. The two of them lived together closely. Of course, it is unknown whether the situation changed after Judy won the Best Actress Award.
"Didi..." Little Bud's Mercedes-Benz car drove over. He got out of the car and opened the door to let Ronald and Diane get in the car.
[In view of the general environment,
"Thank you, Bud. Have you eaten?" Little Bud had a hard time waiting for them at the door.
"I have a burger prepared by my girlfriend. I watched it on TV in the parking lot. It's such a shame this year." Bud returned to his seat. He was now waiting to save some money and get married to his girlfriend.
"It's okay, the Oscars are unpredictable. We still won the Best Original Song Award...it's not empty-handed..." Ronald didn't want to reveal any dissatisfaction with Ovitz except for a limited number of people. information.
"Hmm..." Bud started the car, "That's Miss Carly Simon over there? I just saw her win the statuette..."
Little Bud pointed to a curb outside the awards venue. A woman in a dress was squatting on the ground, shaking a little in the wind.
"Carly?" Ronald rolled down the window, "Why are you here?"
"Ronald?" Carly Simon was miserable. The Oscar for Best Original Song was a minor award. She had no acquaintances to talk to at the dinner party and had to call a taxi by herself. Los Angeles is not New York, and taxis are not well developed. She has been waiting here for more than ten minutes, and the taxi has not arrived yet, which is really embarrassing.
"Get in the car and we'll take you back to the hotel."
"Thank you, Ronald, Hi Diane..."
Carly Simon squeezed into the car, drank the champagne that Diane handed her, and immediately relaxed.
"Wow, this is the statuette..." Diane couldn't put it down while holding the trophy. She even held the statuette to her ear as if she was giving an acceptance speech.
"Hey, this is a music award, not an acting award," Carly Simon said with a smile. Hollywood awards actually don't pay much attention to the music category. Next year everyone will forget that she even won an Oscar as a singer.
Ronald heard something in her words and tilted his head to make a questioning gesture.
"This song "Let the River Flow" was not included in this year's Grammy Awards..."
Carly Simon explains her dilemma. Although this movie episode has been well received by film critics, many film critics have to mention a few words about this theme song.
However, the record company refused to put this song into their latest album. If it was not included in the album, it would not be on the charts, and it would not be eligible to enter the Grammy Awards. Therefore, the influence of Carly Simon's song is also limited to the film circle, but it is more popular than the music circle.
"Why is this happening?" Ronald didn't understand the twists and turns of the music industry. "How about you license this song to me, and I will just release the soundtrack album of "Working Girl"..."
"Hey? Is this okay? You want to make a soundtrack album?" Carly Simon didn't expect that in such a twist of events, her song would be republished here.
"Let my agent contact your agent tomorrow."
…
"My dear, your breakfast..." Since the last time she boiled eggs for breakfast for the sick Ronald, Diane fell in love with being a housewife when she was with Ronald. Her cooking skills have not improved, and now she always calls for room service to bring breakfast to the room.
"Thank you, dear..." Ronald had finished exercising and was dealing with business matters in the room. He kissed Diane, picked up the sandwich and ate it.
"How will our box office be after the awards come out?" Ronald contacted marketing consultant Michael Gray while eating.
"There is a good recovery, but it is still not as good as Rain Man's box office recovery..."
"That's definitely not possible. How do we compare with Dangerous Relationships?"
"It's almost the same. Ours is higher in big cities, and their box office accumulation in small towns is higher."
After the Oscars came out, the three nominated films that are still in theaters have once again seen a revival of movie-watching craze at the box office. Rainman won the most awards and was undoubtedly much ahead in terms of momentum.
Although "Working Girl" and "Dangerous Liaisons" were only nominated but did not win awards, both films were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The audience is still very interested in the nominations of this kind of women's drama, and they all Go to the cinema and see how the Best Actress nominations are acted out.
As for "The Pear Blossom", which won the Best Actress Award, it was released earlier and has already been released. The distributor is exploring the possibility of a re-release.
The box office ranking actually makes sense. "Working Girl" occupies the big cities, while the other two are relatively average across the country. It makes sense that the box office of this movie in commercially developed big cities is far better than others.
Ronald had another phone call with Daydream's Michelle Cannold to discuss the overseas release of Working Girl.
Similarly, they also encountered competition from the two films Rain Man and Dangerous Liaisons in overseas markets. And slightly weaker.
The essential core of "working girl" is still American, emphasizing struggle and courage, and a hero can handle everything. "Rain Man" presents universal brotherhood and care for the disadvantaged.
In Europe, it has undoubtedly attracted more people's attention and has the best number of copies released among the three. "Dangerous Liaisons" also received a cold reception from European audiences because the film was too American, with the character being more like a 19th-century manor manor.
On the contrary, in the East Asian market, Japan and Hong Kong, romantic comedies with beautiful women and handsome men like "working girls" are the most popular. They cannot understand the genius-type autism of the protagonist of "Rain Man".
How can a fool be smarter than a normal person?
"Ronald, David Geffen is looking for you..." Finally, manager Niceta called. He was not here to discuss how to deal with Ovitz, but another Jewish record industry boss, Geffen. The record owner wanted to talk to Ronald.
"Is he looking for ***? Did he agree to return my eight pieces of Andy Warhol junk to him?"
"Ask him yourself. It's definitely not this. He only revealed that it has something to do with Oscar."
