Outside the studio, in Martin's resting trailer, Aniston gave a general overview of the situation there.
"This matter involves not only you, but also me." Martin is a responsible person: "Don't get too involved with CAA. It's all on me. Just tell them that I never agree!"
He hugged Aniston and stroked her back comfortingly: "I have nothing to do with CAA. It doesn't matter if there is a quarrel."
The little puppy's words warmed Aniston's heart. She shook her head: "It's okay..."
The phone rang, and she took it out to answer the call, her expression getting more and more tense.
After a few minutes, Aniston ended the call.
Martin asked: "What's wrong?"
"Brian Lord is CAA's largest partner." Aniston said simply: "He called me and told me that CAA has contacted several popular projects, and the female characters in them are very suitable for winning awards. CAA is ready to make plans. Help me win the Best Actress Oscar."
Martin sensed that there was a problem, but couldn't explain it clearly. Aniston and Oscar were more difficult than Leonardo's epic.
The other party didn't say it clearly, but Aniston could see clearly: "Bryan wanted me to give the company a little thought about Heath Ledger."
Martin asked: "What did they think?"
"I not only signed the offline sharing agreement for Friends with the producers, but also signed one with CAA. They can only get 1.5% of it as a financial commission." Aniston has a clear understanding of her situation: "After Friends ended, my film career was not going well, and I still have an age that cannot be ignored, so I became a little yellow flower of CAA that was about to wither."
She sighed: "Maybe I overestimated my weight in CAA, or maybe CAA's senior partners regard themselves as the owners of stars. Michael Ovitz has expressed a similar view more than once."
Martin understood how sweet the honeymoon period between Aniston and CAA was, but how difficult it was to get along with each other on a daily basis after the passion subsided.
Aniston's annual offline income of 20 million+, CAA can only extract more than 300,000...
"Jane, they are putting out bait." The words didn't sound good, but he still reminded him directly: "Waiting for you to bite the hook, maybe there are other plans."
Brokerage companies often secretly defraud their clients.
"It's nothing." Aniston didn't seem to be joking: "In the worst case, I'll fire CAA."
There was a knock on the door, and Martin opened the door. Standing outside was Aniston's agent Steve.
The latter asked: "Brian Lord called you? Jane, if the company fully promotes it, you will be nominated for Best Actress..."
Aniston's face changed.
Steve immediately shut up and changed his words: "Nothing else, Jane. We have worked together for more than ten years. You know, I am always on your side."
Martin took the initiative to step aside: "You guys talk."
When Steve got on the trailer, he closed the door from the outside.
Martin walked toward the deserted area, considered his current situation based on Aniston's words, and after a few minutes, he took out his mobile phone and called Thomas.
Soon, Thomas rushed over.
Martin asked: "How was the conversation?"
Thomas looked around and said, "Everything else is easy to deal with. Those bastards at CAA are difficult to deal with."
Martin was straightforward: "Don't be nagging them. Let Lawyer Ward go to the Brooklyn branch to keep an eye on the situation and put pressure on it. Let the crew release the news. I'm going to hold a press conference."
CAA has gone from its glory days in the 1990s to its business decline in the new century. This is not only because other companies are catching up, but it also has internal problems.
It's as if Michael Ovitz's arrogance in his final career at CAA was passed on to other partners.
The boom and bust seems to be a common problem among many companies.
Thomas nodded: "I'll make arrangements right away."
Martin suddenly asked: "Is the WMA interested in Aniston?"
As soon as these words came out, Thomas was stunned for a moment and quickly came back to his senses: "Of course I'm interested!" His hands were shaking with excitement: "Can we dig Aniston over?"
Martin glanced at Thomas, as if looking at the scumbag: "Do you want to be Aniston's agent?"
Thomas responded quickly: "That's not what I meant."
"Aniston started working with Steve when she was still a young actor, and their relationship was extraordinary." Martin carefully studied Aniston up and down, front and back, and learned a lot: "Aniston didn't I thought about ending my cooperation with him."
At this time, Martin did not forget to use CPU: "If another agency comes to poach me, the prerequisite is to kick you out, I will definitely spray him in the face and tell him to get as far away as possible!"
Thomas's heart was shaken, and he thought that I am already so important to Martin! Never give up!
He believed that someone like Martin could do it and said, "What do you want to do?"
Martin walked forward again: "The two of us cannot represent the WMA, and the weight is not enough. I am going to call Ali Emmanuel and ask him to come over."
Thomas followed: "I will cooperate with you." He suddenly remembered something: "Why are you so active?"
"At the end of this year, I want the company to devote more resources to fully support me, but I don't have enough positions..." Martin said a few words simply.
"They're absolutely going to say yes," Thomas said.
Martin took out his cell phone and dialed Ali Emmanuel's number.
Over there, Ali put down his cell phone and shouted to his assistant: "Contact the private jet company immediately. I want a business jet that can fly directly to New York within half an hour! Also, my itinerary is confidential!"
On this day, the Heath Ledger drug driving incident, which was originally reported by only one gossip media, was forwarded by many online media, and other media followed suit.
"Brokeback Mountain" is a hit during the awards season, and the film has also attracted attention because of its homosexuality. Heath Ledger is very likely to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor, and it is already popular.
Of course the media wouldn't let it go.
When the work was done in the afternoon, Damian, the associate producer of the crew, approached Martin and director Boyle and said: "Something unexpected happened. We applied for filming in Central Park, but New York has temporarily postponed the filming due to weather and environmental protection." Postponed.”
Boyle frowned: "The shooting plan needs to be changed again? We changed it once because of heavy snow." He reminded: "In a while, the ice in Central Park will melt!"
Martin said: "Let Warner Bros. contact us and the crew should not come forward again."
Boyle looked at Martin and made a rough guess, but he was just the director of the crew and didn't want to get involved in unnecessary fights, so he didn't say anything else.
Damian said: "I called Daniel and Warner Bros. was in contact. Even if it can be resolved, filming will be postponed."
Like the previous crew, Martin also named himself as the production manager and said: "The shooting plan will be changed again and we will continue to shoot indoor scenes in a studio setting."
Boyle nodded: "This is the only way."
Martin also didn’t want the director to get involved in bad things, but focused his energy on filming the movie. When Boyle left, he asked, “Is there any trace of Weinstein behind this?”
Damian is Louise's subordinate and speaks without scruples: "You can't tell. It's hard for us to find out about this kind of thing. The Weinstein brothers worked hard in New York and have extensive connections."
As before, Martin took the same car as Aniston back to the hotel.
Aniston was not very happy: "CAA didn't dare do anything to me, but they put pressure on Steve. It turns out that in their eyes, I have begun to pass."
Martin said again: "Put it all on me and I'll deal with them."
Aniston reached out and touched Martin's face and said: "This is what happened to the two of us. How could I let you face it alone? If it weren't for you at that time, I might have been hit by a car."
Martin simply said: "In the trailer, you said you wanted to leave CAA?"
Aniston said: "When I became famous, I was at CAA. Over the years, I have been at CAA, but everything has changed since Friends ended."
"Maybe in the eyes of the veteran agents at CAA, it was CAA that made you famous." Martin also made a random guess: "I have never been an entertainment agent, and I don't know much about it, but many commercial companies do not pay much attention to employees who have grown up in their own companies. People who have worked hard to recruit from outside take it seriously.”
Aniston smiled: "What, you want to poach me?"
Martin made her happy: "I've dug all the important places in you."
Aniston bit Martin's ear, leaving two rows of teeth marks, and then said: "I'll poach you tonight instead?"
Martin quickly changed the subject: "Ali Emmanuel is coming to New York to help me handle matters related to Heath Ledger. How about you meet with him?"
Aniston was in a better mood and said with a smile: "It turns out that the WMA wanted to poach me, but they were afraid that they couldn't poach me, so they sent you here to use a beauty trick."
Martin asked: "Did my beauty trap succeed?"
Aniston stopped laughing and thought about it carefully for a while: "I'll discuss it with Steve, and you talk to Ali first."
Martin nodded: "No problem."
This kind of thing can't be rushed.
Back at the hotel, the two had dinner together and talked about CAA and WMA. Aniston called her agent Steve to talk about the future.
Martin received a call from Thomas that Ali Emmanuel had arrived.
In a business suite at the hotel, Martin met with WMA's premier agents and associate partners.
Seeing Martin, Ali eagerly came up to him and said, "I understand the difficulties encountered by the crew. Don't worry, I have contacted people to deal with it."
Martin heard from Thomas that Ali's brother is very powerful in politics and is currently a member of the black carbon team of the Democratic Party preparing to participate in the next election.
"Whenever we encounter difficulties, having WMA as our support always makes people feel at ease." Martin sat on the single sofa and said, "Ali, I feel relieved as soon as I see you."
Ali smiled: "It's a matter within the company." He got to the point: "Are you sure Aniston intends to leave CAA?"
“Having ideas about that,” Martin said.
Ali understood: "The main thing is you?"
Martin doesn't deny it: "I can put WMA ahead of other companies."
Ali flew over immediately to keep it secret: "Don't tell anyone about this matter yet. Also, I'm not in New York right now."
He knew that if he wanted Martin to contribute, he had to give him enough benefits, so he simply said directly: "Martin, we are all old friends. Tell us what you want."
Martin was not polite: "'The Departed' will be released during the awards season this year. I think my performance is pretty good. Director Scorsese speaks very highly of me. The quality of his gangster films has never been a problem. I want an Oscar nomination." "
Ali nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Martin added: "The role and the quality of the film are only the most basic elements of the Oscar. Money, marketing, connections and public relations are more critical. I hope the company can pay enough resources to help me operate."
Ali just thought about it briefly and said: "Assisting customers to win prizes is the job of the brokerage company. I guarantee that the company will give 100% effort."
Three updates today
(End of chapter)
