Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused by my job change, but I have dealt with it all. Now we can talk about whether I can represent you."

Rick Nicita's voice on the phone has a magical power that makes people feel relaxed. The two discussed the cooperation method of Nicita signing Ronald as a screenwriter agent on the phone.

Ronald insisted on retaining the contract with New York agent Eddie Cohen, and his short-term directing work such as commercials was still left to Eddie. At least in the near future, his work focus is still in New York, and he still needs to rely on shooting commercials to make money and reputation in the industry. He does not want to end his cooperation with Eddie.

Even if he focuses on Hollywood in the future, he still needs someone to help deal with things in his hometown of New York. In Ronald's vision, he hopes that Eddie Cohen will be his representative in New York.

Nicita mainly focuses on Hollywood and is not very interested in Ronald's advertising business. The reason why he wants to sign a fledgling screenwriter is simply because CAA President Michael Ovitz requires all CAA agents to sign a screenwriter as a client.

Nicita had made considerable achievements at William Morris. After being poached by CAA, he did not want to share a screenwriter client with the original agent. He simply developed one on his own to deal with Ovitz's KPI. With potential clients such as Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, he had no worries about business.

The two parties agreed on the phone that Ronald's screenwriter contract would be handled by Nicita's team in the future. If Ronald had the opportunity to direct a movie independently in the future, Nicita would also handle it.

Team work was invented by Michael Ovitz, the founder of CAA. For each client, there are several agents of different levels to form a team to represent, and the agency fees are also distributed by the team.

The five founding fathers of CAA who defected from William Morris knew the power of taking this client away, so they designed the system from the beginning to prevent other companies from poaching CAA.

"That's it? Do you have any other questions?" Nicita asked on the phone.

"Mr. Niceta, why did you choose me? Your colleagues at William Morris didn't want to sign me," Ronald asked.

"I always go one step further than others. They just asked director Alan Parker about you, and I also asked producer David Da Silva."

"Thank you, Mr. Niceta."

"I'm in Los Angeles to discuss the film contracts of two actors under my management with Mr. Michael Ovitz. I also need to assist him in handling the film of CAA's top actor, Sean Connery. So the two colleagues who will go to New York to interview you this time are my two colleagues, Richard and Paula. They will arrive in New York on the morning of xx."

Ronald took out his notebook and checked: "I will be busy with the casting of "Endless Love" that day, so I'm afraid I can't pick them up at the airport."

"It doesn't matter, Paula is a New York girl, and I believe a New York girl can handle everything."

...

The red-eye flight landed at JFK Airport in New York. A man and a woman, who looked like professionals, walked out of the terminal hall and waited for a taxi.

"Shall we go to the casting studio to find the young Ronald first?" Richard was a newcomer to CAA. He had worked in the mailroom (ailroo) for 6 months. Because of his excellent work performance, he was promoted to an apprentice. This was his first time to be sent out to meet clients.

"Let's go to Little Italy next to Broadway to eat authentic pizza first, and then go to the casting studio to find him." Paula is a woman in her early 30s. Her ex-husband is the creative proposer and stage designer of the famous Broadway play "Song and Dance Line". She is very familiar with New York and it can be regarded as a revisit to the old place.

Richard was still a little naive and did not understand Niceta's intention, but it was no wonder. This was the young man's first official business trip, and it was understandable that he was a little excited.

"The pizza here is really good. Except for Chicago, I have never eaten such good pizza." Richard pushed his glasses, "Paula, why would Niceta sign a fledgling screenwriter? What characteristics of him are worth paying attention to?"

"Do you know that our CAA started with TV shows?" Paula drank a sip of Coke and ate the pizza she used to eat, feeling very happy. Although Hollywood is the entertainment center, New York is the center of the universe from the perspective of other industries.

"Yes, I heard from the old people in the company. In 1975, the five founders relied on daytime TV series to get through the difficult period of starting a business."

"That's right, but our development has encountered a bottleneck. The big-name actors we signed all want to act in movies. And our connections in the film industry are weak." Ovitz promoted the culture of a big family within CAA, encouraging agents to help each other and support the younger generation. Richard was included in the apprentice list. Anyway, he would have to learn these sooner or later, so it would be better to tell him to make a good relationship.

"So Ovitz's idea is to sign screenwriters first, use screenwriters to impress the eight major studios, and then recommend our contracted directors, stars, etc. to enter the project."

"So he requires every agent to sign a screenwriter?"

"Yes, Richard, you are very perceptive. CAA, including your apprentices, has just exceeded 40 agents, and we are a team system. There will be 3-4 agents responsible for one screenwriter, so in fact we only need to find more than 10 screenwriters in total."

"I understand. Thank you for telling me this, Paula." Richard wisely did not ask any more questions about why Niceta signed Ronald, and lowered his head to eat the pizza. "It turns out that he is just the same as himself, just to make up the numbers. of."

Ronald is organizing auditions in the casting studio. The actors coming this time are much stronger than the ones with connections in the industry last time.

Deborah Winger is not stunning, but her eyes are very understanding, as if she can talk to people with her glasses. Polaroids captured her snapshots, and her glasses were extremely bright. No wonder the director of "Midnight Cowboy" had to protect her performance. Such glasses with close-ups would be so arresting on the big screen.

"Princess Leia" Carrie Fisher came to New York to participate in the audition for CBS6's "The Empire Strikes Back" TV interview.

She did not have the princess hairstyle that everyone expected, but had long hair shawl-length. She lacked the decisiveness of a princess, but had a bit more gentle femininity. Several assistants were gossiping that Fisher was very unrestrained on the Star Wars set and slept with all the male actors. Every time he turned his eyes, there was a radiant light that was compelling, and he had a similar character to the movie protagonist Jade.

Looking at the strength of these candidates, Ronald felt that the Michelle Pfeiffer he recommended was a bit lacking. In particular, she looked a little timid, holding a large bottle of vegetable juice handed to her by two husband-and-wife agents, sipping it in small sips, frowning from time to time.

"This vegetable juice is very good for you to remind you, keep your skin smooth, and resist addiction to cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. You have to drink it every day." The agent who looked like a wife was comforting Michelle Pfeiffer.

"Don't be afraid. I noticed that none of your competitors are vegetarians. You are very promising." The husband also began to criticize other actresses.

Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter when he heard, "Michelle, what kind of agent gave her a large bottle of vegetable juice. Michelle Pfeiffer took it with a heavy look and put her hands on it. He sank and slowly followed Ronald in.

Walking through the long aisle to the front of the audition room, Michelle Pfeiffer looked even less confident. She walked slower and slower while holding the vegetable juice, her face curled up, looking very painful.

"What's wrong with you? Michelle, cheer up. You performed very well in the last audition. You acted naturally. You were among the top six in the Miss California pageant. Be more confident."

It's okay not to say it. After saying this, Michelle Pfeiffer seemed to cry.

"I...I...all spent my money on buying these all-green fruits and vegetables. If I don't get selected this time,...no one from the TV station will give me a new role...I will..." Michelle I didn't have much energy to speak, so I looked intermittently in the direction of the lounge.

Ronald followed Michelle Pfeiffer's eyes and saw a Burger King fast food he had bought before and hadn't had a chance to eat.

"Take a bite. I haven't moved yet. I see you are very hungry. A bite will restore your energy."

Michelle Pfeiffer looked at Ronald and heard the words asking him to eat. For a moment, there was no room in her mind for anything else except beef burgers. He jumped over a few steps at a time, opened the wrapping paper and started eating.

Ronald poured her a glass of warm water and handed it to her, "Don't be anxious, eat slowly. Why do you look like you haven't eaten all day?"

Michelle drank the water and swallowed the last piece of beef, "My two agents didn't let me eat meat, saying that it would help me quit smoking and drinking. You know, I used to have sex with beauty pageant girls. ..." He said a little embarrassed.

The voice of director Zeffirelli in the audition room of "Next" recalled that the review of the previous audition had ended and Michelle was called in.

"Let your hair down, make it more natural." Ronald helped her put down her tied hair and led her into the audition room.

"Hello, Michelle," director Zeffirelli, executive producer Peter Guber, and casting director Julia Taylor greeted her from above.

"Good morning you all. I'm Michelle Pfeiffer."

"Ronald will take a snapshot of you first, and then we'll start auditioning."

Ronald picked up the Polaroid camera and pointed it at Michelle Pfeiffer's sexy face, which was slightly like a cat's face and very childish. The 22-year-old Michelle looked very convincing as a 16-year-old.

"Here..." Ronald pointed to the corner of his mouth and made a mouth shape to Michelle Pfeiffer, silently reminding her that she had eaten the burger too quickly.

Michelle Pfeiffer understood, and a blush rose on her face. Then she stuck out her tongue, added the corners of her mouth, and wiped out the food residue.

"Meow, the men in the audition room couldn't help dubbing her in their hearts. This action is so sexy."

…

"Very good, we will notify your agent of the audition results." Michelle Pfeiffer finished the audition, thanked everyone, and then Ronald accompanied her out.

"I think they like you very much. Even the director Zeffirelli is swallowing his saliva." Ronald quietly told Michelle that she had a good chance.

"Terry."

"Hey, who asked you to give Michelle a beef burger?" Michelle Pfeiffer's male agent rushed up and pushed Ronald, trying to argue with him.

"First of all, you are her agents, not guardians. Michelle is free to eat whatever she wants. Secondly, this matter has nothing to do with me, so don't do anything to me."

"You are an evil person. You actually tricked her into eating beef. Only when she was full did she have the strength to audition." As he said this, the man came up and punched Ronald.

Ronald dodged and twisted his arm, pinning him to the ground. "Do you want to call the police? Michelle?"