"Mr. Ovitz..." The owner of Ivar's restaurant was very satisfied with the visit of the famous CAA president. The person who later acquired this restaurant chain made his fortune in Hollywood and was very satisfied with Ovitz's visit.
Energy is fully understood.
The restaurant's business is in trouble, and they are planning to spend money on a big advertisement to save the restaurant from less and less traffic after the aquarium is closed. But they can't spend much budget to hire a big-name advertising company.
At this time, a woman named Shelly Hochron took the initiative to contact them and said that she could tailor a marketing plan for them. Only after meeting them did they find out that Shelly was actually an employee of CAA.
Shelley Hochron kept silent about when CAA started to engage in advertising business, but introduced that they can do creative work for them first, and only need to pay the production cost of the advertisement. They will discuss the creative fee after seeing the effect of the advertisement.
In this way, a new advertisement chasing the recent hot movie "Dances with Wolves" was released, and the effect was very good. There was a queue in their restaurant again. The shareholders who bought the restaurant from the founder Ivar,
I contacted Shelly Hochron and prepared to pay the creative fee.
"Gentlemen, I assume you are satisfied with the effect of the advertisement?" Ovitz sat down and ate some of the green salad provided by the restaurant.
"Yes, this is the creative fee we prepared for CAA..." The boss did not expect that Ovitz would come in person this time. He took out a check, folded it and pushed it over.
"Huh?" Ovitz opened the check gracefully, and the six-digit number on it stung his eyes. Then he picked up a pen, wrote "void" on the front of the check, and pushed it back, "Gentlemen
,I think we need to have a good talk..."
…
Ovitz has a charming charm. In the eyes of those who don't know him well, this is a kind of confidence that he knows his industry well, such as the owners of Ivar's restaurant. Under his well-reasoned explanations, they also
I feel like this check is too small. This ad is not a one-time thing and can become one of the restaurant’s symbols, the “Clam Man”!
They are especially lucky that the owner of one of the largest brokerage companies in Hollywood can choose a company like his as a client because he wants to develop new business. Otherwise, they would not be able to hire such a master at all.
"Do you understand, Shelly? This is how business is done, take advantage of the information gap, take advantage of their ignorant worship of celebrities, first give them a good thing they have never seen before, and then ask for a bold price. Don't be afraid of asking for a high price.
, if they are not willing, just pretend to call me and say that if I come, it will be more than this price."
Ovitz will personally train every novice once. If they are not good in the future, it will be their own business.
Moreover, he has to keep this advertising business secret from other partners within CAA, otherwise he will never come forward for such a small business.
"I understand, thank you." Shelly Hochron kept nodding.
"I understand, just get on with your business and prepare the ingredients." Ovitz waved his hand and asked his subordinates to quickly prepare the ingredients for the next customer. "Well...this clam is quite delicious."
Automobiles continue to move toward Microsoft, the recent darling of the capital market. This is the main reason why Ovitz came here.
Ovitz already feels that he has hit the ceiling of the industry. Even if he is the best in the agency industry and has won agency contracts with more than 50% of celebrities, he still feels that his ability can do greater things.
.
The career path he originally designed for himself was to make a fortune through the acquisition of Panasonic Electric, and then strive to become the CEO of the acquired company.
But that kid came out and messed up his affairs again. Not only was his consulting fee reduced by half, but Panasonic's chairman no longer mentioned inviting him to serve as a senior executive of the new company. These Japanese people are all the same
, if you don’t want to do something, never mention it.
…
"I'm so angry, Balmer is such a ****"
A short time later, Ovitz returned to the car and began to curse.
Microsoft claims to be a so-called high-tech company, but it turns out that their senior vice president in charge of marketing, Steve Ballmer, is simply the worst salesman, and his words are similar to those of Amway, a direct-selling company.
This man is bald. Although he is in a high-tech company, he speaks vulgarly and has a neck as thick as a boxer. Even if you say he is a debt collector from a loan company, some people will believe him.
He rejected Ovitz's proposal after just a few chats. What about celebrity endorsements and commercials shot by famous Hollywood directors? We at Microsoft don't need this.
"Boss, your phone number, the secretary has called you several times." Shelly Hochron handed over the car phone. She was also a little scared of Ovitz's angry look.
"Hello? I'm Ovitz."
"There are three gentlemen from the FBI. They said they want to verify things with you..." The secretary looked a little nervous on the other end of the phone.
"FBI? What are they going to do?"
"They said it involves state secrets and they have to wait until you return to the office for an interview. Boss, please come back quickly. These people are still in the company. If a client sees it, it will be very troublesome."
"Okay, I'll be right back." A lot of doubts arose in Ovitz's mind. What did he let the FBI know about? What made them come to the office? If this spread, what would his clients think of CAA? "You let the FBI know?
Several gentlemen from law enforcement agencies came to my office to take a rest and then put me through the phone call of my lawyer."
Ovitz rushed back to Los Angeles as quickly as possible and went directly into the office. He didn't want to bring a lawyer, as if he had done something, and he planned to check it out with the FBI first.
"Hello, Mr. Ovitz. I am..." Three people from the law enforcement unit, one wearing an ordinary jacket and slightly older, took the initiative to shake hands with him.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Hello, I don't know what the three FBI gentlemen have to do with me." Ovitz looked at the other two staff members. They were wearing suits and looked similar.
The older one is different.
"Let me introduce, these two are CIA employees. Because they do not have domestic law enforcement rights, they need an FBI employee to participate..."
"CIA?" Ovitz's heart skipped a beat, how could it be them? All the preparations he had made with the lawyer on the road were in vain.
"Hello, Mr. Ovitz. We recently noticed some of your remarks in interviews."
"Remarks, what remarks?" Ovitz stood up as soon as he heard this. As long as it is not about Israel, he is not afraid of these people at all. CIA is better. Anyway, you have no law enforcement power in the country. I am a citizen, you
What can you do to me?
"Please don't get excited, we want to ask you some questions about some of the services you provide to Japanese companies."
"I want my lawyer to be present. This is a business secret..." Ovitz became firm. America is a society governed by the rule of law. Can these people still mess around? I'll talk to a congressman. What else can you do?
"Are you sure? Very good, we will come back tomorrow..." The two CIA agents in suits stood up and left. The FBI agent in the jacket was not so tough and stepped forward to shake his hand, "This is just a normal procedure.
Mr. Ovitz, I'm sorry to bother you. If you remember anything, call me anytime."
Ovitz shook hands with him and asked him out without any pretense.
"If someone reminds you and you think of something again..." the man said one more thing before going out.
Ovitz asked him to leave without even looking up.
There was nothing going on all night, and Ovitz felt relieved, but he was stimulated again in the office the next day. Sure enough, as the FBI person said, someone from a new government department came. This time it was from the IRS.
Prosecutor.
Because of the interview with the Wall Street Journal that day, the IRS believed it was necessary to verify whether the consulting fees he received from Panasonic last year were properly reported in accordance with tax law requirements.
All kinds of people came to visit the company. Even Ron Meyer, the partner who co-founded CAA with him, couldn't help but talk to him about this matter.
"I'm pursuing Michael Douglas now, and it's time for Cher to renew her contract. Can you settle this matter as soon as possible? Don't fill the office with the power of law enforcement?"
"What should I settle? They don't know what they are here for. Just leave these matters to the lawyers." Ovitz also suspected that someone was targeting him, but it was hard to say anything now. As for the consulting fee, it was actually targeted at him personally.
Yes, it has nothing to do with CAA. But it’s hard for me to say it, otherwise I will be complained by Meyer and other senior partners.
"Why don't you ask our friend, Mr. Allen Cranston? Try to resolve this matter as soon as possible and get rid of him, Michael." Ron Meyer walked out of the office.
"Hmph..." Ovitz punched the table. Meyer had many key clients, but he was not very ambitious and timid. When he squeezed out several other entrepreneurial partners,
He could only watch his movements obediently.
But just such a person actually wants to do it early today... Those new agents in the company are becoming more and more lawless. These wolves that he has cultivated have great ambitions and appetites, and Meyer is very interested in them.
Of course it's harmless, but the relationship is going well...
However, Meyer's proposal made sense. He picked up the phone and asked his secretary to call Senator Allen Cranston's office and make an appointment with the senior senator from the Donkey Party.
"Michael, our state's other senator, Pete Wilson, is about to become governor. He has appointed a temporary senator, but he will soon face re-election. Can I expect your support?"
Senator Allen Cranston called Ovitz. The two senators in California are from the Donkey Party, but this temporary change will cause instability in the senatorial election. As a senior senator,
As a congressman, he first asked Ovitz to do something. Those of his celebrity clients who came out to support the interim senator seeking re-election were very effective campaign methods.
"Of course, many of my clients support the progressive Donkey Party from the bottom of their hearts. They would stand up for it without my approval."
"Hahaha..." Allen Cranston smiled heartily. He is now the whip of the Donkey Party in the Senate. He has been a senator since 1968 and has been re-elected to this day. "You know, I
I have always been interested in Hollywood, and if I hadn’t been engaged in politics after retiring from World War II, I might have tried my hand at acting.”
"Haha..." Ovitz could only pretend to agree.
Allen Cranston was no ordinary veteran. He had been a journalist before the war and was the first English translator of someone's work. He recognized the anti-Semitic tendencies of the Germans at that time and was also criticized by someone.
Sued.
During World War II, he was also engaged in public information intelligence work in the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. He later retired and never talked about his service experience.
"I..." Ovitz wanted to ask who he had offended.
"Listen, little guy. Your interview with the Wall Street Journal crossed a line. I have only one piece of advice for you, don't mess with the White House. This person is not a Hollywood actor. You don't need me to remind you of his background.
? Take care of yourself!"
With that said, Senator Allen Cranston hung up the phone.
"The White House? When did I mess with the White House?"
Ovitz quickly found a clip of his interview with the Wall Street Journal... and slowly searched down, finally found the sentence they mentioned about him.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Why don't you ask Ronald Lee?"
"I?!……"
A wave of cold air ran up from his back along his spine, and Ovitz felt himself shivering.
"Didn't you say that Ronald has no relationship with the White House? I even watched all the videos of the inauguration ceremony."
He immediately realized that he had made a mistake on a key factor. The reason why Ronald was able to steal his consulting business was not because he knew some bullshit Japanese culture, but because he knew the key people!
My talkativeness may have made the big shots behind the scenes unhappy.
Besides, I am not impeccable in the Israeli espionage case.
Alan Cranston's reminder made him completely sober. The current commander-in-chief was not a Hollywood actor like his predecessor. He still had a passion for Hollywood, and he might not be able to use such private affairs to work for the powerful department.
The current commander-in-chief is the head of a powerful department. The current directors of the FBI and CIA, as well as middle-level cadres, were all his subordinates.
"Fxck!" Ovitz broke into a cold sweat. He read the report for a long time, and then asked his secretary to bring in Ron Meyer.
"Ron, you have to do me a favor!"
"Oh?" Meyer was wearing a casual suit with a harmless look on his face. It seemed that Ovitz hadn't asked his old friend for help for a long time, and now he finally thought of his old friend, with that happy smile on his face.
"The Wall Street Journal quoted me as saying that I was in a hurry to go to Spielberg's party and made a casual remark. They might have misheard."
"What do you mean?" Meyer's smile was still very warm, with a hint of inquiry.
"This is it. I wanted them to ask you, because you are in an objective position and I can't comment on my other businesses outside of CAA. But they listened wrongly."
As he spoke, Ovitz pointed to the name "Ronald Lee" on it.
"Ronald Lee, Ronald Meyer...it's kind of like...I'll call them, do you want a new corrected interview?"
"Oh? No, I'll tell you, and then you can call them and issue a correction, otherwise it will cause misunderstanding..." Ovitz didn't want Mayer to have the opportunity to be interviewed and gain the limelight. CAA had better be
When people think of it, it is only tied to their own Ovitz's name.
The crisis was solved by three strokes, five divisions and two, and Ovitz let out a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, the next day, the Wall Street Journal published a correction in an inconspicuous place. And those in the powerful department stopped harassing me after that.
Only the poor Ivar restaurant was sued by "Dances with Wolves" and was struggling to respond. Their boss even called, hoping to get his millions of creative fees back, but Ovitz refused.
.
Are you going to sue me if you can? Advertising creatives are only responsible for some creative content. The basic facts you provided are wrong. What does it have to do with me if you are sued?
Besides, this kind of small business is also used to train the team. What Ovitz has in mind is the advertising business of Fortune 500 multinational companies.
For example: Coca-Cola.
Just as he was thinking of Coca-Cola, Ovitz received a call from the other party.
"I'm Ovitz."
"I'm Don (Keough, CEO of Coca-Cola)"
"Mr. Keogh."
"There are many objections in our marketing team. They told me that we are not opposed to you stripping advertising production from those advertising companies and giving it directly to creative personnel, but there is no need to go through an agency and you can go directly to the director.
and stars.”
"Ah..." After planning for a long time, Ovitz, who had basically convinced Coca-Cola's board of directors and was preparing to take over Coca-Cola's advertising business, suddenly suffered a blow.
"But I think Coca-Cola doesn't necessarily understand what's going on in Hollywood."
"We had a happy partner before, the famous Hollywood director Ronald Lee. I have seen the effect tracking of his movies. It can be said that some of our best advertisements since the 1980s, and Pepsi's best
Several of the advertisements were shot by him.
If you want to play a greater role here, you have to convince these people in the marketing team.”
"Pah..." Ovitz hung up the phone with a heavy thump after the other party hung up the phone.
"Ah..." He slammed the table several times, Ronald, Ronald again!
"Answer Niceta's call for me, I want to talk to him." Ovitz vented, and then had to put down his posture and call Niceta, a partner of CAA and Ronald's agent.