"Why would I let such a bad actor join my crew? She doesn't respect my beliefs..."
Tom Cruise was the first casualty of Ovitz's new deal. An actress owned by CAA wanted to be included in his new project, no matter what the role.
The actress, the daughter of a studio executive, just wanted to appear in movies. But she was a little outspoken and said some inappropriate things about Cruise's Scientology beliefs, and she was betrayed on the spot.
Tom Cruise immediately took the opportunity to have a fit and ran to Ovitz's office to demand an explanation. He was very serious about his belief in Scientology.
"This is just a misunderstanding, Tom, I promise. I will let her come and apologize to you..." Ovitz had no choice but to appease one of his most important male stars.
"I need respect, Ovitz, respect. The last time I was on set, someone said something bad about Scientology's special microphone. Guess what happened in the end? The producer personally announced that all my future scenes would be
Using Scientology’s special microphone…”
"I will ensure that you will receive equal treatment in all CAA projects in the future. I personally guarantee this..."
Ovitz hurriedly made a guarantee here. If the star had an idea and made some strange request, it would be neither a refusal nor an agreement. Such an opportunity was just the right opportunity to show his respect for Tom Cruise at the minimum cost.
of respect.
"This is very unprofessional and inconsistent with the professionalism advertised by CAA..." Tom Cruise was about to have an attack and picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip.
"Yeah, I am reaffirming the principles and cornerstones of CAA with them. Everything is based on the interests of customers and CAA. I think you will soon feel the return of this basic value..."
"That's good, otherwise I will reconsider the partnership with CAA."
"Hey, Tom, Tom, look at me. We have been happily cooperating since you debuted, right? You asked Paula to bring you a list of film directors you wanted to work with. We have almost done this for the past ten years.
You achieved it.
Give me a little confidence, Paula may be a little slack, but I have never let you down, right?"
"I believe in you, I believe you will not let me down in the future."
"Don't worry, I will strengthen your team. Also, do you want to consider adding a broker? Or, some of our clients will consider changing to another broker after working with them for a long time...
…”
"..." Tom Cruise was silent. He didn't expect this trick. He came to complain, but he didn't expect Ovitz to take the opportunity to persuade him to change his agent.
"Think about it, we have many young people here who are very motivated..."
"..." Tom Cruise's heart suddenly moved, "Do you have any recommendations?"
"Ha, Tom, Tom, I have a lot of people here who will jump with joy when they hear that I can provide you with services... If you need anything, we can start with your needs..."
"I want to strengthen my public relations work, preferably with someone on the East Coast..." Tom Cruise made his own conditions based on the candidate he wanted.
"Well, public relations is very important. The most competitive person here is Kevin Huwen... I will arrange for you to meet."
"But what about me?"
Tom Cruise is very satisfied with Kevin Hoover. This is an ally of the Niceta family. He once served as a temporary manager for Ronald and can be regarded as half of his own. Therefore, he will not mention it.
The selection issue was to prevent Ovitz from continuing to increase his selection and deliberately bringing up Paula Wagner's affairs.
"I understand, I understand, she was the first agent to see your potential. Leave everything to me, and I will help you get it done without any hassle for you. Paula is a professional agent
, she will understand.”
…
"You want me to give up my role as Tom Cruise's agent?" Paula Wagner retorted loudly to Ovitz, who came to announce her decision, "Don't forget, none of you were willing to sign this big boy back then.
, I bet my career and signed him..."
"This is your client's idea. I'm just here to tell you about this decision. In the brokerage industry, if someone else finally comes to tell you that the client doesn't want you to be an agent, should you think about your own
What's the problem?
This is an irreversible decision. Kevin Hoover will take over your vacancy and become Tom Cruise's agent. All handover work must be completed before get off work today. By the way, although you and Niceta are married, but You can’t interfere with Cruise’s work from now on..."
"You are blackmailing me. I will call Tom and ask him to take back his decision..."
"E on, do you think I will make a mistake in this kind of thing again? You can fight me and see what Tom says?"
"Hey, Tom..." Wagner couldn't wait to call Tom Cruise.
"Hello, I'm Tom. I'm not here right now. If you need anything, you can contact my agent Paula..." What came was his recorded phone call.
There was a message forwarded from Paula herself, which seemed to be mocking herself.
"This is a scam. You want to launch a surprise attack while Tom is inconvenient to answer the phone?"
"I've already said, hand over all the information before leaving get off work this afternoon. You can't take anything out of this office.
If you don't comply, I'll ask security to ask you to leave. Getting fired is not a good experience for your next job. You don't want me to be honest with your next employer over the phone, do you? Paula...
…”
"You want to fire me?" Paula pointed at Ovitz and yelled, her fingers shaking.
"If you continue to show uncooperation like this."
"Fuxck you, you have a good idea, I resign!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Paula Wagner cursed and threw the documents on the table all over the sky. Then she angrily took several photos on the table, including her
The photos with Niceta, the children, the Ronald family, and the young Tom Cruise were all swept into a cardboard box, then turned around and left, closing the door loudly.
…
"How's it going?" Paula Wagner left the CAA building and went straight to Ronald's mansion, where Tom Cruise was also waiting for her.
"It went more smoothly than expected. I resigned." Paula Wagner had abandoned the excitement and anger on her face to the Pacific Ocean, smiling calmly.
"Very good, Kevin Huwen is about to take over Tom's business. Rick (Nisita) will fight for some compensation from you..."
"It doesn't matter, now I just want to do a good job in Tom's new role..."
"Hahaha, I didn't expect that Paula, your acting skills are also very good." Tom Cruise laughed beside him. What originally required some twists and turns was successfully completed with Ovitz's unconscious cooperation.
"Oh, now I really understand how difficult it is for an actor. When I watched your performance as Tom on the set, it was effortless to play opposite Jack Nicholson. But when I got angry, I was afraid that Ovitz would see through it.
, even my fingers are shaking..." Paula Wagner lost no time in flattering Tom Cruise.
Although her new job is no longer an agent, she still has to work closely with Tom Cruise.
"I think if Paula is not a better producer with more potential, and indeed has the potential to be an actress, she might even be able to play opposite Tom..." Ronald directed the servant to open a bottle
Champagne and a toast to both of you.
"By the way, what's the name of your new company?" Ronald also wanted to sign a co-production agreement with them.
"Call C/W Films..." Tom Cruise took a sip of champagne and showed a charming smile with neat and white teeth. He was indeed very charming. Just now, Ronald joked about asking Paula to co-star with him.
, Paula Wagner’s eyes were bent with laughter.
"Cruise/Wagner Pictures, very good, very good..." Ronald was very satisfied with this concise name. When the news was announced, Ovitz twisted his mouth in anger?
"Ha, you've already started celebrating..." Belatedly arriving were Wagner's husband, Rick Niceta, and Ronald's agent, Richard. They had just returned from Ovitz for Paula Wagner
I received resignation compensation.
"Any news updates?" Ronald asked them.
"With the very good conditions, the subsidy from the confidentiality agreement, and the severance allowance equivalent to two years' income, Ovitz can't wait for Paula to leave without giving her any chance to regret."
"Ahahaha..." Paula Wagner was very happy. The money allowed her to concentrate on working for the new C/W Films without any worries.
"You pay for the takeaway later..." Ronald also smiled at Paula.
"Uncle Ronald, Uncle Tom..." Zachary, the son of Niceta and Paula, is already five years old this year. He just ran around Ronald's house and found a "Top Gun" video tape.
He ran out to offer the treasure, "Look, your names are on it..."
…
"We would also like to follow the Paula Wagner model, but I don't have a husband who is a partner at CAA, so can you keep me in my role and allow my partner to start a production company? My client Chris is also very interested.
Want to repeat this business model..."
Of course, the news of the establishment of Cruise/Wagner Pictures quickly spread throughout Hollywood, and it also triggered an upsurge of discussion in CAA.
Many brokers went to discuss with Ovitz whether they could use this model to run their own and clients' businesses.
Unlike other brokerage companies, each client here at CAA is shared by three or more brokers, so the share each broker gets is much less than that of other brokerage companies.
Coupled with the work spirit admired by Ovitz, who always has to work overtime and always answer calls from clients, young people at CAA generally work much longer than traditional Hollywood agents, and they have to answer calls 24 hours a day after get off work. Customer phone calls, otherwise you will face pressure from other broker colleagues to compete for business.
Long working hours and low income actually make CAA's young agents complain. However, in recent years, CAA has gradually obtained nearly half of the agency contracts of Hollywood stars, which gives them no confidence to oppose this working model.
After all, even if your relationship with your clients is as strong as Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise, if you leave CAA, your capabilities will be greatly reduced. Many of them can be obtained through the packaging model at CAA.
If you leave CAA, you may not be able to get the role.
But Paula Wagner's move suddenly lit up a light that illuminated a different path for these relatively successful young agents, the group of agents known as the Young Turks.
After resigning, you won't get any more compensation from the agency contract, but you can set up your own studio or production company with your clients?
In today's Hollywood, which star wouldn't want to do this? With his own production company, in addition to gaining more initiative in negotiations with the seven major studios, he can also receive production profits as a producer.
of.
Within CAA, there are actually many agents who are bound together through various close relationships. In fact, everyone can imitate Wagner's model. One is tied to the star in the agency, and the other is cooperating with the star in the production business. A two-pronged approach
, it is double insurance and you can get two amounts of money.
"Paula is the one who personally discovered Tom Cruise and has served him for nearly eleven years. Can you and Chris guarantee such a relationship? Besides, Paula and Rick are husband and wife, and you and your partner
…With all due respect, this kind of relationship has not been recognized by the courts in America, right?”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Ovitz is very anxious. Today this is the third agent who has approached him to discuss a similar cooperation model.
In recent years, he has mainly been negotiating with studios, exerting pressure, and negotiating packaging agreements. His time with clients has actually been reduced.
These young Turks are already the main agents for the most important stars under CAA. With their status as founders and the prestige they bring to overpowering the executives of several major studios in Hollywood, they suppress
These people, not allowed to join forces, can still enjoy the good customer relationships that come from their dedicated customer service every day.
But this incident with C/W Pictures has severely damaged the foundation of the employee relationship that he most wants to maintain.
The young Turks discovered that Ovitz was not as powerful as he had boasted and as they had imagined for many years.
It turns out that as long as you build a good relationship with your customers, coax them well, and make them trust you, you can also cooperate with them in a different capacity.
In Hollywood, whoever controls the stars controls the production funds. Whoever controls the power to select scripts and negotiate on behalf of the stars also controls the stars.
These people suddenly realized that the most powerful group of people in CAA were themselves!
"Do your job, David. You will have this day, and when that day comes, I won't stop you. But now, let's think more about how to promote more packaging agreements. After all, we have already
Having signed a big director like Spielberg, we all know that a director can bring countless opportunities to actors..."
Ovitz was already very angry inside, but on the surface he still wanted to pretend that I had a good deal with Paula Wagner and the others.
Once the ambitions of these young Turks are aroused, it will be like the scene when he founded CAA (he forgot that there were four partners) in anger after being unfairly treated by William Morris.
Similar?
It only took more than ten years for me to go from having only a few telephones and second-hand desks to the largest agency in Hollywood. These people now have much more resources than I did back then.
"E on, Michael..." The young agent is no longer blinded by these illusory illusions of power.
"Spielberg didn't sign a sharing contract. He just negotiated cooperation with the studio through CAA. We can't get many good roles from him."
"What!"
Ovitz was shocked. Who leaked this secret? This was a trick he used to suppress the internal factions of Niceta and others. He paid a huge price, and there was no commission, just a fixed annual fee.
Only then did they win over Spielberg. The purpose was to use Spielberg's reputation to suppress internal opponents.
Now if this secret is revealed and becomes a secret known to everyone in the company, he has used various means to take over the shares of the other three founders over the years, and the power system established with him as the center will be
There is a possibility of collapse.
"Who is it? Who revealed this top-secret information?"