"Mike, of course we want to work with Barry, but his new script really lacks selling points. Moreover, it is impossible for us to accept a budget of $25 million."
"I understand your thoughts, West Germany. Paramount must also be looking forward to getting one or two projects from Daenerys Entertainment's 10 movies, but because you used less honorable means to obtain Simon Westeros "The Rocketeer" and "Firebird" have been snatched away from his hands, do you think it is possible for him to cooperate with you?"
"Mike, it is precisely because we are very clear about our situation that we have this meeting today. I guess other studios are probably not willing to discuss this project with you anymore, right?"
“…”
Paramount Studios, Hollywood.
Paramount Pictures President Sidney Ganis and Michael Ovitz are discussing Barry Levinson's new script "Avalon," which is about the European mythological and legendary 'Elysium' Land', the story tells the story of the struggles of several generations after the Krichinski family, an Eastern European immigrant, immigrated to the United States at the beginning of this century.
For the "Rain Man" project, although Dustin Hoffman still won his second Oscar, which saved some face, in fact, Barry Levinson and other main creatives were quite embarrassed.
Barry Levinson has been focusing on writing his new script "Avalon" in the first half of the year, hoping to avenge his shame with this project. In early July, Levinson finally completed the script for "Avalon". Several Hollywood studios also expressed interest in "Avalon" and various parties began to contact.
However, things began to take a turn for the worse when Daenerys Entertainment suddenly announced plans for 10 foreign cooperation films.
Disney, Columbia, and Warner Bros., who were originally interested in "Avalon", all firmly rejected it, leaving Paramount alone.
These days, Michael Ovitz has secretly regretted more than once why he did not stop Barry Levinson and others from trying to shirk responsibility. Now, the entire CAA has been blacklisted by Daenerys Entertainment.
After a moment of silence, Michael Ovitz said: "Sid, let's be honest and talk about Paramount's conditions?"
"Barry's new script is supposed to hit the Oscars and has little box office potential. Therefore, Paramount can only give a budget of US$12 million at most, of which US$2 million is Barry's salary. Of course, we can add another net 10% profit sharing clause.”
Michael Ovitz was a little angry: "West Germany, $2 million, do you think this is possible?"
After Barry Levinson debuted in the 1970s, he was quickly promoted to a front-line screenwriter and turned into a director. Even without "Rain Man", blockbuster films such as "Good Morning Vietnam" were enough to put him in the front-line of directors with a minimum salary of US$5 million. ranks.
What's more, no one can completely deny Barry Levinson's contribution to "Rain Man".
Now, after two consecutive films, "Good Morning Vietnam" and "Rain Man," Paramount is only willing to offer $2 million for a new film written and directed by Barry Levinson. This is simply an insult.
Sidney Ganis ignored Michael Ovitz's sarcastic question, raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said: "I have a meeting soon, Mike, you can go back and think about it first, and then call after you decide." I."
As Michael Ovitz left Paramount Studios in a somber mood, he thought about how to talk to his clients about the incident.
Paramount was clearly taking advantage of the situation, but Barry Levinson didn't have much choice.
or.
Let Barry put this project aside for the time being and start shooting a commercial film that will sell better.
This idea was immediately dismissed by Ovitz.
Matthew Broderick, who had an entanglement with Simon Westeros, has been completely ruined. Now, although Daenerys Entertainment has not publicly released any words, Hollywood dares to take risks and continue to cooperate with Barry Levinson There are not many movie companies at all.
Even within CAA, many stars are now deliberately avoiding Barry Levinson and others.
Back at the CAA headquarters in Century City, as soon as I sat down behind the desk, one of the company's agents, Richard Lovett, came over to report that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn planned to leave CAA.
Michael Ovitz frowned.
This is another more serious problem faced by CAA.
After Jonathan Friedman became the president of WMA, he ambitiously wanted to regain the customers who had lost from WMA. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn are both A-list stars that CAA took the opportunity to poach when former WMA president Stan Kamen passed away three years ago. This time is obviously a counterattack by WMA.
After picking up the desk phone and making a few phone calls, Michael Ovitz quickly contacted Kurt Russell. However, the invitation to have a dinner was directly rejected. Although Kurt Russell was very polite in his words, he said that the couple's lawyers would be responsible for any subsequent matters.
There is obviously no room for change in this matter.
Moreover, the Russells are not the first wave of celebrities to leave recently. Michael Ovitz is well aware that not just WMA, but other Hollywood talent agencies have been swinging a hoe against CAA recently.
Michael Ovitz once ambitiously wanted to poach the 'best' of all other talent agencies in Hollywood, relying on CAA's unique packaging mechanism to obtain increasingly generous remuneration for stars. This matter was originally very smooth. However, after Simon Westeros appeared, Michael Ovitz found that everything was not going well for him in the past two years. He once wanted to recruit many clients under CAA, such as Robert De Niro and Kevin Coster. Na, Brian De Palma, etc., all failed.
Now, as Daenerys Entertainment becomes more and more popular, CAA has even begun to poach talents in return.
CAA's packaging strategy has not become outdated, but has become more and more popular. However, Ovitz also understands why this happens.
In the final analysis, it is still a matter of competition for resources in Hollywood.
In the past few years, CAA has been successful in Hollywood due to the successful launch of a large number of box office package projects such as "My Fair Lady" and "Out of Africa". Not only has it successfully recruited a large number of first-line stars to join, projects involving CAA can also obtain resources from the studio in various aspects such as schedule and screen.
However, the rise of Daenerys Entertainment made CAA quickly lose these advantages.
Because many non-CAA clients who relied on Daenerys Entertainment to increase their popularity in a series of blockbuster films have attracted more attention from Hollywood studios, and have the popularity base of more blockbuster films, including Robert De Niro and Kevin Cos. Stars such as Turner and Sandra Bullock can also ask for better resources from the studio.
In comparison, the commercial performance of its stars is obviously not as good as Daenerys Entertainment's movies, and CAA has gradually fallen into a disadvantage in this regard.
Now, once all of Daenerys Entertainment's 10 movie plans exclude the participation of CAA stars, this gap will undoubtedly widen even further. After all, these 10 movies will definitely occupy the best schedule, the most generous publicity and the most generous number of screens in the next two years.
At the same time, no one doubts that another group of celebrities will have their status significantly increased.
As one goes, some of CAA's first-tier stars are likely to be squeezed into the second-tier ranks in a year or two.
Michael Ovitz couldn't help but think of the recent Sony acquisition of Colombia. As the facilitator of this merger, Sony had previously expressed its intention to make him the leader of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Now, the merger and acquisition case has basically settled, and Sony no longer mentions it.
Talent agencies do not have any fixed assets and are destined to have difficulty growing in size.
Seeing Simon Westeros, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller and others gaining fame and fortune in the film industry, Ovitz certainly had similar thoughts.
In the end, it was still because of Simon Westeros.
After weighing and thinking for a long time, Michael Ovitz picked up the phone again and dialed a number skillfully without consulting the address book.
The call was answered, but Westeros was not at the company.
Michael Ovitz chatted with the other party for a few words, but the other party only said that he would relay the call, but had no intention of transferring the call to him.
Putting down the phone, Ovitz was thinking about how to deal with this matter when the fax machine in his office rang.
Pulling out a page from the fax machine, there were only four names on it: Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Meg Ryan.
There is also a handwritten 'W' logo in the lower right corner of the page.
W, Westeros.
After being stunned for a moment, Ovitz immediately understood that Simon Westeros meant that CAA must draw a clear line with these four people so that the dispute between the two parties can be resolved.
Simon Westeros obviously completely ignored Matthew Broderick, who had previously transferred to CAA and has now been completely eliminated.
To draw a clear line, it would definitely mean terminating the contract with these four people.
only.
Can CAA do this
Not to mention that these four people are all top A-list celebrities in Hollywood. If they terminate their contracts with these four stars to protect themselves, what will other CAA clients think
However, after a brief moment of anger, Ovitz suddenly realized that perhaps the company's other customers didn't mind him doing this, and might even expect him to do it.
After all, after the four Barry Levinsons left CAA, other large talent agencies will obviously not accept it easily, and small agencies probably dare not provoke Daenerys Entertainment. They can only go it alone.
It's not like there are no stars in Hollywood who work alone.
Jack Nicholson has been staying away from several major talent agencies over the years, and he is still thriving. Before joining WMA, Robert De Niro had been working alone.
However, if these four people, who have been suppressed by Daenerys Entertainment, go it alone and lose the resources and connections of a large talent agency like CAA, and Hollywood studios dare not easily cooperate with them, the result will only be The future can be described as uncertain.
People are selfish.
The fall in status of these four first-line filmmakers actually means opportunities for others.
and.
Michael Ovitz also has to admit that this is undoubtedly the most beneficial method for CAA.
However, Ovitz had a hard time convincing himself to surrender to Simon Westeros.
When he was in a bad mood, the assistant outside knocked on the door. Ovitz looked up and saw a screenwriting client from CAA appearing at the door.
This is Joe Ezettehas. Due to the success of films such as "Flashdance" and "Bloodline", Ezettehas is currently one of the most valuable screenwriters under CAA. He has achieved the highest sales for several of his previous scripts. The price is as high as US$1.25 million.
Remembering that this was a scheduled meeting in the afternoon, Ovitz temporarily put away his anger, stood up with a smile, went up to shake hands with Ezettehas, and said: "Qiao, come in and sit down."
Joe Ezettehas' expression was somewhat unnatural as he sat down with Ovitz in the reception area. After chatting for a while and taking a sip of the coffee that the secretary had just brought in, Ezettehas said: "Mike, that's it. My original agent, Guy McElwain, do you remember ?"
Ovitz nodded and said, "Didn't he go to Colombia to work as a producer? It's been a long time since I last saw him."
"You also know," Ezettehas continued: "Sony is about to acquire Columbia. Guy found that he is not very suitable to be a producer, and he wants to return to the agency industry."
Ovitz recalled the information about Guy McElwain and nodded cheerfully: "Guy is still very capable in this area. In this case, just let him come back directly. Let's make an appointment to talk. talk."
"No, that's not the case." Ezettehas shook his head, with a bit more embarrassment on his face, and said: "Guy has already confirmed that he will go to ICM. This time, in fact, you know, Guy and I We have a very good relationship and I want to continue to have him as my agent.”
Ovitz calmed down his expression: "Joe, do you want to leave CAA?"
Joe Ezettehas nodded and said: "Yes, Mike, I hope you understand."
A series of things happened today that made Michael Ovitz feel extremely bad. When he heard that the client that CAA had spared no effort to support over the years was leaving, his bad mood suddenly exceeded a certain threshold. He shook his head without hesitation and said coldly: "Joe, I won't let you go."
Joe Ezettehas didn't expect Ovitz's tone to be so harsh and firm. He was stunned and said, "Mike, I can pay the liquidated damages."
"No," Ovitz shook his head again and said, "Joe, you are CAA's most precious asset, and I will not allow you to leave."
Joe Ezzethas was dissatisfied: "I am not an asset of CAA, I am a human being."
"Well, you are alone. No matter what, you can't leave. At least, you can't leave CAA until the end of your contract."
"Mike, I just heard that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have left. Why are you making things difficult for me?"
"Why, Joe, do you know how many resources CAA has invested in you over the years, and do you know how much thought I have put into you. In short, you want to terminate the contract early, which is impossible."
Feeling Ovitz's unreasonable and firm tone, Joe Ezettehas also became angry.
The voices of the two people couldn't help but get louder and louder, and soon turned into a quarrel, and Ovitz's roar spread to the corridor.
"... Don't forget that it was CAA that gave you a net worth of 1.25 million US dollars... Without CAA, you are nothing... Don't even think about it, I will bombard you with lawsuits so that you can't even get close to the typewriter. Let you be completely ruined... If I ask you to eat shit, you have to eat shit... Did you see those people outside? If you want to escape, the infantry soldiers of CAA will find you from anywhere and smash your head. … I don’t care what the outside world thinks, all those guys want is to write a script for Robert Redford…”
The quarrel between the two became more and more intense until several of Ovitz's assistants felt something was wrong and rushed into the office, only to stop a physical altercation in time.
However, things didn't end there.
The next day, Joe Ezettehas published the details of the meeting in the "Hollywood Reporter" in the form of an open letter, accusing Ovitz of physically threatening him.
Michael Ovitz's image in Hollywood has always been that of a low-key, mysterious and omnipotent person. Both Hollywood studio executives and A-list stars have been in awe of Ovitz in recent years. As soon as Joe Ezettehas's open letter was released, there was an uproar both within Hollywood and in the outside media.
The personal image that Michael Ovitz has carefully built over the years suddenly collapsed. Under the intentional or unintentional suppression of Daenerys Entertainment, CAA's situation became even worse.