Exploiting Hollywood 1980

One was the contract given to Ronald by Colombia, and the other was the industry standard contract. Looking at the two copies of the contract in his hand, Rick Niceta was very angry. A key clause was removed from Ronald Lee's contract. As the highest-ranking of his three agents, he was kept in the dark.

One of the reasons why he jumped from WMA to CAA was that having people like Ovitz as president here suppressed internal competition and there was not so much internal intrigue. Different brokers can work together to recommend projects, so that everyone’s clients can share in the benefits.

But the contract of a screenwriter client was actually exploited. I originally thought that no one would dare to do anything about this kind of project that Ovitz personally promoted, so I didn't pay much attention to it and let the new agent Richard be responsible for tracking and handling it.

In the end, if Richard hadn't been clever, he almost signed this contract with a trap and was taken advantage of. In the future, it might be said that he is incompetent, or that he has a reputation as a bully. Ovitz would never tolerate this happening.

The reason why Niceta did not pay full attention to Ronald's contract was because he had a problem with his own big client and was busy dealing with it.

His biggest client, Sally Field, who became the new best actress with "Norma Leigh", was very sad because her boyfriend Burt Reynolds cheated on her, and almost made an accident that hurt herself.

The curse of the Oscar-winning actress is not just career-related.

Reynolds is a very macho actor who also owns his own Nascar team, the Mach-1.

After Sally became the actress, she received significantly more movie scripts and salary than Reynolds, who could only hang out in TV series. This kind of thing does a lot of damage to Reynolds' image as a macho man. Reynolds then cheated on him with Loni Anderson, a blonde beauty who starred in a TV series with him.

After finally getting Sally back to normal and getting back on good terms with Reynolds, this kind of contract accident happened again.

"So who did the good deed? How dare you resort to such small tricks on a project that Ovitz was personally watching?" Niceta asked.

Paula Wagner sat next to Niceta, turning the contract over and over.

She has also been very busy recently. Tom Cruise is very motivated, but his reading level is really bad and he cannot understand many scripts. He can only let others read it to him.

Unlike ordinary people who can distinguish words at a glance, Tom had to read them letter by letter. And when you encounter words with irregular pronunciation, you will not be able to read them.

Paula is contacting the doctor,

Give him a check-up to see if he has dyslexia. I heard that there are some behavioral therapies that can treat it.

"Who is it?" Paula also raised her head and asked Richard Lovett.

"It's Lapke." Richard sat stiffly. Getting this contract issue wrong may affect his career, and then added the reason, "He has recently been pursuing Bridges, the director assigned by Jane Fonda. "

"This bastard." Niceta and Paula cursed at the same time.

The brokerage industry is not a court. It does not talk about evidence, but only about who is the recipient of the benefits. Because both good moral people and stupid people who leave evidence will be quickly eliminated.

"Jack Lapke, he was famous for being unruly in WMA." Niceta commented, "So what does Ronald think? Does he want to take all 350,000 and leave, or does he want to get the right to refuse to modify the first choice?"

"He's a young guy who wants to gain experience," Richard said.

"Tsk, this is difficult. Even if he gets the right to revise, Bridges is still the director. If you are not satisfied with the script, you can go back and torture him again and again until the movie and Ronald are dragged into planning hell." Paula ·Wagner interjected.

Planning hell is film industry lingo. After the studio bought the script and confirmed the actors, due to artistic differences, different understandings of the market, and even personal grievances, it was delayed in passing the planning stage, and there were many cases where filming was abandoned. People in the industry call it "planning hell." .

Once a script falls into planning hell, it will be difficult to climb out.

"Richard, please invite Ronald in and let's talk together. This is not the time for vindictiveness. $350,000 is a huge sum of money for a man of his age. Planning hell will not do anything for his experience growth. Any benefit."

"That's the thing, Ronald. After Jane Fonda entered the project, she became the center of power. Now she doesn't have enough scenes. Your script always has to be modified to highlight her performance..." Niceta explained to Ronald.

"But I'm already prepared." Ronald took out his big notebook, which contained various written records. He wrote down various inspirations at different times and places during his breaks, preparing to review the script. The main plot of the film is to undergo a major operation to highlight the status of Jane Fonda.

"At this point, Bridges will definitely change your script as a director, and with this period of time, he will not easily let your changes pass. There are many movies that fall into the endless struggle between stars and screenwriters. Stay in the revision loop until you give up,” Nicita advised.

"We can't bet on Jane Fonda's choice between Bridges and you. You also hope that your script will be made into a movie and your name will appear in the opening credits, right?" Paula Also help carefully.

Sighing, Ronald asked: "Who changed the terms of my contract and removed the right of modification priority?"

"I will definitely investigate this matter and give you an explanation."

Seeing that Ronald's attitude had softened, Niceta and Paula quickly took Ronald with them to complain to Ovitz.

"My client's interests have been harmed, and the terms of the contract cannot be modified without the agent's consent." Niceta put Ronald's contract and the standard contract on Ovitz's desk, with the missing parts Mark it with a marker.

"Ask Jack Lapke to come into my office," Ovitz said to the secretary handling his call.

Jack Rapke has a typically Jewish nose. His mother is a buyer for movie theaters. She has been taken with her to buy movies from studios since she was a child, and she knows many things about the film industry.

After being called into the president's office, Ovitz asked him if he knew how the two contracts had been swapped.

Lapke tilted his mouth, chewed gum, and said very aggressively, "I don't know, he is not my client. If he were my client, he would definitely not make such a low-level mistake."

"I strive for the best interests of my clients. But I really don't know. You should check other people. The contract may not be a problem at CAA." Rapke did not admit that he had done anything.

Ovitz stood up and raised his hand to stop Rapke from continuing.

"Ronald, I will handle this matter personally. I will communicate with you and Frank Price tomorrow. Make sure that those who modify your contract without authorization are punished."

"As for the issue of screenwriters, I will compensate you. CAA will not let its clients be treated unfairly.

In this matter, CAA will complete the promotion of you as a talented screenwriter as agreed. I personally guarantee that your name will appear in the New York Times report, but there is no way to guarantee the front page this time.

But within the scope of Hollywood, including The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, and Variety Weekend Edition, we will all promote that your debut script sold for a sky-high price. "

Ovitz raised his hand and asked Ronald to walk out of the office with him.

"Is there no way for me to participate in the pre-production of the movie?" Ronald didn't want to give up yet.

"I won't lie to my clients, Ronald. There's really no point in you continuing. If you're willing to just settle this, I owe you once and I'll make amends. Sign your directing contract too. At CAA, I will personally recommend your new script to major studios."

The two walked out of the office, and Ovitz closed the door.

"Richard made a mistake. If you have other ideas, I can change you to a prime agent."

"No, I hope the main agent can spend most of his time on me, and Richard did not disappoint me." Ronald declined.

"Okay, Mary." Ovitz called his schedule secretary, "Please take Ronald to the lounge to rest for a while. I will discuss some work arrangements with them, and then I will ask Richard to accompany you back."

Ovitz and Ronald hugged each other goodbye, "Do you have any other requests?"

"I guess... forget it, she's not your client."

"Pfeiffer, right? My relationship with WMA's Limato is not that bad. When we don't involve celebrity clients, we usually communicate with each other. I will call him."

Ovitz comforted Ronald and quickly returned to the office. Close the door gently.

"Jack." Niceta was still quarreling with Rapke, "CAA treats all customers equally, and you cannot harm the interests of another customer just because you win the heart of one customer."

"Besides, Bridges is not your client yet." Paula added.

"I very much agree with your values, but there is another one of CAA's values, which is to maximize the interests of customers." Rapke retorted.

Ovitz returned to his seat and glanced at both sides.

Both sides stopped blaming the other.

"What's wrong with you? Who asked you to pass the responsibility to the studio in front of your clients?" Ovitz said to Lapke.

"And you guys, why is it that Richard is the only one who accompanies Ronald to sign a contract in Colombia? If you are not willing to represent him, bring it up as early as possible, and I can personally take your place. The writer-first strategy is the foundation of CAA in the film industry Book."

"So at all times, we must be united externally. No one is exempt, and all competitions remain within the company. Externally, we are not Ovitz, Nicita, or Lapke. We only have one name, caa broker."

Ovitz pointed his finger at both sides and repeated the company's creed again.

"So you mean big family, like the Corleone family? Ovitz thinks he is old godfather Vito?" Niceta and Paula walked out of the president's office and returned to their own offices. Suddenly Niceta complained.

"Then who are you? Sonny?" Paula Wagner glanced at the door to make sure it was closed, then sat in Niceta's arms and straightened his tie.

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