Exploiting Hollywood 1980

At six o'clock on Saturday morning, at the home of CAA president Michael Ovitz, Ronald and three agents came here to resolve the conflict with Stallone.

"Ah...ah..." Ovitz was wearing a white Japanese karate uniform with a black belt around his waist. He was barefoot and practicing a form of martial arts that Ronald had never seen before with three sparring partners.

It was obvious that Ovitz had been practicing for a while, and sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Oh..."

The three sparring partners rushed towards Ovitz one after another. When they got closer, Ovitz took the initiative to grab his hands. Then Ovitz used the rotation of his body to make the sparring partner's center of gravity unstable, and finally used his strength to knock the sparring partner to the ground one by one.

Ronald recognized this force-generating technique, which was very similar to Stallone's bodyguard, except that Ovitz's sparring skills were more deliberate. He touched his chin and began to think about how to make the shots look better if this kind of martial arts was used in a movie.

Ovitz looked very cool as he tossed his sparring partner around like a badminton ball. But humans are not badminton after all. He knocked down three consecutive attacks from his sparring partner and began to feel tired. He looked at the three agents standing next to the Japanese training ground and the client who had caused him trouble.

Richard Lovett was the youngest among the agents. He was frightened by his "magic power" and his eyes were full of admiration.

Niceta, an Italian, and his office sweetheart, Paula Wagner, were relatively mature and understood their own tricks to scare people, so there was nothing special about them.

The most irritating thing is Ronald. This guy actually started to study the weaknesses of his martial arts without saying a word. I heard that he is also a martial artist himself and participated in the design of the action scenes on the set of "The Dragon King". Maybe the rumors are not true. Fake.

"Hey, hey," Ovitz cleared his throat, bowed with the three sparring partners, and ended Saturday morning's morning practice.

"Hello," Ovitz walked towards the four of them, "This is a Japanese martial art called Aikido. It is a combination of dance movements, chess, and fighting will. I have been doing it since I was young. Start practicing.”

"Very wonderful, very wonderful," Ronald applauded. This martial art is similar to Chinese Tai Chi. It seems that it has been simplified a lot for rich people to learn, but it still opened his eyes.

"We can spar when we have the chance, Mr. Ovitz." Ronald didn't expect that Ovitz was also a martial arts enthusiast. In Hollywood, there are very few senior people who can really fight twice.

"Hi hi,

Have the opportunity. "Ovitz laughed. He often used this trick to frighten his negotiating opponents. I have never seen anyone so eager to have a fight with him.

"Ronald, we are old friends. When you first signed with CAA, it was also the time when we entered the film market in a big way. I still remember helping you negotiate your first screenwriting remuneration, which was US$350,000."

Ovitz picked up the hemp Japanese sweat towel and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I'm forever grateful for that, Mr. Ovitz." Ovitz started talking about the past, and Ronald had no choice but to acknowledge his sympathy.

"When Meyer and I founded CAA, we established several principles. The first one is to always respond to customers as quickly as possible." Ovitz asked Ronald to sit down and glanced at his agents.

"So Sly came to me yesterday, hoping to mediate the problem between him and you. I will invite you over immediately, hoping that you can have a truce."

"You understand, Mr. Ovitz, I am a victim and I did not actively attack him." Ronald said that he was forced to fight back.

"But he told me he was just kidding you."

"Michael, you can't be so biased towards Sly..." Niceta stepped forward to retort. To put it mildly, the damage Stallone did to Ronald's reputation is an understatement.

Ovitz raised a hand, indicating to Niceta to wait until he finished.

The president bought out the shares of the two founders and now owns more than half of caa's shares. In addition, this year he contributed to the hit movie "Ghostbusters", which earned his director client a salary of four million U.S. dollars. This is the time when he is high-spirited and true to his word in the economic industry.

"Rick, I remember when you came to CAA from William Morris, I told you that the second principle of our CAA is that if customers have conflicts, they must be resolved within the company's internal framework and not brought outside. . Inside the company, we can make a lot of noise, but when it comes to facing the outside world, we all fight together as a team, and we only have one name, which is CAA."

"Mr. Ovitz, when Sly accused me of imitating his movies on the talk show, he didn't abide by this principle. It seems that his agent doesn't take your principles seriously." Ronald saw Niceta Ovitz used his principles to suppress him, and he came forward to complain. It was Stallone who didn't follow the rules first.

"I know, but his agent Meyer is the veteran who founded the company with me, and sometimes I need to make certain compromises. And Stallone is the first real leading male star we signed, and we respect it very much. His choice at the time. Although sometimes we have to spend a lot of effort to deal with the trouble they cause."

"If Sly wants to reconcile, then he should show sincerity first." Niceta started bargaining with Ovitz again.

"Yes, I know the third principle you have set for CAA, which is to always put the interests of customers first. I am also a customer of CAA, right?" Ronald helped to fight for his own interests.

"Of course, of course. So I also hope that all disputes will be resolved within the company." Ovitz took the glasses on the table and put them on, "I hope you can agree to Sly's conditions and that he is willing to pay accordingly. price."

On behalf of Ronald, Niceta negotiated a price with Ovitz, and Ronald agreed not to continue attacking Stallone.

Stallone was willing to be interviewed again, praising Ronald's "Longwei boy" and admitting that the previous accusation of "imitation" was just a joke with his young friend Ronald.

In order to compensate Ronald for the favors he spent, and the resources of Niceta's team. Ovitz also decided to make the top-notch script obtained by CAA available to Ronald to assist him in negotiating for his next film.

In addition, Ovitz also arranged an exclusive interview opportunity for Ronald with print media, officially introducing him to the public eye as a representative of the younger generation of directors.

"The first-class script, is it the one adapted from the autobiography of a Danish female writer, 'Out of Africa'?" Ronald asked Niceta, who conveyed the conditions to him. Ronald has been in the industry for a long time and has heard of some scripts that are specifically designed to compete for Oscars.

"That's impossible, this script was prepared for Sydney Pollack, they are all...", Niceta touched her nose, implying that it was a game within a small Jewish circle.

"Ovitz said that he has a movie script about black people, and he is going to contact CAA. It is also an adaptation. The original author is Alice Walker, and it is called 'The Color Purple'." Paula Wagner said, but unfortunately the protagonists are all black, Tom ·Cruise can't get a piece of the action.

"So black themes can't compete for Oscars, right?" Ronald thought to himself. He was still far away from the top resources and could only play with movies of people of color. The last movie with all protagonists of color was the black version of Alice in Wonderland starring MJ and Diana Ross. Nothing came of it at the Oscars. "

"The power of this script is now in the hands of Peter Guber..." Richard introduced the situation to Ronald.

Ronald remembered the former president of PolyGram Pictures, who had chosen Brooke Shields to star in "Endless Love."

"PolyGram is also your customer?"

"No, last year Guber sold his shares and rights to PolyGram, and together with his partner John Peterson, founded Guber Peterson Pictures and went it alone."

"If you agree, then I will confirm with Sly. He will also go for an interview to praise your talents and talents." Ovitz saw Ronald discussing with several agents and came over to talk to Ronald. Handshake.

As long as he shakes hands, with his status in the industry, there will be no room for regret on this matter.

"I always feel like I'm at a disadvantage when negotiating with you." Ronald joked.

"Then you should feel honored. I'm rarely willing to give in." Ovitz smiled.

He turned back and took an envelope from the table next to him, and handed it to Ronald, "This is the opening ceremony ticket given to me by the Olympic Organizing Committee. As compensation, I will give it to you."

Ronald took it and took a look. In addition to the two tickets for the opening ceremony, there were also many tickets for individual games. It seemed that Ovitz had transferred the ticket package given to the "big star" to himself.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Ovitz." Ronald stretched out his hand and shook Ovitz's hand firmly.

…

"I was joking. As George Lucas said, film directors cannot imitate others. I am also a director myself and I know very well." When Stallone was interviewed, he changed his tune. A 180-degree turn.

"Ah... I like Ronald very much. He once wrote the script for Rambo II for me. Later, due to time constraints, he went to work on "The Dragon King", otherwise we might cooperate. Yes, I appreciate it very much. He is a talented and artistic director.

Ah... cooperation? Ah... if there is a chance. "

Stallone hurriedly pushed the reporter away, ending the interview that made him extremely uncomfortable.

Several bodyguards stopped the reporters who wanted to ask questions and helped Stallone get into the car.

"Sly, I want..." The tall bodyguard with a bun closed the door of the luxury car. After the car started moving, he sat on the side and offered his resignation to Stallone.

"What, you want to leave me?" Stallone asked.

"Yes, Aikido has begun to rise in Hollywood. In addition to being a movement coach for Sean Connery, I also want to open my own dojo. My apprentice has already found a place, and it's in Burbank."

"Well, good luck to you, Steve." Stallone glanced at the bodyguard. This guy accompanied him to Mike Ovitz's house for negotiations yesterday. Could it be that he saw Ovitz practicing Aikido? Have you thought about it?

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