From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

As a top company in the industry, Innovation Artists Agency (CAA) was naturally known to Anson, who had heard the saying.

“There are two kinds of people in Hollywood: CAA and everyone else.”

But Anson didn't know the origin of this saying.

Initially, the five founders of CAA all came from William Morris Agency. Led by Michael Ovitz, they set up their own business.

To distinguish themselves from William Morris's old tradition of seniority, the five founders discussed establishing a brand-new model of teamwork without hierarchy.

Simply put, although each actor has their own responsible agent, all CAA agents are open to serving all clients, and all resources are open to all clients.

For example, suppose "Star Wars" is looking for a male lead and the producer seeks cooperation with CAA. CAA is willing to open up all possibilities and recommend a batch of actors.

If that doesn't work, they will recommend another batch of actors. This project is open to all agents and all actors in the company, gathering all the strength of the company from top to bottom to serve this project.

Until "Star Wars" finds a suitable candidate within their own company. If they still don't have one, they are willing to scout other newcomers for the project.

In other words, once CAA takes on a project, it will absolutely not let it slip away, giving other agency's artists a chance.

Moreover, stemming from this corporate culture, based on such a firm sense of cooperation, CAA further pioneered a brand-new cooperation model in Hollywood—

Bundled sales.

Specifically, it means that the director, screenwriter, and actors are all CAA clients. They themselves take the lead in playing the role of a production company, selling the selected main creative team along with the script to the producer or production company, grasping the initiative in project production from the source.

As a result, innovation agencies became more and more powerful, and production companies became more and more passive.

The "Frat Pack" was born this way. Almost all members of the first-generation Frat Pack came from CAA.

Also.

“Friends” is the same. Although this series did not come from CAA, but from ICM Partners, another member of the Big Five agencies.

Nancy Josephson, the daughter of Marvin Josephson, the founder of ICM Partners, was inspired by CAA's model. Led by her, the entire "Friends" project was bundled and packaged.

Then, sold to NBC.

The main screenwriters, six actors, etc. of "Friends" are all clients of ICM Partners.

Thanks to this, CAA completely changed the rules of the game in Hollywood. They occupied more and more initiative and had key decision-making power—

They began to fight for more remuneration for their actors and directors, which triggered strong resistance from top Hollywood production companies. However, after a period of tug-of-war, CAA still had the last laugh, which then triggered a wave of rising salaries and gave birth to the "Twenty Million Dollar Club."

The increase in remuneration directly led to a triple jump in the production costs of Hollywood production companies, completely changing the ecology of the entire film industry.

In 1990, 1991, and 1992, for three consecutive years, "Premiere" magazine named Michael Ovitz of CAA as the most powerful person in Hollywood.

Later, in 1995, Michael Ovitz jumped to Disney, becoming Disney's CEO; while Ron Meyer, another founder and partner of CAA, jumped to Universal Pictures, also serving as CEO.

Undoubtedly, CAA is a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood today.

As Edgar said, there is no need to deny their power. That would only make oneself appear foolish and narrow-minded.

Although Edgar did not elaborate on the ins and outs of CAA, the information he mentioned was enough to prove the company's status.

From all aspects, Anson should choose CAA to enjoy the benefits of being under a big tree.

However, there is still a "but" here—

At least, Edgar still has a "but."

Anson looked at Edgar, "So, what question should I ask Eric?"

Edgar supported his hands on his knees, leaning his body slightly forward, not only not avoiding Anson's eyes, but also taking the initiative to meet them.

“You can ask him who will plan your career.”

“Believe me, everyone will give a different answer.”

“Oh, by the way, Eric will definitely not attend meetings alone, because every CAA client has the entire company's agents serving you. Naturally, you will see many people and hear many voices.”

“For new actors, there are many job opportunities at CAA, because of bundled sales, you can see countless performance opportunities.”

“But that's the problem. Every actor may be a link in the bundled sales. Sometimes it's for a movie, teaming up to star; sometimes it's for several different movies, for example, you star in this movie in exchange for another actor's salary doubling in the next movie.”

“Bundling is an opportunity, but also a burden.”

“Some projects and some roles are obviously full of traps. You don't need to be Einstein to see that, but how should you choose?”

“Should you agree? Can you refuse?”

“If you agree, it means that you may play some weird roles. If someone plans your career path for you, then there is no problem, but more likely, no one will plan it.”

Edgar's words were not over.

While speaking and observing, Edgar's attention remained highly focused. He noticed that Anson's expression was unmoved and did not waver.

What is the reason for this?

In a flash of inspiration, Edgar had an idea and took the opportunity to add.

“Oh, you may see a suitable project and want to fight for it yourself.”

“Of course, no problem.”

“But in CAA, when you see this project and are preparing to fight for it, this project has already shared resources to the entire company from top to bottom. Before competing with other actors, you may also need to face internal competition within the company.”

“Let us guess, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and you, three people simultaneously take a fancy to a role, how will CAA arrange it?”

“At CAA, you will not lack opportunities, you can see opportunities constantly, but just like bad romance, you are not sure if you need it.”

“The real success of CAA lies in bundling interests, bundling ten people, fifteen people, sooner or later a top superstar will appear in it; while the other fourteen people are all supporting roles.”

“The key is here, who decides the candidate for this superstar?”

“You? Eric?”

“I don't think so.”

The words finally came to an end.

Then, Anson spoke, “Then what about you? What question should I ask you?”

Fifth update.