Hollywood Director 1992

Back in the office, just after hanging up the phone, Link received a call from Jay Moloney.

Jay Moloney said that Michael Ovitz didn't agree with Tom Hanks starring in his new movie.

If Guessing Game Pictures insisted on inviting Tom Hanks to star, they would need to pay a salary of $20 million + 10% of the global box office.

Link said that was impossible, $20 million at most.

Earlier in the year, Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor for his wonderful performance in "Philadelphia," and in June, "Forrest Gump," starring him, grossed over $600 million worldwide, second only to "The Lion King" and "Seven."

Tom Hanks's salary has also skyrocketed as a result, becoming the second Hollywood actor after Jim Carrey to reach a salary of $20 million.

A salary of $20 million was already a historical record in the acting industry.

Michael Ovitz also wanted to fight for a box office split for Tom Hanks, which was clearly a blatant attempt to sabotage the collaboration.

When talking to Jay Moloney, Link said that $20 million was the highest offer, and he wouldn't give a penny more.

Jay Moloney said he would convey his meaning.

After several days of negotiations, Tom Hanks's salary was finalized at $20 million.

Originally, CAA wanted $20 million + 10% of the global box office, but Link didn't agree.

CAA then cut their offer, reducing it to $20 million + 5% of the global box office, but Link still didn't agree, sticking to a maximum of $20 million.

CAA stated that Guessing Game Pictures was not sincere and announced that Tom Hanks had decided to give up on the project.

But this was immediately denied by Tom Hanks, and Tom Hanks's agent took the initiative to contact Guessing Game Pictures, stating that they accepted the $20 million offer.

According to Jay Moloney's sources, Tom Hanks publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Michael Ovitz, believing that Ovitz shouldn't interfere excessively in his work, as it violated their agreement, and he hoped there wouldn't be a next time.

It was said that Michael Ovitz was furious upon hearing this, but he couldn't do anything about Tom Hanks, his star client.

"Hey, Michael, do you have time to talk?"

After receiving the news, Link took the initiative to call Michael Ovitz to talk about Tom Hanks's matter.

"Link, is this one of your schemes? You deliberately invited Tom Hanks to star in your movie, using this method to sow discord between me and Tom Hanks, causing internal conflicts within CAA. Hmph, you really are a Chinese, using 'The Thirty-Six Stratagems' very well. Now your scheme has succeeded, and you're very happy, aren't you? But I'm telling you, don't be happy too soon, this matter isn't over."

Michael Ovitz's tone was very sharp, and he sounded like he was in a very bad mood.

Link leaned back in his office chair and laughed relaxedly, "Michael, can we talk calmly? Actually, I never thought of becoming an opponent of you or CAA. Guessing Game Pictures is a production company, and CAA is a brokerage company. There is no conflict of interest between us, and there is no benefit to having conflicts.

For you and CAA, becoming an opponent of Guessing Game Pictures is also not beneficial. Since that's the case, why don't we put aside our prejudices and talk about cooperation?

Guessing Game Pictures is rising, and it has a lot of resources. CAA has many artists under its banner who need a lot of resources to grow. If we establish a close cooperative relationship, it will be beneficial to both of us. What do you think?"

"Hmph, you speak beautifully, but don't forget about Richard Gere, Robert Downey Jr., and Dustin Hoffman. Would they have had problems if it weren't for you? Would CAA have lost three generals, causing tens of millions in losses? Now that you've won, you're starting to smugly say that there are no conflicts between us and asking me to put aside my prejudices and talk about cooperation. If I don't cooperate, it will make me seem narrow-minded. Hmph, Richard Gere was right, you really are a hypocritical guy."

Michael Ovitz laughed coldly.

Link shook his head, "Michael, you really are a fool."

"WTF?! You're calling me foolish?"

Michael Ovitz was furious.

Link laughed and said, "Michael, when I was not yet famous, several of you big shots joined forces and still couldn't defeat me. Not only were you foolish, but you were also weak. After I became famous, you joined forces again to deal with me and were defeated by me again, proving your foolishness and failure again.

Now I've become a big shot, with money and resources, even more powerful than before, and your strength is far from what it used to be. You know that you're no match for me, but you're still stubbornly opposing me. What is that if not foolishness? Oh well, foolish people do find it difficult to understand what foolishness is."

"F*ck! F*ck! Damn Link, I'm going to kill you!!"

Michael Ovitz was so angry on the other end of the phone that he was about to go crazy, cursing Link with the foulest language.

"Michael, are you done cursing? Do you want to consider cooperating with me?"

Link asked, taking a sip of tea.

"Hmph, Link, don't be complacent, you really shouldn't be complacent. Although you do have some ability, and Guessing Game Pictures is indeed developing well, this is Hollywood, the territory of the Big Seven studios. Now, every penny that Guessing Game Pictures earns has been snatched from the Big Seven studios. They will never let you go. I bet that within three years, Guessing Game Pictures will definitely go bankrupt."

Michael Ovitz shouted loudly, as if cursing Guessing Game Pictures.

"Bet? You've never won against me. Besides, Hollywood is the territory of the Big Seven studios. Even if Guessing Game Pictures goes bankrupt, it will be the Big Seven studios that profit, what does it have to do with you, Michael? Smart people don't easily participate in other people's battles, but you, you're acting as the vanguard in a battle that doesn't belong to you. I really feel sorry for your IQ."

Click!

Without waiting for Michael Ovitz to start cursing, Link decisively hung up the phone, even if Michael Ovitz called again, he wouldn't answer.

Link smiled softly and continued to look at the information.

While preparing for "The Sixth Sense," two major events also occurred in Hollywood:

The first event was that Ron Meyer, the former vice president of CAA, officially joined Universal Pictures as the president of Universal Pictures.

The second event was related to Disney. In the past two years, internal struggles among Disney executives have been constant. Disney Chairman Frank Wells, CEO Michael Eisner, and Disney Studios Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg each formed their own factions, refusing to yield to each other, forming a three-legged balance of power.

However, things changed last week.

Frank Wells died in an accident while traveling by helicopter.

The three-legged balance of power turned into a two-tiger fight.

Although Jeffrey Katzenberg was very capable at work, he was not good at office politics, and his power within Disney was not as great as Michael Eisner's.

Without exception, read it one by one!

This Wednesday, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his resignation from Disney.

Michael Eisner ultimately won.

Some media believe that after the death of one of the three giants and the departure of another, Disney has ended its chaotic situation and will usher in a period of rapid development.

Some media also believe that the box office success of animated films such as "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Aladdin" was all due to Jeffrey Katzenberg. Now that Jeffrey has left Disney, Disney's development may encounter serious setbacks.

From the perspective of public opinion, the media that are optimistic and pessimistic about Disney are evenly matched.

But the performance on the stock market is more obvious.

Because many shareholders did not want to see Michael Eisner dominate Disney, they threw out their shares, causing Disney's stock to plummet, with its market value falling from $20 billion in May to $15.5 billion.

Link once again arranged for Shining Capital investors to buy 4% of Disney's shares, increasing their Disney shares to 4.06%, becoming the sixth-largest company shareholder.

At the same time, after Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his departure from Disney, he took the initiative to contact the other party, inviting him to serve as the chairman of Guessing Game Pictures, giving him 5% of the company's shares.

Unfortunately, Jeffrey Katzenberg did not agree. Rumor has it that he is preparing to form a new film company with Spielberg and David Geffen.

Link didn't mind, he made a suggestion to Michael Eisner through personal channels, inviting Michael Ovitz to join Disney as CEO.

There were three reasons:

First, the original internal three-way war within Disney was mainly due to disagreements among the board members, with Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Frank Wells each having their own supporters behind them.

Now that only Michael Eisner is left, the board members will not all support him. Inviting Michael Ovitz to join can maintain the stability of the board and curb the constantly declining stock price.

Second, given Disney's current situation, Michael Eisner alone cannot end the chaos, and he still needs a strong person to take charge. Michael Ovitz has been ranked first on Hollywood's power list for three consecutive years, and he is very suitable.

Third, Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz have a good relationship. It will be easier for them to maintain consistency in their work after they become colleagues.

Link's condition was that in the future, at the Disney board meetings, Shining Capital's shareholder representatives would fully support Michael Eisner's work.

Michael Eisner said he would seriously consider his opinion.

Link wasn't worried that Eisner wouldn't agree.

Michael Eisner had originally done this.

During the internal chaos at Disney, he brought Michael Ovitz to Disney as a facade, gradually consolidating his power, and then kicked him away after completely taking control of Disney.

Michael Eisner is extremely skilled in office political struggles. Even if Michael Ovitz is the number one person on Hollywood's power list, he is no match for him at Disney.

Link hoped to use Michael Eisner's hand to eliminate Michael Ovitz, this obstacle.