Hollywood Road

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In North America, it seems that the laws and regulations are perfect, and the government, judicial departments, and various industry associations are doing things according to the law, but society is made up of people after all, just like Bill Rossis and Kara Firth can reach in private Like cooperation agreements that actually violate the rules, there are certain gray areas in any industry.

As Robert Downey Jr. said, even in North America, many regulations are dead, but the people who operate them are alive.

"Actually, the reason why Michael Ovitz approached you is very simple. You have shown enough potential now. If you can join his manager's company, he will definitely find a way to win you over."

It seems that Robert Downey Jr. has a good understanding of this aspect. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "When you have a good impression of the artist management group and become dependent on it, they will definitely encourage you to leave CAA and never use it again. broker."

"Don't use brokers?" Murphy asked suspiciously, "You mean they, as managers, can represent brokerage business?"

"The law and industry regulations do not allow it," Robert Downey Jr. gave an affirmative answer, "in practice, it is possible."

Murphy looked at Robert Downey Jr., waiting for him to give a more detailed answer.

As we all know, managers other than brokers can work without a license, but relevant regulations stipulate that managers are not allowed to engage in activities to obtain jobs for clients, and must not create conflicts of interest with brokers.

Likewise, managers are not bound by strict contract terms and commission caps.

"Managers have a bigger wiggle room than brokers,"

It was a rare opportunity to show off in front of Murphy. Robert Downey Jr. was very stinky, and said unhurriedly, "A manager can enjoy or partially enjoy the work results of the client, including being a producer. Traditionally, Because a manager’s job is not to get a job for a client, but to plan his career, there’s no conflict with the broker.”

Murphy crossed his arms and simply waited for Robert Downey Jr. to speak.

The best way to deal with a chatterbox who has a lot to say and wants to pour it out is to try not to answer his words as much as possible. Chatterbox can't hold back his mouth, and he will pour out the stock in his stomach soon.

Seeing that Murphy didn't continue to ask, Robert Downey Jr. couldn't help pinching his nose, and took a sip of water from his cup.

"do you know,

Murphy? The current Hollywood agent industry is facing huge challenges! "

Sure enough, Robert Downey Jr. couldn't help himself and began to pour out, "Nowadays, agents are more likely to represent famous clients who are already famous and attractive, and even if they are not good enough, they will look for clients like you..."

He pointed to himself, "Or a client like me who shows enough potential."

This is very realistic, but it is also the actual situation. If it weren't for the great improvement before and after the filming of "Hard Candy", Bill Rosses would have signed Murphy? If it weren't for "Chain Saw"? Will CAA renew the brokerage contract with Murphy?

Murphy understood what Robert Downey Jr. meant, and seeing that he was no longer such a stinky fart, he also continued, "So, those newcomers who are not famous, don't seem to have much potential, and need to open can't get the favor of the agent. Managers have become a rigid demand in this part of the market?"

"That's right." Robert Downey Jr. nodded vigorously, but Murphy shook his head and asked, "For clients without agents, do you need managers to get jobs for them?"

Earlier, Robert Downey Jr. said that for managers, many of the so-called "problematic" clients they take over are usually newcomers who have just debuted, or clients who have no market popularity. People need to invest a long time and money to incubate and open these customers, so that these customers can gradually become attractive to employers.

Therefore, managers usually need an extendable contract period and a higher commission ratio to motivate managers to make long-term, continuous, and risky deals with "problematic" customers.

This is why Murphy was not very impressed with Michael Ovitz's invitation. No one wants to accept another heavy exploitation of their income.

"Yes, it's the manager!" Robert Downey Jr. gestured and said, "This is the basic point of conflict between the manager and the agent. If the manager obtains a license, he will be limited by the validity period of the contract and the upper limit of the commission. There is a huge risk for the client; if the manager is not licensed but 'gets a job' for the client, he runs the risk of having the labor commissioner revoke the contract and forfeit earnings for breaking the rules."

But he shook his head, "That's far from the truth. As long as customers don't report it, generally no one will pay attention to it. Even if someone reports it, it's not a problem now. Before I was arrested, the California Labor Court handled a lawsuit against the manager. case, the result of the penalty not only failed to deal with the defendant's manager, but also expanded the boundary of the manager's 'getting a job'."

"Oh?" Murphy became interested, "What kind of punishment."

"In that case, the labor court made an exception for a manager to 'illegally' get a job," Robert Downey Jr. responded immediately, "as long as the manager plays an active role in a You can bypass the restrictions of the franchise authorization and directly hire its clients, which means you can legally seek work for your clients!"

Murphy was somewhat surprised, "Can you still do this?"

Exceptions like this all but ensure the legitimacy of a manager 'getting a job'.

This is too simple, even a layman like him can think of a way for managers to obtain legitimacy. The law stipulates that agents cannot directly participate in film production, but managers can. A manager can first operate himself as the production of a crew In this way, it meets the requirement of "playing an active role in a production project", and it is legal and reasonable to seek work for one's own clients later.

It has to be said that if something like the law is played by others, it will have completely different effects.

Robert Downey Jr. also said, "Some managers also invest and take shares in the projects of the production companies, so that the influence on the film projects will become very large, and they can even get the dominant power, which means that some Managers and producers are empowered enough to open productions that work for their own clients without interference from other producers...”

"Of course, this will affect the interests of brokers and further magnify the conflict of interest between the two."

He shrugged, "Agents and managers used to be complementary, but now it's a competitive relationship. Basically, the situation now is that the manager can do everything a broker can do-and more, the more More and more managers have the substance of a broker."

Murphy suddenly remembered, "I heard Bill mention it, and it seems that some management company has approached him."

"It's normal." Robert Downey Jr. was not surprised at all, "The current trend has caused a large number of brokers to leave brokerage companies for managers, which in turn further blurs the relationship between brokers and managers." There used to be a clear demarcation between managers, and many managers and manager companies are also providing customers with services in the actual sense of 'getting a job'."

"But the agency still has its own advantages." Murphy frowned and said, "The agency cannot get the agency rights of superstars."

"That's the case for now, but it won't be the case forever." Coming from a traditional acting family, Robert Downey Jr. is far more well-informed than Murphy, "while you and Gal Gadot are hiding at home During those few days of seclusion, Michael Ovitz's artist management company had already settled Robin Williams, and Robin Williams fired his agency, and will rely entirely on his manager to complete various tasks in the future. This kind of deal, and the artist management company has Leonardo DiCaprio as its next target!"

This is an A-level client of CAA.

Times are changing, the environment is changing, and an industry is also undergoing various changes.

Judging from what Robert Downey said, with the blurring of the boundaries of managers, many entertainment brokerage companies led by CAA and William Morris are bound to suffer a huge impact, and even lose their dominant position in the industry.

But Murphy remembers very clearly that even after ten years, the market size of CAA in Hollywood has not shrunk, but continues to grow gradually, but the growth trend has become extremely slow.

Although his understanding of the industry was far inferior to that of Robert Downey Jr., a veteran with a family tradition, Murphy was not an idiot. He just thought about it for a while, and he figured it out.

The root of caa's strength lies in the one-stop packaging service and cross-management service!

Although the law expressly stipulates that agents are not allowed to participate in film production, but from another perspective, the agent's package deal is actually a producer.

The traditional brokerage model is becoming more and more passive, and their income cannot "compete" with the managers due to the lock-up of the commission limit. The one-stop packaging service breaks through this limitation. The packaging transaction is actually similar to film production, although Brokers are banned from unions to be producers, but they are not banned from packing clients together for deals.

Murphy expressed his thoughts, but Robert Downey Jr. was not surprised, and said of course, "This is another point of conflict of interest between the agent and the manager. This kind of package deal makes the agent actually become the production manager." Producers will affect the manager's production model, and of course there will be a conflict of interest."

Robert Downey Jr. has said this, and Murphy has fully understood that the one-stop package service is so respected by brokerage companies, not only to attract customers and earn more profits, but also to compete with managers. Continue to maintain their position in the industry.

Moreover, the cross-management services of caa's multiple brokers to customers do not just increase the cost of job-hopping. This kind of integrated service from work to life to special opportunities is also the work of a manager in the cloak of a broker. .

Attracting customers, mastering upstream resources, and gaining higher profits by means of packaged services and integrated services—being forced by a "broker" wearing a manager's coat to be a manager in a broker's coat, this is the current situation A true portrayal of the Hollywood brokerage industry. (To be continued.)