Made in Hollywood

"Hi, Duke."

"Hello, Martin."

In a coffee shop in Century City, after Duke left ICM, he came here to meet Martin Miller who had made an appointment in advance. The two shook hands, ordered a cup of coffee each, and sat in a quiet booth. They looked at each other intently.

On the way here, Duke already guessed something. Martin Miller asked him to meet, probably not because of Natalie Portman. After all, he did not show obvious hostility towards the actress from Long Island.

After being reminded by Tina Fey, he also knew that the other party was not only Natalie Portman's agent, but also one of Russell Crowe's joint managers.

"Duke," Martin Miller stopped his hand stirring the coffee, and said suddenly, "I am now the executive shareholder of William Morris."

"Congratulations." Duke replied.

Being able to become an executive shareholder means that Martin Miller is already a member of William Morris' core decision-making circle.

Picking up the coffee cup, Duke took a sip and felt that the taste was not very good. He shook his head and put the coffee cup aside. He didn't have time to go around in circles with the other party, and said directly, "Martin, I'm going to Wilshire next. Dajie, please speak up if you have something to say.”

"William Morris never did anything against you."

Knowing Duke's character very well, Martin Miller stopped playing around in circles and said, "Russell Crowe is the most important client of William Morris, and his situation is not very good now..."

"So that's the case." Duke nodded and said, "Russell Crowe is a very bad person, but the person I had conflicts with was David Ellison. There is nothing between me and Russell Crowe. problem, and no action has been taken against him."

that's the truth. Duke's navy spread negative word-of-mouth about "Robin Hood" on a large scale on the Internet, but those scandals spread from other channels.

"But on the Internet, especially on instant sharing..." Martin Miller obviously didn't believe Duke's words very much, at least not all of them. "There are scandals about Russell everywhere."

Duke frowned, but patiently explained a few words. "I am no longer a shareholder of Instant Sharing, and I can't influence the decision-making of Instant Sharing too much. The Internet is not something that anyone can influence casually."

Anyone who thinks they can control online public opinion is simply delusional.

Martin Miller looked at Duke, who shook his head and stood up, "Martin, you should know how many people Russell Crowe has pissed off over the past ten years..."

He held out his hand to the other party, "That's it."

Martin Miller also stood up, shook Duke's hand, and said nothing.

The two left the booth at the same time and walked towards the glass door from different directions.

Duke didn't look at Martin Miller again. Now he doesn't care too much about what William Morris thinks about him, and William Morris doesn't have that much time and energy.

The competition between William Morris and CAA has become extremely fierce since last year. The two companies have been directly involved in the brand competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and the entire Hollywood agency is ready to move. Want to take advantage of the William Morris-CAA showdown and get something out of it.

No matter which country Duke once lived in. Still in North America now, there are always some myths about agents circulating, but how many people outside the circle can notice that behind the myths of Hollywood agents are all fighting.

Drive your own Bentley. Duke left World City and soon arrived at the nearby Wilshire Street, ready to pick up Scarlett Johansson who was here on business.

Driving in Beverly Hills on Wilshire Avenue, Duke can often see rare sights of Los Angeles. In this city that prides itself on being laid-back, it is etiquette to wear casual clothes at work, but Wilshire There are people wearing beautiful and tall suits everywhere on the street, walking in a hurry, with their heads down, pressing their BlackBerry and iPhone frantically.

In New York, nine out of ten of these guys in suits were stockbrokers, but in the City of Angels, they were mostly entertainment brokers.

They create entertainment stars one after another, and also earn huge remuneration for themselves. However, this job is not so easy to do, especially when they are mixed in the highly competitive and extremely complicated Hollywood.

The entertainment brokers frequent the stretch of Wisher Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, which connects Beverly Hills with the skyscrapers of nearby Century City.

As we all know, the headquarters of the four major Hollywood agencies representing more than 80% of the actors, directors, musicians and screenwriters in the United States are here.

Duke turned his head slightly, and he could see CAA's headquarters building, which was located in a very eye-catching building in Century City, which was called the "Death Star" by outsiders; not far away, in the MGM building was Nancy Josephson's ICM, whose stars include Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt; back in Beverly Hills, not far from the glittering Wishier Hotel is William Morris, who is the same as William Morris in the early days Unlike Morris, William Murray is now a merger of Hollywood's oldest and youngest agencies; across the street is UTA, whose clients include Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford and Gwyneth ? Paltrow.

Although the status of brokerage companies in Hollywood is far less than that of the 1980s and 1990s, they are also a kind of lubricant for the normal operation of the Hollywood engine.

Unlike the legendary owner of the star, to be an excellent agent needs to always put the star client first. This characteristic starts from the first day they set foot on the job-often in the mail room. It has been instilled in them.

It's an unforgiving place, with long hours and hard work, yet the mailroom has become a sort of rite of passage for Hollywood agents, one that anyone making a living in the business must pass.

Perhaps the former brokerage company was indeed infinitely brilliant, and it was really the most critical part of this circle, but Duke never saw it.

Today's Hollywood is no longer the small town it once was. Whether it's a budding star or an A-list actor, there are too many agents to choose from.

For example, Ali Emmanuel, the founder of Endeavor and now one of the important figures of William Morris, this thin, gray-haired middle-aged man is the younger brother of White House chief of staff Radhi Emmanuel, and his long-term client Including Mark Wackerberg, Larry David and director Martin Scorsese, he said in a chat with Duke that he is ready to do whatever it takes to fight for the best interests of his star clients.

There will always be a market for brokers like him who value the interests of clients and are quick-witted.

However, entertainment agencies have to worry about far more than competition with each other. They also come from other areas, especially the compensation of clients by major Hollywood companies. Nowadays, studios all over Hollywood are trying to cut costs to offset DVD sales. A sharp decline in losses.

After all, DVD sales have been one of their biggest profit generators for the past decade.

In the 1990s, the remuneration of Hollywood stars soared due to the soaring demand for family entertainment. Several superstars got a "20 plus 20" list-a remuneration of 20 million US dollars plus 20% of sales profits!

If it's a blockbuster, that means the actor or director could have more than $100 million in his pocket, as can an agent.

However, with the impact of the economic crisis and the sharp shrinkage of the DVD market, studios had to significantly reduce their budgets. At the same time, the number of films they released has also decreased. Last year, Hollywood produced 520 films, a decrease of nearly 20 percent compared with the previous year.

Entertainment agencies have had to open up new markets, entering the sports industry and other industries, such as the Coca-Cola and Pepsi brand battle between CAA and William Morris, such as ICM's recent acquisition of the new stadium for the New York Yankees. In order to promote the contract, Nancy Joseph is also preparing to create an unprecedented plan for a super big three in a certain team in the NBA.

Duke came here this time to accompany Scarlett Johansson to Wilshire Avenue, and to discuss his Los Angeles Raiders promotion plan with Nancy Josephson. The meeting with Martin Miller was just incidental.

Although the Los Angeles Raiders relocated from Oakland to Los Angeles, it is not easy to take root here. It is not that the Raiders have never been to Los Angeles in history, but ended in failure.

This is the second largest city in the United States and the second largest population concentration area in North America. With a developed economy and a large enough population, it is undoubtedly an excellent market. Duke wants the Raiders to become the Raiders of Los Angeles. There is undoubtedly much more work to be done.

Nancy Josephson's ICM, also accepted his employment, responsible for the Raiders marketing in Los Angeles.

ICM has been deeply rooted in Los Angeles for decades and understands this market very well. Unlike CAA, which has only recently established a sports department, their tentacles have penetrated into professional sports leagues in North America as early as when Nancy Josephson's father was in charge of ICM. middle.

Today, the American football market in Los Angeles is mainly shared by two university teams, USC and UCLA. Starting from the new season, if the Los Angeles Raiders play well enough, the results are one of the key factors to win the market.

Moreover, Duke is also planning to invest in the construction of a brand new stadium, and his agent is already in contact with I.M. Pei \u0026 Associates.

Picking up Scarlett from the Film Academy headquarters on Wisher Avenue, Duke drove out of Beverly Hills.

"How about it?"

At the red light, Duke turned his head and asked, Scarlett shrugged slightly, "I am also Jewish, and those people are old friends of the godmother, and they treated me well."

If you want to compete in the Olympics, it is not enough to rely solely on movies and roles. Compared with the market, the relationship between Duke and the academy can only be said to be average.

However, film quality is one of the basic conditions, and he is also ready to start planning new projects. (to be continued ~^~)

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