Made in Hollywood

"Hello, Duke."

"Hello, Martin."

In a cafe 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. Looking at each other happily.

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

After Tina Fei reminded him, he also knew that the other party was not only Natalie Portman's agent, but also one of Russell Crowe's co-management agents.

"Duke," Martin Miller stopped the hand that was stirring the coffee, and suddenly said without thinking, "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's core decision-making circle.

Picking up the coffee cup, Duke took a sip. He felt that the taste was not very good. He shook his head and put the coffee cup aside. He didn't have time to circle with each other and said directly, "Martin, I will go to Wisher next. Main street, please speak up if you have something."

"William Morris has never done anything against you."

Knowing Duke’s character very well, Martin Miller stopped walking in circles and said, "Russell Crowe is William Morris’ most important customer, and he is not in a good situation now..."

"It turned out to be like this." Duke nodded and said, "Russell Crowe is a very bad person, but the person who has contradicted me is David Ellison. There is nothing between Russell Crowe and I. Question, and did not do any action against him."

This is indeed the case. Duke’s navy has spread negative word-of-mouth about Robin Hood on the Internet, but those scandals have spread through other channels.

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

Duke frowned, and patiently explained a few words, "I am no longer a shareholder of Instant Sharing, and I can't influence the decision of the Instant Sharing company too much. The network can't be influenced by anyone casually."

If someone thinks that they can control public opinion on the Internet, they are simply flooded with water.

Martin Miller looked at Duke, Duke shook his head and stood up, "Martin. You should know how many people Russell Crowe has angered in the past ten years..."

He stretched out his hand to the other person, "That's it."

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

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

Duke didn't look at Martin Miller again, and now he doesn't care too much about what William Morris thinks of him, and William Morris does not have so much time and energy.

The competition between William Morris and Caa has become extremely fierce since last year. The two companies are directly involved in the brand competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The entire Hollywood brokerage companies are all about to seize William Morris and Caa. Opportunity to fight sex. Take some benefits from it.

Whether it is the country where Duke once lived or North America now, there are always some myths about brokers circulating, but how many people outside the circle can notice that the myth of Hollywood brokers is all about fighting.

Driving his Bentley car, Duke left World City and soon arrived at Wisher Street nearby, ready to pick up Scarlett Johansson who was here for work.

Driving in Beverly Hills on Wischel Street, Duke can often see a rare sight in Los Angeles, in this leisurely and proud city. Wearing casual clothes in the workplace is in line with etiquette, but there are people on Wehir Street in beautiful, tall suits, walking hurriedly, pressing BlackBerry and iPhone with their heads down.

in New York. Ten of these guys in suits and leather shoes are stock brokers, but in the City of Angels, they are basically entertainment brokers.

They have created entertainment stars one by one, and they have paid a huge amount for themselves. However, this work is not so easy to do. Especially when they are mixed in the highly competitive and extremely complicated Hollywood.

These entertainment agents often haunt the Wisher Avenue and Santa Monica Avenue that connect Beverly Hills to nearby Century City skyscrapers.

As we all know, the headquarters of the four major Hollywood agencies that represent 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 the headquarters building of CAA. It is located in a very eye-catching building in Century City that outsiders call the "Death Star"; not far away, in the MGM building is Nancy Josephson’s icm, whose stars include Charlize Theron and Brad Pitt; back to Beverly Hills, not far from the golden Wisher Hotel is William Morris, and the early William Morris is different. The current William Morrie was formed by the merger of Hollywood's oldest and least experienced brokerage firm; across the street is Uta, whose clients include Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford and Gwyneth ? Paltrow.

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

Unlike the masters of legendary celebrities, if you want to be an excellent agent, you need to always put celebrity customers first. This feature starts from the first day they set foot on the job-often in the mail room. It has been instilled to them.

This is a ruthless place with long hours and hard work. However, the mailroom has become a kind of adult gift for Hollywood agents. Anyone who eats in this business must pass this level.

Perhaps the former brokerage company has indeed been infinitely brilliant, and it is really the most critical part of this circle, but Duke has never seen it.

Nowadays, Hollywood is no longer the original town. Whether for budding stars or first-line actors, there are too many agents to choose from.

For example, Ali Emmanuel, the founder of Endeavor and now one of William Morris’s dignitaries, is a thin, gray-haired middle-aged man who is the younger brother of White House Chief of Staff Lama Emmanuel and his long-term client. Including Mark Walkerberg, Larry David and director Martin Scorsese, he said in a small chat with Duke, ready to do whatever it takes to fight for the best interests of his star customers.

There is always a market for brokers like him who value the interests of customers and are smart.

However, what entertainment agencies have to worry about is not only their competition, but also from other fields, especially the compensation of major Hollywood companies to customers. Now the entire Hollywood studios are trying to cut costs to offset DVD sales. A sharp drop in losses.

After all, DVD sales have been one of their biggest sources of profit in the past ten years.

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

If it is a blockbuster film, this means that the actor or director may have more than 100 million dollars in money, and the agent can also have a considerable income.

But with the impact of the economic crisis and the sharp shrinkage of the DVD market, studios had to cut their budgets drastically. At the same time, the number of films released by them has also decreased. Last year, there were 520 films produced in Hollywood, a decrease of nearly 20% compared with the previous year.

Entertainment brokerage companies have to open up new markets and enter the sports industry and other industries, such as the Coca-Cola and Pepsi brand competition between caa and William Morris. For example, icm recently won the market for the new stadium of the New York Yankees. For the promotion contract, Nancy Josephus is also preparing to create an unprecedented plan for the Big Three in a certain NBA team.

Duke came over this time, one is to accompany Scarlett Johansson to Wischel Street, and the other is to discuss his Los Angeles Raiders promotion plan with Nancy Josephson. The appointment with Martin Miller was only incidental.

Although the Los Angeles Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles, it is not easy to take root here. Historically, the Raiders have not been to Los Angeles but ended in failure.

This is the second largest city in the United States and the second most populated 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 in Los Angeles. There is undoubtedly a lot of 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 knows this market very well. Unlike caa’s recently established sports department, their tentacles have penetrated into North American professional sports leagues as early as when Nancy Josephson’s father was in charge of icm. in.

Today, the American football market in Los Angeles is mainly shared by the two college teams of USC and UCLA. Starting from the new season, the Los Angeles Raiders must perform well enough. Performance is one of the key factors in winning the market.

And Duke is also preparing to invest in the construction of a brand-new stadium, and his agent is already in contact with Bei Luming.

Picking up Scarlett from the Film Academy headquarters on Wischel Street, Duke drove away from Beverly Hills.

"how about it?"

When encountering a red light, Duke turned his head and asked, Scarlett shrugged slightly, "I am also Jewish, and those people are old friends of the godmother. They have a good attitude towards me."

If you want to get into the Olympics, it is far from enough to rely solely on movies and characters. Compared to the market, the relationship between Duke and the college 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.)

ps: Ask for monthly and recommended tickets!