"Mike, of course we want to work with Barry, but his new script really lacks selling points. Moreover, it's impossible for us to accept a budget of $25 million."

"I understand your thoughts, West Germany, Paramount must also be looking forward to getting one or two projects from Daenerys Entertainment's 10 movies, but because you used less honorable means to obtain Simon Westeros

He has snatched "The Rocketeer" and "Firebird" from his hands, do you think it is possible for him to cooperate with you?"

"Mike, it is precisely because we are very clear about our situation that we have this meeting today. I guess other studios are probably not willing to discuss this project with you anymore, right?"

"..."

Paramount Studios, Hollywood.

Paramount Pictures President Sidney Ganis and Michael Ovitz are discussing Barry Levinson's new script "Avalon", which is the European mythological and legendary 'Elysium'

Land', the story tells the story of the struggles of several generations after the Krichinski family, an Eastern European immigrant, immigrated to the United States at the beginning of this century.

For the "Rain Man" project, although Dustin Hoffman still won his second Oscar, which saved some face, in fact, Barry Levinson and other main creatives were quite embarrassed.

Barry Levinson has been focusing on writing his new script "Avalon" in the first half of the year, hoping to avenge his shame with this project. In early July, Levinson finally completed the script of "Avalon".

Several Hollywood studios have also expressed interest in "Avalon" and various parties have begun to contact each other.

However, things began to take a turn for the worse when Daenerys Entertainment suddenly announced plans for 10 foreign cooperation films.

Disney, Columbia and Warner Bros., who were originally interested in "Avalon", all firmly rejected it, leaving only Paramount who has not yet finished speaking.

These days, Michael Ovitz has secretly regretted more than once why he did not stop Barry Levinson and others from trying to shirk responsibility. Now, the entire CAA has been blacklisted by Daenerys Entertainment.

After a moment of silence, Michael Ovitz said: "West Germany, let's be honest and talk about Paramount's conditions?"

"Barry's new script is supposed to hit the Oscars and has little box office potential. Therefore, Paramount can only give a budget of 12 million U.S. dollars at most, of which 2 million U.S. dollars is Barry's salary. Of course, we can add another net

10% profit sharing clause.”

Michael Ovitz was a little angry: "West Germany, 2 million US dollars, do you think this is possible?"

After Barry Levinson debuted in the 1970s, he was quickly promoted to a first-line screenwriter and turned into a director. Even if he does not count the blockbuster films such as "Rain Man" and "Good Morning Vietnam", he was enough to join the first-line directors with a minimum salary of US$5 million.

ranks.

What's more, no one can completely deny Barry Levinson's contribution to "Rain Man".

Now, after two consecutive films, "Good Morning Vietnam" and "Rain Man," Paramount is only willing to offer $2 million for a new film written and directed by Barry Levinson. This is simply an insult.

Sidney Ganis ignored Michael Ovitz's sarcastic question, raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said: "I have a meeting soon, Mike, you can go back and think about it first, and then make a call."

I."

Leaving Paramount Studios in a gloomy mood, Michael Ovitz thought about how to talk to his clients about the incident.

Paramount was clearly taking advantage of the situation, but Barry Levinson didn't have much choice.

or.

Let Barry put this project aside for the time being and start shooting a commercial film that will sell better.

This idea was immediately dismissed by Ovitz.

Matthew Broderick, who had an entanglement with Simon Westeros, has been completely ruined. Now, although Daenerys Entertainment has not publicly released any words, Hollywood dares to take risks and continue to cooperate with Barry Levinson

There are not many film companies at all.

Even within CAA, many stars are now deliberately avoiding Barry Levinson and others.

Back at the CAA headquarters in Century City, as soon as I sat down behind the desk, Richard Lovett, an agent from the company, came over to report that Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn planned to leave CAA.

Michael Ovitz couldn't help but frown.

This is another more serious problem faced by CAA.

After Jonathan Friedman became president of WMA, he ambitiously wanted to regain the customers who had lost from WMA. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn both died three years ago when former WMA president Stan Kamen passed away.

When CAA took the opportunity to poach A-list stars, this time it was obviously a counterattack by WMA.

After picking up the microphone on the table and making a few calls, Michael Ovitz quickly contacted Kurt Russell. However, the invitation to have a dinner was directly rejected. Kurt Russell spoke

Although he was very polite, he said that the couple's lawyers would be responsible for any subsequent matters.

There is obviously no room for change in this matter.

Moreover, the Russells are not the first wave of stars to leave recently. Michael Ovitz is very clear that not only WMA, but other Hollywood talent agencies are wielding a hoe against CAA recently.

Michael Ovitz once ambitiously wanted to poach the 'best' of all other talent agencies in Hollywood, relying on CAA's unique packaging mechanism to obtain more and more generous remuneration for stars. This matter originally went very smoothly. However,

After Simon Westeros appeared, Michael Ovitz found that nothing was going well for him in the past two years. He once wanted to recruit many clients under CAA, including Robert De Niro and Kevin Costner.

Brian De Palma, etc., all without success.

Now, as Daenerys Entertainment becomes more and more popular, CAA has even begun to poach talents in return.

CAA's packaging strategy has not become outdated, but has become more and more popular. However, Ovitz also understands why this happens.

In the final analysis, it is still a matter of competition for resources in Hollywood.

In the past few years, due to the successful launch of a large number of box-office package projects such as "My Fair Lady" and "Out of Africa", CAA has been successful in Hollywood. Not only has it successfully attracted a large number of first-line stars to join, but projects involving CAA can also start from

The studio is provided with various resources including schedules and screens.

However, the rise of Daenerys Entertainment made CAA quickly lose these advantages.

Because many non-CAA clients who rely on Daenerys Entertainment to increase their popularity in a series of blockbuster films have attracted more attention from Hollywood studios, they have the popularity base of more blockbuster films, including Robert De Niro and Kevin Cos.

Stars such as Turner and Sandra Bullock can also ask for better resources from the studio.

In comparison, the commercial performance of its stars is obviously not as good as Daenerys Entertainment's movies, and CAA has gradually fallen into a disadvantage in this regard.

Now, once Daenerys Entertainment's 10-movie plan excludes the participation of CAA stars, it will undoubtedly widen the gap even further. After all, these 10 movies will definitely occupy the highest quality movies in the next two years.

schedule, the most generous promotions and the most generous number of screens.

At the same time, no one doubts that another group of celebrities will have their status significantly increased.

As one goes and the other goes, some of CAA's first-tier stars are likely to be squeezed into the second-tier ranks in a year or two.

Michael Ovitz couldn't help but think of the recent Sony acquisition of Colombia. As the facilitator of this merger, Sony had previously expressed its intention to let him serve as the head of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Now, the merger and acquisition has basically settled.

Sony never mentioned it again.

Talent agencies do not have any fixed assets and are destined to have difficulty growing in size.

Seeing Simon Westeros, Michael Eisner, Barry Diller and others gaining fame and fortune in the film industry, Ovitz certainly had similar thoughts.

In the end, it was still because of Simon Westeros.

After weighing and thinking for a long time, Michael Ovitz picked up the phone again and skillfully dialed a number without consulting the address book.

The call was answered, but Westeros was not in the company.

Michael Ovitz chatted with the other party for a few words, but the other party only said that he would relay the call, but had no intention of transferring the call for him.

Putting down the phone, Ovitz was thinking about how to deal with this matter when the fax machine in his office rang.

Pulling out a page from the fax machine, there were only four names on it: Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Meg Ryan.

There is also a handwritten 'W' logo in the lower right corner of the page.

W, Westeros.

After being stunned for a moment, Ovitz immediately understood that Simon Westeros meant that CAA must draw a clear line with these four people before the dispute between the two parties can be resolved.

Simon Westeros obviously completely ignored Matthew Broderick, who had previously moved to CAA and has now been completely scrapped.

To draw a clear line, it would definitely mean terminating the contract with these four people.

only.

Can CAA do this?

Not to mention that these four people are all top A-list celebrities in Hollywood. If the contracts with these four stars are terminated in order to protect themselves, what will other clients of CAA think?

However, after a brief moment of anger, Ovitz suddenly realized that perhaps the company's other customers didn't mind him doing this, and might even expect him to do it.

After all, after the four Barry Levinsons left CAA, other large talent agencies obviously would not accept it easily, and small agencies probably would not dare to provoke Daenerys Entertainment, so they could only go it alone.

It's not like there are no stars in Hollywood who work alone.

Jack Nicholson has been operating outside several major talent agencies over the years, and is still thriving. Before joining WMA, Robert De Niro had also been working alone.

However, if these four people, who have been suppressed by Daenerys Entertainment, go it alone and lose the resources and connections of a large talent agency like CAA, and Hollywood studios dare not easily cooperate with them, the result will be just

The future can be described as uncertain.

People are selfish.

The fall in status of these four first-tier filmmakers actually means opportunities for others.

and.

Michael Ovitz also has to admit that this is undoubtedly the most beneficial method for CAA.

However, it was difficult for Ovitz to convince himself to surrender to Simon Westeros.

When he was in a bad mood, the assistant outside knocked on the door. Ovitz looked up and saw a screenwriting client from CAA appearing at the door.

This is Joe Ezettehas. Because of the success of films such as "Flashdance" and "Bloodline", Ezettehas is currently one of the most valuable screenwriters under CAA. He has achieved the highest sales for several of his previous scripts.
To be continued...