hollywood melon man

Chapter 83 Arrogant CAA (Fourth update)

Little Gilbert had previously asked the assistant director Anne to go to the Screen Actors Guild to find suitable young actors.

After final selection and introduction, Annie handed over some information and introduced: "These young actors are basically between ten and fourteen years old, and have experience in starring in movies and TV series."

Little Gilbert looked through the information in his hand and asked at the same time: "Annie, which one do you think is good?"

"Ryan Reynolds, has participated in many TV series and movies." Annie pulled out a piece of information and handed it to little Gilbert.

"Seventeen years old?" Little Gilbert frowned and immediately rejected it: "It's too old and inappropriate."

"Then audition and see which young actor is suitable." Charles Rowan suggested.

Little Gilbert thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

In the subsequent preparation work, Gilbert Jr. communicated some details with the team members, and after the general work arrangements were made, it was over.

When preparing for a film project, little Gilbert has to take care of every detail, so that he has a thorough understanding of the crew's preliminary work.

Only in this way can he accurately grasp the situation of every link when entering the production stage.

After the preparatory meeting, producer Kane Waxman quickly extended an invitation to Stallone and quickly received a response from CAA.

Stallone is an artist under CAA. The previous summer release was also due to the promotion of "Jumanji" by CAA, which made Stallone and "Speed" very unhappy.

But having been in Hollywood for so long, Stallone certainly won't let his personal emotions affect his judgment.

Stallone was surprised that a rising director like Gilbert Jr. could come to him to act regardless of previous suspicions. Stallone was surprised and actively considered accepting the invitation.

However, he forgot about CAA, especially Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob, who wanted to bring package services to Little Gilbert's crew.

The huge sales of "Speed" have long made Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob jealous.

Since Gilbert Jr. proposed that Stallone play the male lead, why not take this opportunity to bring packaging services to Gilbert Jr.'s crew?
  So, after Stallone made it clear that he was interested, Martin Bob took action personally and negotiated with the crew on behalf of Stallone.

Charles Rowan and Kane Waxman were responsible for negotiating with Martin Bob, and Gilbert Jr. also participated in the negotiations.

However, the initial contact was not smooth.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the two parties officially started talking.

"We sincerely invite Mr. Stallone to play the male lead. I wonder if Mr. Stallone..."

Of course Stallone is interested, otherwise there would be no opportunity for today's conversation.

However, before Kane Waxman finished speaking, he was interrupted by Martin Bob: "Mr. Stallone is very interested in the role of Charlie, and CAA is also very interested in this project."

In this case, CAA must have some conditions. Kane Waxman didn’t beat around the bush: “Let’s just say it directly, Martin, what are the conditions for CAA?”

Martin Bob looked confident: "It's very simple. Except for the director Gilbert Jr., leave this project to CAA for packaging and operation."

He added: "CAA is very optimistic about the profit prospects of this project and believe that under our operation, this movie will be a great success."

This strong look seemed to remind Little Gilbert of Disney Chairman Michael Eisner.

In fact, the reason why CAA is so strong against movie companies is because they have too many scarce resources in Hollywood.

Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Tom Hanks…

Whichever of the above names is mentioned, they are all famous in Hollywood, and they are also a strong guarantee of box office sales.

This is also why CAA is so strong in the face of film companies. After all, so many well-known directors and artists are mine. You don’t have to find others to replace them, so you can only agree to CAA’s conditions.

But one thing little Gilbert knows very well is that although CAA is strong, they are definitely not popular in Hollywood.

Their packaging services have continuously increased the cost of film production, and they have also participated in the profit sharing of films that brokerage companies have not participated in in the past.

But this is only temporary. Hollywood film companies are all Grandet, and they will certainly not tolerate this kind of greedy behavior.

The reason why it still exists is because the packaging service policy has indeed brought benefits to many films. Once the packaging service fails to work, being completely liquidated by Hollywood studios is an inevitable result.

Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob also saw this. After the failure of the "Alien 3" packaging service project, they were in urgent need of new spokespersons.

And little Gilbert is the popular candidate.

However, unlike what Martin Bob imagined, the two producers still had no objections. Gilbert Jr. said directly: "Martin, I refuse CAA's conditions. It is impossible for me to accept packaging services."

Martin Bob was stunned, and then threatened: "Little Gilbert, don't forget, Mr. Stallone has played a boxer, and there is no one more suitable for the role of a boxer than him."

Indeed, the movie series "Rocky" created the classic image of a boxer.

When you think of boxers, Stallone comes to mind.

But little Gilbert firmly refused: "Martin, this is Hollywood, and no one is irreplaceable."

Charles Rowan stood up and eased the atmosphere and said: "Martin, we still need to discuss this matter. I will inform you as soon as there is any progress."

"Okay, you guys, hurry up. Mr. Stallone's schedule is very tight and he won't have that much time." Martin Bob stood up, glanced at little Gilbert, and left without even shaking hands.

After Martin Bob left, there was a brief silence in the conference room.

Charles Rowan asked little Gilbert: "What now?"

"What should we do?" Little Gilbert clapped his hands and said, "Substitute and choose Bruce Willis. He is not from CAA. This is easy to negotiate."

The clay figurine was still a little angry, and Martin Bob's attitude annoyed him.

Little Gilbert didn't believe it. Without Butcher Zhang, he wouldn't be able to eat this pig with hair on it.

Kane Waxman worried: "If CAA uses this matter to hype it up, how should we respond?"

"In terms of media resources, are Warner and Disney still afraid of CAA?" Gilbert Jr. asked.

"Of course I'm not afraid..."

"That's it. But if CAA dares to hype this matter outside, the media from Warner and Disney will drown CAA."

Little Gilbert's words woke up the dreamer, allowing Kane Waxman and Charles Rowan to react.

Yes, no matter how powerful a brokerage company is, it is just a brokerage company. Can it compete with a large media group like ours?

It has to be said that the previous strength of CAA has indeed caused psychological shadow and fear to major Hollywood film companies.

After being awakened by little Gilbert, this feeling disappeared instantly.

On the other side, Martin Bob returns to CAA, and Stallone is waiting for him here.

"What's the result?" Stallone asked with concern.

Martin Bob shook his head and said: "It's not very good. Little Gilbert rejected our proposal."

"How could this happen?" Stallone looked disappointed and frowned.

Martin Bob described what happened at the meeting to Stallone with added details.

He left out a lot of details and added a lot more. To say that Gilbert Jr. was rude and called Stallone just a lucky guy, and also wanted to raise higher conditions, is simply a dream.

Under Martin Bob's fueling, Stallone's dislike for Little Gilbert suddenly increased, and the grumpy Stallone immediately wanted to take revenge on Little Gilbert.

However, Martin Bob stopped Stallone's impulsive behavior: "Don't get excited, let's find a competitor for "Iron Fist" to dampen little Gilbert's energy."

Stallone thought this was a good idea, so he asked, "Which movie are you looking for?"

Martin Bob replied: "What about True Lies?"

(End of this chapter)