Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 31 Packaging Services
  Raymond and Badman were already on planes traveling to other cities to promote "Makeover."

And Tang De's life has finally become a little calmer. Without the noise and unkind looks that can be seen everywhere in black neighborhoods, walking in white neighborhoods seems more relaxed.

Tang De's plan today is simple, to resign from "New York Underground Art" magazine.

Now he no longer lacks job opportunities, but begins to lack time.

But when he arrived at the magazine, he found something was wrong.

The staff looked at him with a strange look, a kind of schadenfreude that contained sympathy.

"Hey, Tang De, you're here." Hawke, the editor-in-chief of the magazine, was wearing a green shirt and a red baseball cap on his head, standing straight in front of the studio like a human sign. As soon as he saw Tang De, he immediately He said hello warmly.

"Hawke, what's wrong?" Tang De was a little confused. This is not Hawke's temperament. Usually he would ask others to call him if he wanted to find him.
  Hawke nodded and took the initiative to put his arm around Tang De's shoulders and lead him while pacing and said, "The recent magazines have been sold like crazy, and we plan to add more issues."

"This is a good thing." Tang De nodded.

"So Tang De, you have to shoot some interior pages next." Hawke was a little hesitant in speaking.

"What do you mean? Hawke, tell the truth." Tang De didn't want to listen to his meanderings.

Hawke took a deep breath: "Okay, that's it, Tang De. Lisa has been accusing you of verbal violence against her during this period, which made her very frustrated and... embarrassed. She said that she might not be able to live up to Qi's expectations. I will be very nervous every time I face your camera, so I plan to let you take photos of other models."

Tang De frowned: "So I'm no longer responsible for the cover shoot, right?"

"Yes, that's the decision for the time being." Hawke patted him on the shoulder: "But I will give you the bonus during this period exactly, don't worry."

rest assured?

Magazines are priced according to the importance of the pages, and the price of the cover and the inside pages are not the same.

"Forget it, Hawke..." Tang De was just about to say his resignation when he heard the clicking of high heels from the other side.

And then a strange voice sounded.

"Oh? Why is Tang De still here? Hawke, I told you that I wanted to change the photographer, right?" It was the female model Lisa, with a bit of pride in her tone, which sounded very uncomfortable.

Tang De turned his eyes and couldn't help but let out a "tsk" when he noticed that she was wearing a purple polka-dot skirt with a purple low-cut top.

Then he looked Lisa up and down again and asked doubtfully: "Do you want to shock me by making a fool of yourself?"

"What?" Lisa was stunned for a moment, not expecting Tang De to be so rude.

"Of course it's ugly, like a big purple toad croaking in front of me." Tang De shrugged.

"Tang De, how can you be so mean?" Hawke looked a little confused: "I know you are angry..."

"No, actually I'm not angry at all." Tang De said nonchalantly: "I came here to resign today, Hawke, I quit."

"Are you kidding?" Hawke was surprised. Although he didn't like Tang De's attitude towards Lisa, Tang De had excellent professional ability and was the person the magazine needed.

"I'm not kidding, remember to give me my bonus and let's go." Tang De was too lazy to pay attention to them, feeling that saying more words to them would be a waste of time.

After Tang De left, the two of them gradually came to their senses. Lisa crossed her arms angrily: "Are you so mad at me, Toad? He really has no vision."

Lisa looked at her chest. A large area of ​​snow-white color was being tightened inside her clothes.

Although Hawke was regretful, now that the deal was done, he also stiffened his mouth: "I don't care, my dear, the sales volume will prove everything."

"Hmph!" Lisa turned around and walked toward the studio on her high heels.

After Tang De left the magazine, he drove straight to CAA. The matter of Hawke and Lisa was not at all in his mind.

He still has a very important thing to do today, which is negotiating with CAA.

Today is the day when CAA's evaluation ends. On the phone, they invited Tang De to the company to discuss the specific contract.

After arriving at CAA's own building, he was led by the receptionist to meet Mike Siegel, the agent arranged for him by CAA.

White, male, with a hooked nose, he doesn't seem to be easy to get along with. However, after seeing Tang De, a smile appeared on his face and he reached out his hand: "I am your agent, just call me Mike."

"Hello." Tang De sat down.

"This is your contract. Take a look at it first. I'll explain it to you later."

"Can I take it away to show to my lawyer first?" Lawyer Kirk suffers from sleep apnea and is currently undergoing treatment. Although it does not affect his daily work, it is not convenient to travel around.

"Of course." Mike spread his hands and said, "We can sign the contract after you confirm it."

"But it's best to do it as soon as possible." Mike gave up: "Because there is a good opportunity recently."

"What opportunity?" Tang De's curiosity was aroused by him.

Mike explained: "Do you know Destiny's Child?"

"Destiny's Girl, of course you know, they were very popular in the first two years."

Tang De clearly remembers such a famous group, not only because their song sales have topped the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also because Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland came from this group.

Sure enough, the opportunity Mike mentioned was related to Kelly Rowland.

"Yes, but now they are semi-disbanded. But Kelly and Nelly recently collaborated on a single, and they are about to shoot the MV."

Nelly, a black hip-hop singer, just won the American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist this year. He is very popular, but he cannot match that guy Ramon.

And the song that Kelly and Nelly collaborated on, if he remembers correctly, must be the song "Dilemma". This is his childhood memory. It was so popular all over the world that it made his ears sing.

This song also won this year's Grammy Award, making Kelly Rowland famous. This is definitely a perfect opportunity! Should not be missed!

Except for the MV, to be honest, the original MV was a bit boring. It was just a simple duet in a black neighborhood. Both the shots and the pictures were lackluster.

And this is Tang De's strength.

But Mike continued: "It's a pity that you came late. The director has already been confirmed, so I can't help you get this position. You can only be the photographer."

CAA defines Tang De as having two identities, senior photographer and MV director.

This will help Tang De access different resources and will not let him be trapped in his identity as a photographer.

"The photographer can do it, then I will finalize the contract tonight." Although Tang De was a little regretful, he had not given up completely. No matter what, he wanted to get this position first.

"It couldn't be better. Then I want to tell you about the cooperation mode."

Mike said this and opened the contract: "Our packaging service is currently based on a premium fee."

"Charge from the premium?"

"Yes, we will set a basic price for you internally. This is mainly to facilitate our integration of resources to determine the cost, which is equivalent to your fixed salary.

"And the overall package price of a project is often a premium, understand? If the cost is 500,000, and the final package price is 1 million, then the 500,000 is a premium. And our commission ratio is 10%. That is Say, if there’s a half-million premium, we’ll take $50,000.”

"What about the others?"

"The rest will be distributed according to the proportion of the entire cost that each member of the crew holds. Of course, generally speaking, actors get the most."

Tang De raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. This plan sounded really exciting. No wonder so many celebrities are willing to sign contracts with CAA.

To put it bluntly, this is using Internet thinking to provide traditional brokerage services. Except for the client who is taken advantage of, everyone else loses.

However, this model has attracted a large number of practitioners and celebrities, causing CAA's bargaining power to increase, and now it has occupied a large share of the market.

Although other companies have begun to adopt this approach, overall they are still not as mature as CAA.

After chatting with Mike, he went to Lawyer Kirk. After confirming that there was no problem with the contract, Tang De officially signed with CAA.

(End of this chapter)