章 122: Chapter 122: The CAA Revelation
[Chapter 122: The CAA Revelation]
Because of Michael Ovitz's insistence on CAA's private partnership strategy, CAA had grown into an industry giant by the late 1980s but remained unlisted. As a result, while this crisis was quite severe, it would only minorly affect CAA's business for a while if handled properly. Despite the turmoil, losing a few second or third-tier artists to other agencies did not pose any real threat to CAA. Even though the number of their artists had not yet reached the scale of over six thousand that it would twenty years later, they still boasted a roster of over a thousand, so losing a few high-profile names wasn't a significant issue.
However, the departure of a major star, particularly at the level of Tom Cruise, would send ripples throughout Hollywood. Cruise had considerable influence among actors in the industry, and his exit would undoubtedly send a misleading signal to other A-listers.
Ovitz reacted swiftly. On the same day Cruise left, every partner agent and signed artist at CAA received a letter personally penned by Ovitz. He clarified the reasons behind Cruise's departure and earnestly recounted CAA's impressive achievements over the years and the positive changes they had brought to actors, urging everyone not to be swayed by public opinion. He reassured them that CAA's future would be even brighter.
Yet, this letter did little to stem the tide. Within three days of Cruise's departure, several more A and B-list stars exited CAA for various reasons. These stars had initially joined CAA because Ovitz had implemented a series of bundled arrangements that significantly boosted their earnings. But as movie star salaries began to rise across Hollywood, they found they could secure similarly high paychecks at other agencies. Coupled with the panic instigated by Cruise's sudden departure and the emergence of lower commission offers from competitors, it became logical for these stars to leave.
Michael Ovitz found himself in a frantic situation, cursing Cruise while having to take a step down and personally persuade those big-name actors wanting to jump ship, something he hadn't had to do in years.
...
Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Eric was fully aware of the situation, seeing it as a golden opportunity to prevent CAA from continuing its unchecked dominance in Hollywood for the next decade.
"Eric, what's up? I want to make it clear that I already have four people working under me. That's really my limit, don't think about sending anyone my way," Kepler stated, breezing into Eric's office at Firefly Films, clearly a mix of excitement and frustration due to CAA's recent troubles. His freshly shaven head had a newfound gleam.
Eric leaned back in his chair, smiling, "What if it's Tom Hanks?"
"Who?" Kepler perked up, leaning in slightly.
"Tom Hanks," Eric repeated.
Kepler shot him a knowing smirk, "Eric, if it's him, I'd be hard-pressed to say no. I'd have to take on the extra burden."
"Hard-pressed? You're probably stoked," Eric teased back.
Ignoring Eric's jibe, Kepler pressed on, "Eric, are you really confident you can lure Hanks over?"
Eric shook his head, "Not really, but I'm going to try. I have dinner scheduled with Hanks tonight, and he agreed."
Kepler had faith in Eric; the young man had already delivered plenty of surprises. "Eric, maybe you should also try to bring Cruise closer to UTA. He doesn't have an agency now either."
"Don't even think about that. Mr. Cruise has big ambitions right now -- he wants to go the producer route. He'll probably start his own production company soon."
Eric hadn't expected that his appearance in this timeline would lead Cruise to take up a path that he wouldn't have pursued for another seven years. The success of Eric's recent blockbuster films must have spurred Cruise on.
After leaving CAA, Cruise immediately had his agent, Paula Wagner, reach out to Firefly Films, initiating new salary negotiations.
The terms he proposed weren't as outrageous as CAA's had been: a $5 million salary plus 10% of the profits. For Eric, who was already used to negotiating $20 million salaries and 10% to 20% profit shares in his previous life, this seemed quite reasonable. Still, the profit-sharing model was just emerging; CAA's earlier offers had been downright ludicrous. With Cruise setting the terms this way, there was plenty of room for negotiation. Eric was determined to push that share down to 5%.
He felt confident about this negotiation because he had just heard that Tom Hanks had agreed to forego profit sharing in favor of just a standard salary.
While Cruise held greater fame, the gap wasn't too wide. Once Hanks's salary terms came out, Cruise would likely hesitate to demand a hefty profit share. This was a characteristic limitation of the era. Although Cruise had experienced the benefits of profit sharing, during a time when it was uncommon among actors, his previous deal felt more like an anomaly.
And it was precisely Hanks's willingness to abandon profit sharing that made Eric want to recruit him. He figured that now was the best time to go after Hanks since CAA had just vowed to negotiate profit sharing for him but had suddenly left him hanging. Eric suspected that Hanks wouldn't be indifferent to that change. Though others might not have realized it, Eric understood Hanks's potential. The following decade would be Hanks's breakout period, raking in billions at the box office and, after over fifty years, becoming only the second actor to win consecutive Oscars.
Although Eric claimed he had little confidence in landing Hanks, he felt he had a better than 90% chance of signing him. Compared to CAA, he believed he held the more appealing offer.
"Alright, let's not talk about Cruise anymore," Eric said. "Kepler, I actually called you in for another reason." He retrieved a lengthy document he had spent several nights crafting and handed it to Kepler. "Let me know what you think of my summary."
Kepler glanced at the title and opened the document. As he slowly read through it, his expression grew more serious. By the time he finished, he looked up at Eric with a scrutinizing gaze.
The document was extensive, comprising over ten pages that detailed how CAA's five-person team transitioned from WMA, leveraging television to attract stars and gradually developing a bundled sales system, creating a unique business concept in just fifteen years.
Kepler was shocked because the concepts Eric outlined were ones he -- the former top agent at CAA -- could easily comprehend. However, he lacked the capability to systematically organize these insights into a comprehensive operating theory for a talent agency.
He was also genuinely curious how Eric had acquired all this knowledge.
CAA's persistence in remaining private was not just a reflection of Ovitz's personal business philosophy but also aimed at preventing its strategies from leaking. If CAA ever went public, they would have to disclose a wealth of sensitive details to investors, making their operational advantages easily replicable by competitors.
A company's business methods couldn't be patented; if other agencies imitated them, CAA's edge would rapidly diminish.
Swallowing hard, Kepler carefully raised the manuscript. "Eric, did you write this?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to see if there are any mistakes. By the way, Kepler, you wouldn't oppose me sending this out, would you?"
Kepler quickly shook his head and chuckled, "If I had the ability to put something like this together, I would've done it a long time ago. Eric, I'm starting to lose track of you. I understand all the theories you mentioned, but asking me to wrap it up, I have no idea how to go about it."
Eric just smiled and didn't explain. In this era, CAA's business strategies seemed shrouded in mystery to other companies. Even when rival agencies poached agents from CAA, they could barely glean fragmented insights.
But for Eric, coming from an information-saturated future, CAA's strategies were not all that enigmatic. He recalled that around 1996, when CAA had solidified its status as an untouchable behemoth, a reporter had spent over a year gathering information to completely unveil CAA's secrets, explaining why Ovitz had been regarded as the most powerful figure in Hollywood.
By that time, CAA had become a massive monster, and even Ovitz, who had built it, found himself at a loss to challenge it.
The agents at CAA were mere cogs in this vast machine. They could help keep CAA running smoothly, but asking any of them to articulate how the machine operated would yield confusion. Only Ovitz himself could fully elucidate the operational theory, though now there was also Eric.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット