Chapter 51: Promotion or Refusal
Chapter 51: Promotion or Refusal
After just waking up in a villa in Malibu, Brant Cohen was visited in a hurry by an assistant, who also brought bad news.
“What? That woman suddenly refused? Didn’t you tell me before that everything had already been settled?”
“Mr. Cohen, it really had been settled at first. But when we contacted her again last night, that woman suddenly changed her mind.”
His good mood for the day was instantly ruined. Brant Cohen frowned tightly. “Does she think the money’s too little? We can add more.”
The assistant shook his head. “No. I tried probing her that way too, but she refused very thoroughly. I think she may have privately reached another agreement with Eric Williams.”
As he spoke, the assistant took out a newspaper and handed it to Brant Cohen. Brant Cohen only glanced at it briefly. The newspaper carried photos of Drew Barrymore and her mother Jaid appearing separately outside Eric’s mansion.
Without even reading the article, Brant Cohen tossed the newspaper onto the table. He had no interest in the paparazzi’s nonsense. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “You weren’t recognized during the contact process, right?”
If Drew’s mother had reached some kind of agreement with Eric, that woman might reveal information about whoever had instigated her to do those things. Brant Cohen knew he was not a broad-minded person, but he also understood that Eric Williams was equally difficult to deal with. If the other party discovered this scheme of his, who knew what kind of trouble would erupt again? He would no longer treat Eric as an ordinary teenager.
The assistant quickly shook his head. “Of course not, Mr. Cohen. I never contacted her directly, and the person I used is very tight-lipped. They definitely won’t leak our information.”
“That’s good.” Brant Cohen hesitated unwillingly for a moment before continuing, “Let’s leave this matter here for now.”
Bending slightly with a sycophantic smile, the assistant suggested, “Mr. Cohen, actually, we could still use other methods. We don’t necessarily have to go through Drew Barrymore’s mother…”
Brant Cohen waved his hand. “Enough. I said this matter ends here for now.”
Seeing the displeasure on Brant Cohen’s face, the assistant immediately shut his mouth.
If it had been in the past, Brant Cohen definitely would not have let things go so easily. Eric had caused him such humiliation that unless he retaliated, the frustration in his heart would be difficult to vent.
But now, a more important problem was troubling him.
During this period, after the Japanese Sony conglomerate successfully acquired CBS Records, they had begun frequently contacting the board of The Coca-Cola Company, attempting to continue by acquiring Columbia Pictures.
Because of the recent turmoil, Brant Cohen had only barely stabilized the situation after expending enormous effort, so he immediately became restless again. If Columbia’s owner remained Coca-Cola, then with the network and connections he had cultivated over many years, he might still be able to sit in this position for several more years, perhaps even until retirement.
But if Columbia’s owner became the Japanese, then the other side had no personal ties with him at all. Although Brant Cohen was arrogant and self-opinionated, he still had some awareness of his own abilities. He knew that once the Japanese succeeded, his outcome would be obvious.
Therefore, Brant Cohen had no choice but to pull himself together once more, joining forces with those opposed to selling Columbia and using every possible method to prevent Coca-Cola’s board from approving the sale.
He had even been forced to reluctantly play the box office card of Home Alone, something he had always been somewhat unwilling to acknowledge. After all, although Columbia would lose a huge amount of profit-sharing because of the gambling agreement, Home Alone was still the only truly dazzling achievement Columbia had produced in recent years.
Rubbing his temples, Brant Cohen looked up at his assistant. “By the way, I have lunch with Mr. Trevor from Coca-Cola’s board at noon. I remember he likes Latin beauties. Go contact a few Latina actresses to accompany us. Remember, they must be beautiful.”
The assistant was obviously accustomed to such matters and quickly nodded. “Understood, Mr. Cohen. I’ll take care of it immediately.”
…
“Eric, why are you only arriving now? Kapoor Sid has already been waiting for half an hour,” Jeffrey Hanson complained the moment Eric appeared.
Eric apologized, “I’m really sorry, Jeffrey. I happened to get caught in traffic on the way.”
“All right, enough of that. Let’s go in quickly.”
Because the film company’s office building was still under renovation, Eric had no choice but to arrange the discussion about acquiring Kapoor Sid’s talent agency at a café.
Kapoor Sid was a white man in his forties. Like many Westerners, he had a tall and imposing build, at least 190 centimeters tall. He was bald and wore a full beard.
Walking up to Kapoor, Eric extended his hand. “Sorry, Mr. Sid. I’m late.”
Kapoor Sid did not show any displeasure. Even if he was somewhat unhappy about Eric being late, he still smiled and said, “Hello, Eric. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”
“Of course not, Kapoor. Please, sit.” Eric naturally changed his form of address as well.
“Eric, I’ve looked into your history. From publishing Jurassic Park, promoting the script for Back to 17, and filming Home Alone, all the way to the final gambling agreement, when you carefully think about these things, every step was carefully planned and tightly connected. So you must be a smart and rational person. Then why did you choose me out of so many agencies? I originally planned to sell my agency and continue developing my career in Europe, but Jeffrey said you wanted me to stay. You should know my situation. My conflict with Michael Ovitz has made it difficult for me to continue in this industry.”
Eric replied seriously, “Because I’m not afraid of Creative Artists Agency. Other film companies may have to bow to CAA for the sake of box office results because they control a large number of top superstars, but I don’t need to consider that. CAA has superstars, but I can create superstars. What I need is someone capable of handling superstar clients, someone like you, not those second- or third-rate agencies.”
Listening to Eric’s words, Kapoor shook his head with a smile. “Eric, your confidence surprises me even more.”
“If I didn’t have enough confidence, there wouldn’t be the current me.”
Thinking of that agreement that could practically be called a stroke of genius, Kapoor nodded helplessly, but still said, “Eric, superstars aren’t that easy to cultivate. I worked at CAA for many years. I know very clearly that behind every Hollywood superstar is a top-tier team putting in tremendous effort…”
Eric interrupted Kapoor’s explanation and asked instead, “Do you think Stuart Runkel counts as a superstar right now?”
Kapoor obviously knew the little lead actor from Home Alone. “Of course. You could say he’s the top child star in Hollywood. There isn’t a second one.”
“Then,” Eric asked, “if I make another hugely successful movie like Home Alone in the future, and I hand the lead actor over to you to manage, do you think you’d have the ability to shape them into a top Hollywood superstar?”
“Of course there’d be no problem. But, Eric, this assumption is meaningless. The success of Home Alone is very difficult to replicate. You could say it was entirely luck.”
“How would you know without trying?” Eric raised his arms onto the table, interlocked his fingers, and asked somewhat curiously, “Kapoor, why do I feel like something’s strange? As the seller, shouldn’t you be trying hard to promote your company? But it feels to me like you’re not promoting it at all. Instead, it seems like you’re trying to refuse the deal.”
Kapoor shrugged. “Eric, I’m an agent, not a profiteer. I hope we can be honest with each other. Besides, I only want to sell the agency in my hands so the employees who still insist on staying with the company can get a better future. I never planned to stay myself.”
“When you were acting as an agent and negotiating with film companies on behalf of clients, were you this honest too?”
Kapoor quickly shook his head. “Of course not. I would definitely use every possible method to fight for greater benefits for my clients. Eric, those are two different matters.”
“Then I have no problems at all. Kapoor, my condition for acquiring your agency is that you must stay. Otherwise, those remaining second- and third-rate agents don’t mean much to me.”
“So it seems I have no other choice?”
Eric nodded firmly.
Kapoor picked up his coffee and took a sip. After thinking for a while, he finally agreed. At the same time, he also felt a faint sense of anticipation in his heart. Perhaps this young man, who had already created miracles before, might continue creating miracles again.