Chapter 53: I Hope You Have the Resolve to Keep Refusing
Chapter 53: I Hope You Have the Resolve to Keep Refusing
Ever since the news broke that Drew Barrymore had spent the night at Eric Williams’s house, many newspapers that hyped up the incident saw their sales surge. As a result, paparazzi had been constantly surrounding Eric during this period. The day after acquiring the talent agency, news of the matter quickly appeared in the papers.
Los Angeles Metropolitan News directly published an analysis of the matter:
“It is difficult to understand why Eric Williams chose to acquire Kapoor Sid’s talent agency. Although Kapoor Sid is an exceptionally capable agent, ever since he was expelled from the giant known as Creative Artists Agency because of his conflict with Michael Ovitz, the consequences have been extremely severe.”
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter focused on Eric raising the agency commission rates:
“According to a contracted actor from the newly renamed United Talent Agency, the first thing Eric Williams announced after taking over the company was raising agent commissions to the ten percent maximum permitted under federal law. In the future, when Eric Williams makes films, he will definitely prioritize actors from his own agency. If his future works can maintain the quality of Back to 17 or Home Alone, then even raising commissions to twenty percent would still attract countless actors eager for fame. However, such a hypothesis is obviously impossible. Movies are like gambling; no director can keep winning forever. Therefore, this writer can confidently conclude that Eric Williams’ new company will have difficulty surviving for even a year.”
Other newspapers also unanimously looked down on Eric’s acquisition. Some reporters, wanting to push the incident’s popularity to its limit, even sent interview invitations to Michael Ovitz.
And unlike before, Michael Ovitz did not refuse this time. Although he did not appear personally, he had his assistant release a statement on his behalf. The general meaning was that he thought highly of young director Eric Williams’ potential and hoped there might be opportunities for cooperation between both sides.
The statement sounded ordinary on the surface, but the media gave it a completely opposite interpretation. This was the goodwill of Hollywood’s kingmaker toward a promising young director, and it also proved that Michael Ovitz had no intention of suppressing Eric Williams because of Kapoor Sid.
Of course, only a very small number of people knew the truth behind it.
At that moment, inside a meeting room at Firefly Films, Eric met another representative from CAA.
The other party was named Horner Willey, one of CAA’s top agents. At the same time, he also had another identity: he was Richard Gere’s agent. That was also the reason he appeared here today.
The meeting room door was pushed open, and the neatly dressed Eric walked in. Smiling, he extended his hand toward Horner Willey. “Sorry, Mr. Willey, for keeping you waiting.”
“It’s fine,” Horner Willey replied arrogantly as he slightly rose to shake Eric’s hand before promptly sitting back down on his own.
Eric frowned almost imperceptibly. Sitting across from Horner Willey, he glanced around the meeting room in confusion. “Mr. Willey, may I ask why Mr. Richard Gere didn’t come today? He should be the main subject of today’s discussion, shouldn’t he?”
Horner Willey shook his head. “Richard is busy with other matters. He has fully entrusted me to handle this issue.”
Although Eric already had a bad premonition, he still politely asked, “He should have read the script outline I sent Mr. Richard Gere, right? I wonder what your thoughts are?”
Horner Willey replied, “Mr. Williams, Richard is actually very satisfied with your script. It’s just that the salary you offered is only five hundred thousand dollars, which is very difficult for us to accept. You should know that Richard’s An Officer and a Gentleman earned over one hundred million dollars at the North American box office back then.”
Eric sneered inwardly. Another self-important fool who thought he was a rookie.
“Mr. Willey, I’m young, so I’ve never heard of An Officer and a Gentleman. May I ask what year that film was made? I’ll go find the videotape and watch it carefully.”
“1982,” Horner Willey blurted out. Only after seeing the undisguised mockery on Eric’s face did he realize he had been played.
A Hollywood star’s salary was not determined by how high the box office of their peak films had once been. Rather, it was calculated based on factors such as the box office performance of their films in recent years, awards, and current public exposure. An Officer and a Gentleman was already a seven-year-old film for Richard Gere and basically had no reference value for his current market price.
Before extending the invitation, Eric had thoroughly investigated Richard Gere’s recent career status. The films Richard Gere had made over the past three years had all bombed at the box office. The best-performing one, the action thriller No Mercy, only earned a total box office of twelve million dollars. Meanwhile, a recent film in which he merely made a guest appearance had earned only one hundred eighty thousand dollars in total box office revenue.
Yes, you read that correctly. One hundred eighty thousand dollars.
The producers probably had not even earned back the fee they paid for his guest appearance.
Therefore, the five hundred thousand dollar salary Eric offered was actually somewhat on the high side.
“All right, Mr. Horner. Since you think it’s too little, then tell me your conditions.”
Horner Willey’s expression quickly returned to normal. “Mr. Williams, actually, it’s not that we absolutely cannot accept five hundred thousand dollars. However, you should know where your problem lies. Mr. Ovitz is not a petty person. As long as Kapoor Sid leaves the United States, Mr. Ovitz will no longer target him. Originally, this matter was already practically settled, but you insisted on keeping him here. This has made Mr. Ovitz look bad, so…”
Eric sneered. “So you’re threatening our cooperation to force me to fire Kapoor, correct? Ridiculous. You force a person to the point where he has no choice but to leave his own country, yet you still shamelessly call yourself generous.”
“Mr. Williams,” Horner Willey’s face also turned cold, “although you’ve achieved some success, don’t overestimate yourself too much. Within the massive network of CAA-contracted artists—”
“Or perhaps,” Eric interrupted with a cold smile still on his face, “you people at CAA have already become so arrogant that you’ve forgotten your proper role. Don’t forget that you are a talent agency. Everything you do should place your clients’ interests first. Only then can you survive in the long run.”
Horner Willey retorted, “That doesn’t require Mr. Williams to remind us. We’ve always done exactly that. Even if the negotiations between us fail, Richard will receive the lead role in another film as compensation. CAA has no shortage of opportunities.”
Eric stood up. “Then there’s nothing more to discuss. I still say the same thing: if there are actors under CAA that I like, I will continue sending invitations, and I will not accept any bundled conditions from CAA. I hope you have the resolve to keep refusing.”
Horner Willey coldly glanced at Eric. “I also hope you won’t regret today’s decision.”
After saying that, he had no intention of speaking another word. Picking up his briefcase, he directly pushed open the door and left.