America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 122 Internal Promotion
William Morris, at the end of the regular partner meeting every Monday, a group of bigwigs discussed the situation of important customers and the topic turned to potential customers.

Sharon, who was in charge of coordinating daily affairs, beckoned to her assistant, who hurried over and connected the projector to her laptop.

The Saturn Awards is one of the top ten film and television awards in North America. WMA's top executives have also paid attention to it. Sharon opened the news about the Saturn Awards and said, "Martin Davis, a level 6 client of the company, won the Saturn Award for Best Young Actor last weekend. He is currently receiving a lot of attention in entertainment newspapers and on the Internet. There is a force behind him that is pushing him forward."

"Using company resources?" asked co-partner Ari Emanuel.

"Very little was used." Sharon specifically contacted Thomas to find out: "Except for his agent Thomas, no other company resources were used."

Ali looked up at the projection screen: "How did he win the award?"

Sharon clicked the mouse, and Wes Craven's avatar appeared: "Martin invited Craven to his private party, and he got Craven."

Jim Witt, another co-partner, said: "Louise Mayer of Pacific Pictures recommended Martin to me because he starred in the theatrical movie "Zombie Gigolo". I listed him as a key target among the six-level clients."

According to WMA’s internal regulations, only those who have played the leading or important supporting role in at least one theatrical movie or TV series can become a Level 6 customer.

This standard excludes 99 percent of actors in the industry.

Level 6 clients are also called actors within WMA, but they are actors with exclusive agents.

Above them are well-known actors, stars, famous stars, superstars and superstars.

The criteria for classification are simple: pay, power and influence.

片酬不是唯一标准，却最为直观，100万、500万、1000万、1500万和2000万。

Resource priorities are clearly arranged.

Because the agency is not in the business of art, it is in the business of making money.

Clients who can command a high price can enjoy the best resources.

WMA currently has no super giants.

The most important clients are Michael Bay and Eastwood.

"I know Thomas. He's a new guy. He doesn't have the ability to deal with Craven." Ali became interested: "This little guy has some tricks."

Sharon is very meticulous: "He played the leading role in House of Wax. Before the film was released, I called producer Susan and director Zomi. They spoke highly of Martin's acting skills and praised him for being good at getting along with people."

Ali said directly: "He has the ability and connections. In this way, Martin's customer level will be upgraded by one level, and level 5 resources will be given priority to him."

In less than two minutes, Martin's business was over. Potential clients will pay due attention, but whether they can get promoted also depends on luck.

Sharon then mentioned the real key figure among the new clients, Blake Lively.

The men discussed for nearly ten minutes as Ernie Lively helped his daughter push a platter.

WMA wanted to cram as many of its own clients as possible into the crew.

After the meeting, Sharon called Thomas and talked to him for a while.

In the office partition, Thomas excitedly pounded the table with his fists, getting closer and closer to the independent office!
He looked up and saw himself in the mirror.

Thomas put the phone back in its place and looked carefully in the mirror. It seemed that his hairline was receding again?
He scratched it and a few strands of hair fell onto the desk.

Thomas was just full of passion, and he blew it away in one breath, picked up his phone and called Martin: "Come to the company quickly, there is good news."

Half an hour later, Martin came to the office partition.

Thomas had just printed out a thick stack of documents from the company's internal system.

Martin glanced at it and it seemed that they were all actor recruitment emails sent by the crew.

"Get your own water." Thomas was still a little excited, his head and body shaking violently, and a few strands of hair fell off.

He first talked about the latest situation: "You won the Best Young Actor Award. The company attaches great importance to you and has raised your customer level to level five. Level five resources will be given priority to you. The company will give priority to recommending you for many roles that fall into the level five category."

As one of the two largest talent agencies in the industry, WMA's strong recommendation can allow its actors to enter the third round of auditions. If the director and casting director are their own family, the chances of winning will be further increased.

Martin was well aware of this and asked, "Do you have any good role recommendations?"

Thomas brought over a printout and said eagerly, "It's a Castle Rock Films project, The Hostage of Madness, with two protagonists."

Martin flipped through the printout, which contained a simple script, character settings and introductions, and tried to recall them carefully, but had no impression of anything.

This is a project that Thomas has carefully selected: "The production budget is $800 million, and it's a family movie. I expect the salary will not be less than $30. There is always a market for family movies."

Martin closed the printout and asked, "Are you sure a bunch of adults with weapons fighting in Disneyland is a successful family-friendly theme?"

Thomas asked back, "What's the problem?"

"I don't feel very good." Martin took another printout, a Universal Pictures project.

Thomas said: "George Romero is going to remake Land of the Dead and this is one of the main roles, and competition may be fierce."

Martin had only one impression of this film: zombies watching fireworks. He took it aside again, "Choose the protagonist carefully."

Thomas was also in no hurry to choose, and handed another one to Martin: "The Brothers Grimm, a fantasy project produced by Dimension Films, is financed overseas, with funds mainly coming from Germany. It has two protagonists, and Matt Damon has been confirmed as the first protagonist. A new actor with a lower salary is planned for the second protagonist."

Martin refused without hesitation: "All fantasy films are rejected."

Louise had told him that Germany was Hollywood's money-laundering toilet.

God knows how much the actual investment was for this movie.

Thomas emphasized: "The success of the Lord of the Rings series has triggered a fantasy boom."

Martin said, "Van Helsing was released at the beginning of this month. It's been two weeks now. How terrible are the box office and word of mouth?" He simply said, "I have no interest in fantasy and epic."

“You’re going to miss a lot of opportunities that way,” Thomas said.

Martin didn't want to argue with him because he couldn't explain it clearly: "I trust Louise Meier's judgment."

"But she invested in Alexander the Great..."

"Louise has regretted it." Martin's words were like a knife: "When it comes to selecting films, I trust the professionalism of a producer."

Does that mean that he is an unprofessional agent? Thomas opened his mouth, but could not refute it, because compared with the professionalism of film selection, most agents are not even as good as the managers around stars, let alone producers who face the first-line market.

It's like a producer asking a film critic how to make a film so that it will have a market. He will definitely fail.

“It’s good to be selective, but you have to understand that we don’t have a wide range of options,” Thomas said.

Martin nodded slightly and asked, "That's all?"

"For now, these are the only ones who can be called the protagonists. It is impossible for the movies in the next two years to recruit actors at the same time. Some crews or companies rarely cooperate with WMA." Thomas asked Martin to face the reality: "Although the company is not super-giant, the intention to cooperate has been passed down layer by layer. When it comes to us, they are all the leftovers of the stars."

Martin understood this: "Nothing else?"

Thomas pointed to the computer screen and said, "There are some villains, but I don't recommend... No, I strongly oppose you choosing a villain, unless the villain is like a protagonist."

Martin started to talk nonsense again: "People like me are born to be the protagonist. Being a villain? I will be killed by the protagonist in this movie, and then I will be killed by another protagonist in the next movie. I will be finished soon!"

He asked Thomas, "You want me to be completely ruined because of the choices I made in a hurry?"

After hearing these words, Thomas' fiery heart and brain calmed down a little. He patted his forehead and accepted the reality of being P: "It's my fault. The success of the Saturn Award and the company's attention... I was too excited."

Seeing that he had calmed down, Martin said, "Let's keep watching."

The remaining few are all supporting roles. The new films of the company's two major director clients, Michael Bay and Eastwood, are all recruiting supporting roles.

The former is called "Escape from the Island" and the latter is "Million Dollar Baby".

Martin had little chance of advancement in such supporting roles, unless he was paid very well, which was obviously not possible.

Thomas found that the company's system had been updated, and new projects and roles were automatically pushed to his OA. He quickly clicked on it and asked Martin to come over and take a look: "It's a project that will fully use young actors. Blake Lively has been confirmed as the female lead. There are five main roles, three women and two men."

Martin asked, "Have you decided on a name?"

"It's based on the novel of the same name by Brashears, 'The Summer of Jeans.'" Thomas said, "The adaptation should keep this name."

Martin had seen the film and had the impression that it was a girl's movie, so he asked, "Two male characters?"

Thomas said: "A football coach and a Greek guy." He was surprised: "This is ridiculous, the budget is 2500 million US dollars!"

Hearing about money, Martin became interested: "If the role pays well, sign me up. I'm very poor recently." He added: "Forget it if the pay is low."

Thomas made a note: "You think there is nothing else suitable?"

"It's really hard to choose a suitable role." There are indeed a lot of resources, but in Martin's eyes, the quality is worrying, and many are pitfalls. The success rate of movies is relatively low, so it is normal to have many pitfalls.

Thomas smiled and said, "For a project with a high investment, it is natural to find a celebrity with strong appeal to lead the team."

"Pay attention to the pay for the summer of jeans." Martin reminded him, and then said something else: "Do you have time tonight? Accompany me to a party."

Thomas said, "I have an appointment with a lady..."

Martin sighed: "Wes Craven asked me and French director Alexandre Aja to discuss the script together." He specifically emphasized: "A horror film script with me as the absolute protagonist."

"I haven't heard you say that before." Thomas was quite helpless.

Martin said: "The story comes from the collision of ideas between the two directors. Before they finalize the framework, it is full of uncertainty. I can't tell you something that I can't be sure of. Their agents also went, and I didn't bring my agent, which seemed disrespectful."

Thomas was embarrassed and gritted his teeth: "I'll go!"

I was busy all day yesterday and had no time to write. The second update is not finished yet and will be posted later.

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(End of this chapter)