Chapter 28 028
Only now did Hugo realize how powerful his agency was. In Hollywood in the early 1990s, there were only three top agencies, namely William Morris Agency (WMA), the oldest and most powerful agency in the industry, and two late-star Creative Artist Agency (CAA) and International Innovation Management Company (ICM), these three companies are also the only three brokerage companies in Hollywood that have a 10% ratio, which shows their ability.
Simply put, the responsibility of a brokerage company is to provide intermediary services for customers by relying on its own connections, and then make profits from the remuneration of customers. The stronger the brokerage company, the richer the resources, the wider the connections, and the more job opportunities. The more the richer, the more customers will naturally be able to obtain broader development prospects. The reason why the three major brokerage companies dare to take 10% is their ability.
Before signing with a brokerage company, the new actors and actresses will play the role of a union without an agent. They can provide a large number of job opportunities, and at the same time when the need arises Agents will also be arranged to help actors sign contracts, with the overall goal of protecting the interests of actors.
Hugo's first work "Diner" was successfully performed with the help of the Screen Actors Guild, and then he was brought to International Innovation Management by Ron Meyer. I have to say that Lang is still very capable. He pushed Hugo step by step to the position of a rising star in acting, and he was rewarded in the "Dead Poets Society". The following three works, "Deadly Hour", "The Detective" and "Hudson's Eagle", certainly have the role of Tracy, but Lang's role as an agent cannot be ignored. It is a pity that these three works all failed unexpectedly, which is embarrassing.
Hugo and Lang's brokerage contract just expired before "Eagle of Hudson" was filmed and released, so Lang transferred Hugo's brokerage contract to Joseph. Although it was still in the International Innovation Management Company, it was obviously inferior. up a grade. And then the "Hudson Eagle" results also proved Lang's vision.
It can be said that the crew of "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman" finally chose Hugo to play the role of Charlie, and Joseph and the International Innovation Management Company behind him definitely contributed.
This is the first time Hugo feels lucky, he has been through it himself, so he knows how important it is to have a strong agency and a great agent, and this is the first time Hugo feels The benefits brought by his predecessor——if this handsome appearance is not counted.
When he mentioned the agency, Hugo remembered Charlize he met before. He has been busy preparing for the audition for "Scent of a Scent and Knowing a Woman" for the past few days, but he forgot about Charlize." Joseph, I want to ask you something, you know an agent called... uh..."
Hugo rolled his eyes and tried to recall the name of the agent, but he couldn't remember it. Joseph stood by and looked at Hugo's tangled expression without any reaction. In the end, Hugo had no choice but to give up. He began to look for the business card of the manager that day, but he didn't remember where he put the business card.
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Joseph sat down on the mattress and watched Hugo rummage through the boxes, first his pockets, wallet, then the coat in the closet, then the bedside table and desk, and finally Hugo patted it. With his head, he opened the script of "Smell the Fragrance and Know a Woman", he successfully found a hard card in the script, and then showed a look of joy, "Oh, I remember, his name is Karl Earl! "It's Superman's real name, but Hugo doesn't know that much about American comics, so his associative memory isn't that deep.
Listening to Hugo's words, Joseph finally couldn't hold back and rolled his eyes: Please, this is not what you remembered, did you read the name directly from the business card? People who can't even remember where their business cards are...
"Joseph, do you know him? He said he is the agent of the International Innovation Management Company." Hugo happily walked up to Joseph and handed over the business card.
Joseph looked at the excitement and doubts on Hugo's face, it seemed that he didn't realize his confusion at all, Joseph could only sigh in his heart, and then took the business card, "Our company has a man named Karl-Er Well, we all call him Superman." Apparently the name is much more effective for Americans.
Joseph looked at the business card, "Yes, this is his business card. What's wrong?" Joseph seemed to have thought of something, he frowned slightly and looked at Hugo with a puzzled expression, "Could he hand the business card over to him? Let me tell you that you have great potential as an actor, right?" If that's the case, then it's funny, Hugo is also the male lead of three movies, but if he is treated as an ordinary person by his agent, this is really too oolong.
Hugo's reaction was slow this time, and he immediately understood what Joseph meant, and waved his hands again and again, "No, no, it's a new model friend I met. Carl thought she had the potential to become an actor and gave her a business card. But I'm not sure. Whether this is true or a trick, I just saw that it was all from our company, so I asked for help."
Joseph suddenly realized and nodded, "Carl and I joined the company at about the same time. He is in a worse situation than me now. At least I have you as an artist." What Joseph didn't say is that although Hugo's situation is not good now, " However, Carl brought two actors before, and the results were not good. In the end, he was dismissed by those two actors. He now has no actors under his control, so he returned to the street as a scout."
"Resign?" Hugo raised his eyebrows. He realized that the agent was actually his hired helper, he was the boss, and the agent worked for him. Of course, a good agent can also bring more job opportunities to the actor, thus making the actor more trust in the agent, which is also counterproductive.
Joseph was a little stunned by Hugo's meaningful look. Hugo didn't trust him before, and he was obviously his manager, but Hugo went over himself to find Lang again and again. Although Lang still gave some advice on the surface - completely irresponsible opinions in Joseph's opinion, but in private Lang warned Joseph several times, "Take care of your actors, I don't do free white labor", And after the fact, a part of Joseph's salary was drawn as a consulting fee, which was considered a retirement. Now, when Joseph heard Hugo say this again, he immediately looked away and said firmly, "This is the actor's right."
Hugo was a little confused, he just made a little joke, Joseph didn't seem like the kind of person who couldn't make a joke, but why did Joseph look so serious now, he couldn't help laughing twice, "But Our cooperation is just on the right track now, isn't it the honeymoon period, this kind of thing will definitely not happen."
The honeymoon period made Joseph roll his eyes, but his serious expression softened a lot, and a faint smile could be seen at the corners of his mouth: The success of the case of "smell the fragrance and know a woman" is indeed a Something to celebrate.
"Joseph, what do you think of Karl? Does my friend want to call him? Or I'll just introduce her to you." Hugo said, thinking about it, the top agents must be all With more than one actor, there is no problem in introducing Charlize to Joseph.
When Joseph heard Hugo's words, his expression really softened. Hugo was willing to introduce his friends to him, which showed that Hugo trusted him, which was a progress. "Oh, Carl is a very friendly person, and he takes his work seriously and is a trustworthy agent." Joseph knew that his current ability was not enough to bring two actors, so if Hugo's friends could Becoming Carl's entertainer, that would be a good result, too.
"Then why did the two actors leave before?" Hugo didn't hide it, and directly spoke his thoughts.
Joseph has no intention of concealing these things, and he can know these things when he inquires about them in the company. "Carl is a very serious person. He hopes that the actor can devote himself to every job, so many times his personality is relatively stubborn, There will be a lot of conflict."
Hugo couldn't help but nodded. It is conceivable that Carl is a more honest person. Such a character is actually a taboo in the process of interpersonal communication, but once he starts his work, his achievements will be better than others.
"Furthermore, Carl has always believed that it is not difficult to become famous overnight, and it can be born under the combined effect of timing and luck, but the results obtained by opportunistic and deliberate management in order to become famous are difficult to maintain. Even if you become famous overnight, later The path of being an actor still has to rely on one's own strength, otherwise it will only be a vase career." Joseph said here and glanced at Hugo, "So, you know, this kind of thinking is not acceptable to everyone."
Indeed, many people come to Hollywood with the dream of reaching the sky in one step. As a result, Carl has been there to persuade others to start from the basics, which is naturally annoying. The so-called good advice is probably like this.
In fact, in Hugo's view, Carl is a very good agent, at least he is really considering the actor. Maybe it's because Karl has not yet reached the peak of the brokerage and has not been assimilated by the industry rules that put interests first, but he just doesn't know if his personality can last forever. If it can, it will definitely be a rare conscience in the industry.
"How about you, are you willing to introduce your friend to Carl?" Joseph asked seemingly inadvertently, but he was actually a little nervous inside. Joseph is very similar to Carl in a certain way, otherwise the two of them would not have entered the industry for more than a year and are still in such a bad situation, so Hugo's affirmation of Carl can also be regarded as a certain sense. Affirmation to Joseph, this is very important to him.
Hugo didn't think so much, he just nodded and said, "Of course, why not?" Hearing this, the tension between Joseph's eyebrows quietly dissipated, and was occupied by the faint joy. But Hugo, who was slightly nervous, didn't notice it, and he continued to say, "I should call Charlize..."