Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 229: Riding a Tiger

Soon Michael Ovitz and the presidents of the Big Seven Studios received the news that Guess What Pictures was preparing to compete with the Big Seven Studios by increasing the publicity and promotion costs of "Seven Deadly Sins".

"Haha, Link is still too naive."

Michael Ovitz laughed uncontrollably after receiving the news. "Guess what? Film Industry is just one company, and we have more than ten companies. How can one company beat more than ten? He will definitely lose this gamble, and it is very likely to be a miserable failure."

Longmeyer nodded while smoking a cigarette. "It is indeed very rash, but it is understandable. Link is a young man who cannot stand being wronged. When he saw the Big Seven Studios targeting his movie, he impulsively raised the stakes and competed with the Big Seven Studios. This approach is very irrational in commercial competition."

"Haha! This kid defeated us last time and became arrogant. He thought he had no rivals in Hollywood, so he acted so tough. This time I will defeat him thoroughly, destroy him, and make him spit out everything he ate."

Michael Ovitz laughed coldly a few times and immediately called the executives of several major film companies, hoping that they could take countermeasures to attack Link's movie and make Guess What Pictures lose more money.

Executives of several major film companies promised to suppress Link and Guess Pictures in terms of public opinion, but CAA or Michael Ovitz personally must perform.

He is the initiator of the alliance. Now that everyone is taking action against Link, he can't just stand by and watch. He also needs to take some practical actions, such as paying part of the publicity expenses, arranging some celebrities to endorse the movie, and mobilizing his connections to suppress the reputation of Link's new movie.

When Michael Ovitz heard that he had to pay money, his heart trembled. Last year, he bet more than 10 million in the bet against Link, and also invested a lot of money and connections in publicity. Now he had to spend money again, and he was very reluctant.

"Michael, you have to understand that Link's movie won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is of good quality. It is risky for us to compete with Link. If we lose and cause losses to the company, I will not be able to explain to Murdoch and the board of directors." said Barry Diller, chairman of 20th Century Fox.

Michael Ovitz frowned, “If you win, the benefits will also be yours.”

"No, no, the benefits are ours. If we win, we can give priority to CAA artists in film projects," said Sid Sheinberg, president of Universal Pictures.

Michael Ovitz thought for a moment and said, “I’ll arrange for my artists to help promote the movie.”

"Great! Michael, if we join forces, Link will have absolutely no chance of winning." said Miguel Goss, President of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Ovitz nodded. This was his opinion as well.

"Michael, I heard that Nicolas Cage, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and others under CAA have a good relationship with Link and are involved in their film projects. This is not good and this kind of thing should be banned," said Sherry Lansing, president of Paramount Pictures.

"I see!"

Michael Ovitz hung up the phone with a dark face and slammed his fist on the table.

Michael Ovitz was elated when he picked up the phone and dark-faced when he hung up.

Longmeyer shook his head and said, "You can't blame them. Although the major film studios are giants in the film industry, they have a board of directors above them, and all their work must be accountable to shareholders."

Michael Ovitz also knew this, but he was asked to pay for promotion and arrange for his artists to help several major film companies promote their films for free. He couldn't help but think of the bet last year. In order to beat Link at the box office, he spent money, manpower, and effort, but in the end,
In addition, the last time the company asked its artists to help promote "The Trap", many of them were dissatisfied. If it happens again, even more people will be dissatisfied.

When artists are dissatisfied with management and their loyalty decreases, they will consider changing jobs. If too many artists change jobs, it will affect CAA’s interests, and they will not be able to explain to the CAA board of directors.

After much thought, Michael Ovitz regretted launching this alliance against Link.

If this bastard Link wants to be prominent, let him be prominent; if he wants to make money, let him make money. There is no direct conflict of interest with CAA. Even if Link does things too high-profile and it bothers him, he just needs to endure it and pretend that this bastard doesn't exist.

hey~
However, the alliance has already been established, and partners have also launched actions against Guess What Pictures one after another. At this time, he, the leader, suddenly announced his withdrawal. How will his partners view him? How will others view him, the number one person on the Hollywood power list?
If he retires at this time, he won't be able to gain a foothold in Hollywood.

At this point, he is in a dilemma.

Michael Ovitz picked up the phone on the table and called Jay Maloney, the head of the agency department, asking him to arrange for artists to help promote the films of the seven major film studios, in order to exchange film and television resources from the production departments of the seven major film studios. Whoever does more will get more resources in the future.

At the same time, he remembered what Shirley Lansing said, that Nicolas Cage was good friends with Link, and that Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Julianne Moore and others had starred in Link's movies.

This matter gave him a headache.

He is the president of CAA, but he has no right to interfere in the private lives of actors.

Michael Ovitz thought about it and called the agents of several people, advising Nicholas and others not to get too close to Link and not to participate in Guess What Pictures' film projects. The company would compensate them with other roles if they lost their roles.

Also, when promoting "Speed", Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock must be passive and refuse to cooperate with Guess What Pictures. If anything goes wrong, the CAA legal department will be responsible.

Soon he received a call from Nicolas Cage's agent.

Nicholas was very unhappy with his interference in the artist's private affairs. If it happened again, Nicholas would consider terminating the contract early.

Michael Ovitz was shocked when he heard this, and he quickly called Nicolas Cage to persuade him not to do that and said he would not interfere in his private affairs.

CAA was greatly affected after Robert Downey Jr., Richard Gere and Dustin Hoffman were scrapped. Nicholas Case is one of CAA's most important clients at present and the company's signature.

In terms of importance, Nicolas Cage is higher than Tom Cruise. Nicolas Cage's uncle is the great director Francis Coppola, and Director Coppola is the core figure of the Italian gang in Hollywood.

Signing Nicolas Cage will make it easier to get the resources of the Italian gang.

After hanging up the phone, Michael Ovitz cursed Link as a bastard. If Link hadn't ruined Robert Downey Jr. and the other two, he wouldn't have to be so worried about Nicolas Cage's stay or departure.

Just after hanging up the phone, Jay Maloney called and said Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Julianne Moore were dissatisfied with the company's arrangements and proposed to terminate the contract.

"I won't agree! Stop them now."

Michael Ovitz was furious, Sandra Bullock and Julianne Moore jumped ship and that was fine, but not Keanu.

After River's death, Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage are considered to be the four most powerful male actors in Hollywood today, with great chances of becoming superstars.

Johnny Depp was originally an artist under CAA, and in 1992 he followed his agent to UTA agency.

The remaining three are still in CAA. If Keanu Reeves jumps to UTA again, that small company UTA might become too aggressive and threaten CAA's dominance in the entertainment industry.

He would never allow this to happen.

But Jay Maloney claimed that the three had a strong desire to terminate the contract early and expressed his willingness to support the liquidated damages.

Michael Ovitz cursed and asked Jay Maloney to tell the three people that if they wanted to change jobs, they would never have to work with directors and actors under CAA again, and there would be no place for them in Hollywood in the future.

Jamalone said he would personally counsel the three.

Michael Ovitz also called Keanu Reeves, trying to personally persuade him to stay, but the call didn't go through.

Ovitz slammed the table and cursed loudly, his curses were very harsh, and he even did not spare Link, who had nothing to do with the matter.

(End of this chapter)