America: Child stars start with The Shining

As Charles followed Ovitz out of the film set, he listened to the other man rambling on about what had happened in the past two days.

"FXXX, I know those WMA guys all too well. They're a bunch of scumbags! They're all polite to you on the surface, but behind your back they're always resorting to underhanded tricks!"

"It was bad enough that they snatched my artist away from me a while ago, but now they're actually interfering with our business. Charles, do you understand what this means? They've completely turned against us! A bunch of despicable bastards!"

Ovitz gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, leaving Charles, with his short legs, somewhat disheveled, barely managing to keep up by jogging.

After listening to the other person's outburst, he couldn't help but ask:

"Ovitz, didn't you used to work for WMA too?"

"Uh... how can that be the same! I've turned over a new leaf, and as you should know, we at CAA never do anything like that."

Charles watched as Ovitz finished speaking without batting an eye, and his lips twitched involuntarily.

Wow, you're the kind of ruthless person who can single-handedly build CAA into a super brokerage empire despite WMA's relentless pursuit.

If Ovitz were to encounter a competitor, the methods would be far more insidious than those currently employed by WMA, and he wouldn't leave any trace.

"Isn't this Ovitz? Long time no see! How have you been these past few days?"

Not far ahead, a man stood next to a black van, waving and smiling at them.

Charles recognized him immediately; it was Morgan, the WMA agent who had come to the set to see him a few days earlier.

The purpose of this guy's presence here is self-evident.

Ovitz paused slightly, took a deep breath, walked over, and said with an unfriendly expression:

"Morgan, when we were colleagues, you didn't dare say a word to me. Now you've gotten bolder?"

Morgan smiled, leaned lazily against the car door, brushed the dust off Ovitz's suit, and said in a gentle tone:

"How could that be, Ovitz? I've always respected you a lot, it's just... the company has a lot of complaints about you."

"Since you chose to start your own business, CAA, shouldn't you have prepared for this sooner?"

Ovitz's fingers slowly clenched, his gaze fixed coldly on the other person. The blows CAA had suffered recently were definitely partly due to this bastard's involvement.

Morgan bypassed him and went directly to Charles, asking:

"Kid, you've probably seen it too, right? In a place like Hollywood, you can't survive without a reliable agency. So, have you decided to switch to WMA yet?"

He made no attempt to conceal the desire in his eyes.

After returning home that day, Morgan immediately looked up information about Charles and was pleasantly surprised by what he found.

This child star was selected on his very first movie audition; he's incredibly talented.

Moreover, it was that director's film crew.

Kubrick, horror films, Warner Bros.—with all these elements combined in one thing, this movie... will most likely, no, it definitely will be a hit.

Although Kubrick liked to include some overly artistic personal touches in his films, Morgan had already learned that Warner Bros.' investment in "The Shining" was quite staggering, and they were determined to make it a widely appealing horror film.

In other words, this little guy in front of him might just become famous overnight.

In addition, he had seen the other person's acting skills that day, and they were full of talent. With a little help from WMA, they could very well become the next Jodie Foster in Hollywood.

Thinking of this, Morgan looked at Charles, his smile deepening as he awaited his reply.

Charles sighed, looked up at him, and said helplessly:

"Uncle, you don't have some kind of weird fetish, do you? I've already rejected you once, why are you making a fool of yourself?"

Morgan's expression froze instantly.

"Hey! Morgan, did you hear me? FXXX YOU! Our CAA artists don't want to talk to you! Get the hell out of here!"

Ovitz laughed loudly, stepped in front of Charles, shoved Morgan aside, and gave him the middle finger.

Morgan's face darkened, and he was about to speak when he suddenly caught sight of a figure not far away. He immediately stopped talking, gave Ovitz a cold look, and then turned and left.

The next second, he put on a warm smile, quickly stepped forward, and greeted her:

"Director Cunningham, hello, I'm WMA's agent. We had an appointment to meet today..."

A middle-aged man walked towards them. The two exchanged a few words and quickly got into the black van.

Charles watched the car drive away from the set, then turned his gaze and asked:

"What's going on?"

It seems that guy didn't come here specifically to disgust them. That makes sense; a normal person wouldn't do something so stupid.

Ovitz shrugged and explained:

"That director Cunningham is preparing to shoot a horror movie similar to 'Halloween,' I think it's called something like... 'Friday the 13th,' and WMA is planning to put one of its artists in it."

Charles paused for a moment. He knew this movie all too well; it featured Jason Wolhers, who portrayed one of the most iconic killer characters in film history.

Moreover, "Friday the 13th" gets a sequel almost every year. In his memory, it seems that more than a dozen films had been made by then, making it a true evergreen in the horror film genre.

Surprisingly, the first film in this series appeared in 1979.

A thought suddenly flashed through Charles's mind, and he quickly asked again:

"Wait a minute, does the WMA really have that much power in Hollywood? They can actually squeeze people into it?"

"That's not the case. At most, they'll squeeze in a few supporting actors. The main cast will still be decided through film auditions, but they can let their own artists skip the initial screening and go straight to the final interview."

Ovitz thought for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly, and then continued:

"However, it seems this movie will be released at the same time as 'The Shining'..."

Charles was taken aback. It was true. They were both horror movies. If they were filmed this year, they would all be released around the same time next year, and they would inevitably become competitors.

Friday the 13th vs. The Shining?

This is getting interesting...

But then another question suddenly occurred to Charles.

Although The Shining is a classic in film history, he honestly doesn't remember the box office figures when the movie was first released.

Kubrick is a god of cinema, but not a god of box office. In this day and age, the only people who dare to confidently guarantee that their films will make money are probably Lucas and Spielberg.

......

Before long, Charles got into Ovitz's beat-up Ford and sped off. With the guy accidentally running a few red lights, the two quickly returned to CAA and entered a conference room.

Ovitz tidied up the scattered documents on the table, pulled out a stack, handed it to Charles, and said:

"Although we've been targeted by WMA recently and lost a lot of business, some clients who were dissatisfied with their quotes have come back to us. All the information is here, take a look."

"The compensation they offer isn't high; they're mostly small companies. But that's normal since you don't have much of a reputation yet."

Charles glanced at the documents, then suddenly raised an eyebrow, his gaze completely drawn to a few capital letters on one of the papers.

Apple

Apple Inc., a technology giant for future generations.