Best Director in Literature Department of Huayu

Chapter 118 I Want to Start My Own Business

Back in late June, the Toronto International Film Festival announced its first batch of 26 films to be screened, including five films that won awards at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

However, most Hollywood media outlets did not react much, since the film festival, which is held every September, is still far from the actual awards season.

Well before the deadline, Dallas Buyers Club had completed all post-production and was sent to the film festival via Searchlight.

According to the official website's procedures, Lin Ruiyang estimates that the additional premiere films or the complete list for August will not be announced until the Canadian domestic section is released.

In his Beverly Hills apartment, Lin Ruiyang was sitting in front of his computer looking at the latest box office report sent from Fox's internal system.

After its third week, The Queen's cumulative box office in North America has surpassed the $1 million mark, reaching $540 million!

The surge wasn't limited to North America; the overseas markets also experienced a terrifying explosion.

As of July 16, "The Devil Wears Prada" had grossed $218 million worldwide.

After a week of dominating the headlines of Captain Jack Sparrow, major Hollywood media outlets finally had to set aside precious space to examine this reverse massacre that occurred in the narrow confines of the summer blockbuster season.

《名利场》：「鉴于目前次周仅30%、第三周仅32%的极低票房跌幅，《穿普拉达的女王》在北美的最终票房将极有可能落在1.4亿至1.5亿美元之间。而其全球票房，在欧洲与亚洲大票仓尚未完全挖掘潜力的情况下，保守估计将突破3：2亿美元！

With this film, Ryan Lam will directly enter Hollywood's $2 million/$3 million club, becoming the most cost-effective top director in Hollywood this year.

Lin Ruiyang glanced at the reports and then closed the page; this kind of praise was becoming increasingly common.

Before the release of "The Queen," they called themselves "lucky newcomers from the East"; after the box office success at the beginning of the weekend, they called themselves "the most promising new directors."

Now, with box office numbers continuing to rise, all the media outlets are scrambling to find new titles for him.

Ultimately, what they admire is never the director, but the captivating box office numbers.

Just then, the cell phone on the table rang.

Caller ID: Roger.

Lin Ruiyang smiled, thinking to himself that it had finally arrived. In fact, he had been waiting for this call ever since the opening weekend box office results for "The Queen" were released.

Hey, Lin.

"Rogge".

"Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner together."

"certainly."

"That Italian restaurant in Los Angeles?"

"no problem."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ruiyang looked out the window. The California summer sun was shining brightly over the entire valley, and the golden scene before him was truly delightful.

Back at CAA headquarters, Roger looked at the A-level strategic director contract on the table and took a deep breath. He was confident that Lin Ruiyang wouldn't be able to refuse such a offer; he hadn't seen anything like it in the past twelve years.

As night falls, a band plays jazz on stage at an upscale Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.

Rogge arrived half an hour early.

"5% industry bottom-line commission, package privileges with top-tier A-list directors from across the US, unconditional preferential resources for Oscar run during awards season..." Rogge silently reviewed these terms in his mind, unable to suppress the smile on his lips.

"Sorry, Roger, there's a bit of traffic on the way." Lin Ruiyang's voice interrupted Roger's thoughts.

"Oh! Lin! My dear genius!" Roger immediately rose to greet him, his obese body displaying astonishing agility.

He then stepped out of the booth and gave Lin Ruiyang an extremely warm American hug.

"Please sit down. I just ordered you the best Scotch whisky here, and your favorite truffle pasta." Roger pulled out a chair attentively, his smile so sincere it was almost honeyed.

After sitting down, Lin Ruiyang chuckled and teased, "Roger, you're being so enthusiastic tonight that it's a little scary. If I didn't know that 'The Queen's' box office was still rising, I would have thought you were planning to sell me to some independent studio."

"Hahaha, Lin, you're so funny!" Roger burst into laughter.

The waiter brought out drinks and appetizers.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, discussing everything from the overseas market for "The Queen" to Anne Hathaway's recent surge in popularity, and then to the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

When the main course was served, Roger finally felt the time was right.

He raised his glass and said with a smile, "Lin, cheers to 'The Queen'."

"Cheers to the box office!"

The two wine glasses clinked gently together.

However, just as Roger was about to get to the point, Lin Ruiyang spoke first: "Roger, what do you think of CAA?"

How are things now?

Roger paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean?"

"Literal meaning." Lin Ruiyang cut a piece of steak, appearing quite casual.

"I mean CAA...it's one of the world's largest talent agencies, one of Hollywood's most powerful resource platforms." Roger shrugged. "What else?"

Lin Ruiyang swallowed the steak in his mouth and picked up his whiskey glass, swirling it gently.

"That was ten years ago, Roger."

Roger paused slightly: "And now?"

"It's too big now, and massive often means rigid." This statement made Roger frown.

Lin Ruiyang continued, "Do you really think that Richard Lovett and Brian Lord, those capitalists sitting on the rooftop counting their money, understand film or care about art?"

Roger's expression froze instantly, and his hands gripping the knife and fork tightened instinctively. At CAA, criticizing management and the top oligarchs was an absolute professional taboo.

He glanced around warily and lowered his voice, saying, "Lin, you've had too much to drink. They are the most powerful people in Hollywood, and the most successful business promoters."

"No, they are just parasites that lie on the system and suck its blood."

When Michael Ovitz founded CAA in 1975, the packaged service was meant to help artists fight against the cold, hard studio system. But what about CAA now? It has become another, much larger bureaucratic machine.

In the eyes of this system, Michael Bay, Spielberg, or even myself, are just objects on an assembly line.

""

Roger gasped, realizing that the conversation had completely spiraled out of his control.

Lin Ruiyang continued, "Rogg, as a senior partner at CAA, you must have heard about Co-Chairman Lee Gabler's dissatisfaction with the company's current decisions, and the news that veteran agent Rick Nisita has revealed his departure after his contract expires."

Rogge's expression changed once again, because the two names Lin Ruiyang mentioned represented an unshakable old guard within CAA.

Lee Gabler is an absolute hero in the television division, while Rick Nisita is a top agent who manages a host of top stars, including Tom Cruise.

Rick Nisita, in particular, is one of the most legendary figures in the CAA. If Michael Ovitz was the founder of the CAA, then Nisita was one of the most important implementers of the CAA's golden age.

But with Richard Lovett and his younger generation taking complete control of the board, the internal power struggle over policy and the distribution of benefits had already reached a fever pitch.

But all of this was an absolute secret locked in the high-level conference room, and even a senior partner like him would find it difficult to get any information about it.

"How...how do you know all this? Who told you?" Roger couldn't help but ask.

"Nobody told me," Lin Ruiyang smiled.

"There is always more publicly available information than most people imagine, but few people are willing to piece the pieces together."

Roger fell silent, but Lin Ruiyang did not give him time to think.

"Lee Gabler felt that CAA was losing its creativity, Nisita felt that the board was becoming more and more like Wall Street, the veterans were losing their voice, while Brian Lord and others believed that the company must continue to expand."

"This is not a personal conflict; it is a conflict of policy."

"So what are you trying to say?"

Lin Ruiyang smiled and asked in return, "Rogge, how many years have you worked at CAA?"

"Twelve years."

"To become a senior partner in twelve years is impressive."

"Thanks."

"But what about twelve years from now?"

Roger didn't say anything.

Lin Ruiyang twirled some pasta with his fork, as if it were just casual conversation: "Top partner? And then what? The board of directors?"

Roger gave a wry smile: "That's basically impossible."

Why?

"Because board seats are limited, and capital is always more important than brokers."

As soon as he said it, even Roger himself was taken aback, because the words themselves already revealed a lot.

Lin Ruiyang nodded slightly: "That's the problem. What's CAA's most valuable asset?"

"Clients, projects, resources."

"Who brought these things?"

Roger didn't answer, but the answer was obvious—it was the agents, the people out there on the front lines.

"But in the end, the people who make the most money are not you, because in the system you will always just be high-paid employees, Roger."

Roger's expression was somewhat complicated, because it was the truth.

A superstar can generate tens of millions of dollars in profit for a company in a year, and a top director can bring in tens of millions of dollars in project commissions.

The real big winners are always those at the top. Senior partners are already winners, but they are still not the biggest winners.

Roger took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart.

Without beating around the bush, he pulled out a thick stack of exquisite documents stamped with a gold seal from his bag and solemnly pushed them in front of Lin Ruiyang.

"Lin, since you've brought up the system, let's use the logic of capital to discuss this new contract..." Roger's voice regained its confidence.

Lin Ruiyang didn't even look at the top-tier contract; he just listened quietly as Roger recounted his story.

"It certainly sounds like a gift from God, Roger, but you haven't mentioned the binding terms that come with it. Five years, or even longer, a deep matching clause. That means for the next five years, every film I make must use CAA first."

The entire team, including writers, actors, and behind-the-scenes personnel, was packaged together.

"If I sign it, I could indeed win a Golden Globe, even an Oscar, but I would also become a high-end commodity locked in a safe by CAA. As long as I'm in this system, my ambitions will always have to give way to the company's overall interests, which might even deprive me of the absolute freedom to lead major projects back in China in the future."

I don't want to be tied to the Hollywood assembly line for the rest of my life.

At this point, Lin Ruiyang leaned forward slightly, looking directly into Roger's eyes: "And what about you? Didn't Douglas pat you on the shoulder and tell you that as long as you secured this contract renewal, you could become a top partner next month? You worked so hard to discover me, but the lion's share of the profits you'll extract will still go towards covering the cigar bills of those financial tycoons at the top. In the end, you're nothing more than a replaceable employee."

"What...what exactly are you trying to say?!" Roger's voice was completely hoarse.

He felt that Lin Ruiyang had picked out all his deepest ambitions and resentments, word by word.

Lin Ruiyang picked up his whiskey and, across the long table, gently clinked it against Roger's untouched glass.

"bite"

"Rogge, have you ever thought about leaving CAA to go solo, or joining me to start our own business?"