America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 350 Drawing a Pie in the Sky

In the office, Thomas looked straight at Ari Emmanuel, one of the top figures in the WMA, and had the illusion that they were on equal footing.

He immediately corrected his thinking; this was not an illusion!

Thomas was very clear that he was no longer an individual, but represented Martin.

Given Martin's current momentum, he and his partner would be VIPs at any brokerage firm.

Ali asked, "What does Martin need? Just say it."

Thomas touched his bald forehead, and his words remained quite polite: "Isn't it a bit too conservative for the company to upgrade Martin to a Tier 2 client?"

Ali cautioned, "Martin joined WMA before even completing his first three-year contract. Above him are only two levels: Tier 1 clients and super-large clients. But human demands and desires have no limits."

Thomas disagreed: "But Martin deserves better treatment at the company. Of all the actors born in the 1980s in Hollywood, he's the only one who can truly carry a film on his own!"

Alibaba is still deep in thought, weighing the pros and cons.

Thomas offered a reminder: "This is the final year of Martin's three-year brokerage contract."

The Entertainment Act's clause, which limits contracts to a maximum of three years, is a source of great frustration for agencies, yet they are powerless to change it. Ali, unable to alter this reality, stated, "I need you to guarantee that Martin will continue to sign with WMA."

Martin has an excellent image, not only in terms of acting fees, but also in terms of commercial appeal.

Ali glanced at Thomas, but held back some of his words.

He could tell that Thomas was more aligned with Martin's position than with WMA.

Thomas understood this very well: clients are the foundation of a broker's business.

Once you miss out on a client like Martin, you might never meet another one like him in your lifetime.

"I can guarantee that," Thomas said, then felt a pang of unease. Having secured benefits for his clients, he also needed to consider his own interests, adding, "My compensation at the company..."

Alibaba already had a plan: "You move up from the mixed office downstairs, choose a senior broker office, and all your benefits will be upgraded to the senior broker level."

Thomas turned his head, and his figure was vaguely reflected in the glass curtain wall, his hair becoming increasingly thin.

He demanded more than that, tentatively asking, "What about a partner?"

Ali frowned slightly and said, "It's too early to talk about partnerships now. Martin isn't a superstar yet, and you don't have two A-list clients, so you'll have to wait."

After politely declining, he made a grand promise: "Once Martin becomes a superstar, the company will invite you to become a partner without you even having to ask."

Thomas didn't expect to become a partner overnight; instead, he was simply offering a heads-up to the company and giving it a heads-up.

If employees aren't proactive in improving their compensation, how can they expect the company to be proactive?

Thomas added, "I will facilitate Martin's contract renewal with the company."

Ali nodded and said, "All project resources in the company are open to Martin. You can take him to the resource management room later."

Thomas acknowledged the order, said goodbye, and left the office. He saw Martin making a phone call not far away and waited for a while.

After Martin finished his call, he returned and asked, "Did the talk go well?"

"I'm a senior agent now." Thomas walked forward, pointed to the actual private office upstairs, and said, "I can move in tomorrow."

Martin said, "Congratulations."

Thomas, brimming with confidence, his bald forehead radiating the allure of money, said, "Tongxi, you're now a top-tier client of the company. The next step is super-VIP treatment."

He proactively stated his position: "If you renew your contract with the company at the end of this year, I will negotiate a 5% commission for you."

Martin also stated, "We are the best partners."

Thomas asked, "Any other urgent matters to attend to today?"

"No," Martin asked. "What good news?"

Thomas led the way: "Tier 1 clients have the authority to view all projects and roles currently collected by WMA."

A few minutes later, the two went down to the first floor and entered a conference room.

Thomas exchanged a few words with someone, and the eight assistants in the mailroom immediately got to work.

Martin sat on the sofa, watching these people busy themselves.

Someone opened their laptop and connected it to the projector in the conference room.

Someone brought the script from the production company and placed it on the conference table.

Some people also compiled a plan and related instructions to accompany the script, so that Martin could refer to them at any time.

Everyone was serving Martin, as if Martin were their god.

Thomas only needed to stay by Martin's side and wait.

Martin said in a low voice, "Three years ago, when we were reviewing the company's scripts, some of them were completely unavailable. The ones we could see were the ones that others had rejected, and we had to print and copy them ourselves."

Thomas also thought about the three-year period: "Back then, I was crammed into the lobby to work; I didn't even have an office."

Martin encouraged him, "Next, we should strive to stand at the top of the circle."

Thomas was full of enthusiasm: "It definitely will."

Soon, an assistant approached and asked, "Mr. Davis, shall we begin now?"

Martin nodded: "Let's begin."

Another assistant opened a laptop, and the projector projected the image onto the screen, which was a summary of all the project catalogs and roles recently received by WMA.

Within WMA, the mailroom has a dedicated person responsible for following up and updating the latest information on each project or role in a timely manner.

For example, if a director is just selected for a project, the WMA database must be updated with the relevant information on the same day.

Martin saw the names or code names of many film projects, some of which he recognized.

"First place, third," Martin said directly. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, give the relevant information to Thomas."

A female assistant immediately took the relevant documents and handed them to Thomas.

Martin continued reading and came across titles he remembered, such as "Justified Murder," "Midnight in Barcelona," and Roland Emmerich's "1 BC."

There's also The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

Thomas saw it too and said, "I was playing golf with Barry Mayer and Alan Horn the other day. Alan Horn offered you a role in the sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but I turned it down."

Martin stated directly, "I reject all similar teen idol movies and toilet humor comedies."

Given his current status, taking these kinds of photos would lower his image.

Thomas thought for a moment and then said, "Alan Horn also mentioned a big project with an investment of over $1.8 million. It's not Batman, but he didn't go into details. He just said that he would talk to you about it once the script was finalized."

Martin said, "I'll say after I've read the script."

Thomas knew he had no say in project and role selection, so he said no more.

Martin's attention fell on "1 Years Before the Park," which, if he remembered correctly, was another terrible book.

I remember someone saying in my past life that Roland Emmerich, even without disaster films, is a disaster in himself.

Having looked through the entire table of contents and carefully read through the synopsis, Martin didn't discover anything new besides "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

Martin told Thomas to put the relevant documents away and asked, "Is that all?"

"That's all for now," Thomas explained simply. "This is part of the projects we're currently recruiting actors for. Some companies and projects may not be planning to work with WMA, or the main actors may be pre-selected, and public auditions are just a formality. Others are sending out invitations directly to relevant actors for auditions without publicly recruiting, so they won't be included in our database."

He said, "Every year, nearly a thousand projects are planned in the industry, but only about 20% or 30% can be included in the WMA database."

Martin nodded. "Let's go."

Afterward, the two went to Thomas's office to study "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

Based on the novel of the same name, the film is directed by David Fincher and co-produced by Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, with an expected investment of no less than $6000 million.

Martin has seen all of David Fincher's films, and he remembers that the male and female leads in this one were Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

Now, Pete is out of the question.

How did this film do at the box office? Martin doesn't remember, he only knows that the film was very famous, and even one of Fincher and Pitt's representative works.

Thomas cautioned, "Finch's new film, Zodiac, reportedly received lukewarm reception at its internal screenings, and it will be released in March."

Martin said, "You contacted the production team and initially expressed your desire to work with them."

Thomas asked, "What about the pay?"

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it normally."

With the box office success of "Limitless," it's normal for Martin Scorsese to now ask for around $1300 million in salary.

It's not a simple art film. Thomas wouldn't even bother negotiating with anyone offering less than $1200 million in salary. If someone were to inquire about his price, his asking price for Martin would be $1500 million.

The new commercial endorsement is priced at $1000 million.

The box office success of "Limitless" showed Hollywood a brand new film production model, and many producers began to study how to allow the audience to get more involved in the characters.

The original author, Alan Grylls, resigned from Empire magazine to become a full-time writer and screenwriter, and Hollywood producers practically wore out his doorstep trying to contact him.

Alan Grylls' novel "Winterland" has become a focal point of competition among major production companies.

Successful people never lack followers.

Meanwhile, "Limitless" spent its third weekend in North American theaters. Despite the impact of the Super Bowl weekend, the film maintained a steady performance, taking in another $1758 million in North America, bringing its total North American box office to $1.12 million.

Another film starring Martin Scorsese has grossed over $100 million at the North American box office!

The film continues to expand its screenings overseas, and its global box office has already surpassed $2 million.

Many Hollywood production companies and projects have turned their attention to Martin.

Warner Bros. has made a fortune from films starring Martin Scorsese over the years, and other companies naturally want to join in.

For investors, celebrities who can generate high profits are the most desirable targets, and they are not stingy with offering high salaries as long as the profits are high enough.

After Thomas contacted the production team of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Alan Horn and his team found Martin.

(End of this chapter)