America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 408 Selling People by the Pound

In the lobby of WMA headquarters in Century City, Beverly Hills, numerous partners, including Whitesell and Jim Witt, gathered to await the arrival of today's protagonist, Martin Davis, one of the company's most important actor clients.

In the lounge on one side of the hall, Thomas personally inspected Martin's attire and said, "Perfect."

Martin's face, however, carried a hint of melancholy, as if he were burdened with worries.

Thomas took a few steps back and said, "I think it's a bit too heavy."

Martin's brow relaxed slightly, and the stern expression on his face eased a little: "How about this?"

"OK!" Thomas gestured, "Perfect."

He turned to Old Bu and asked, "Old Bu, what do you think?"

Bruce looked at it carefully: "Perfect timing."

"It's already 2008." Martin walked towards the door. "I need to get ready to promote The Dark Knight."

Thomas thought to himself that his clients were definitely top-notch celebrities who were actively helping the production team attract attention.

Martin and others were inside the lounge.

On the makeshift stage in the hall, Ali Emmanuel walked up, stood in front of the microphone, and said: "At the beginning of 2008, WMA reached a crucial moment, reaching an agreement with the company's most important client to continue working together."

He raised his voice: "There's a star who, in just four years, went from a fringe actor to a top-tier star, with his salary skyrocketing from $100,000 to $15 million. Industry professionals and critics alike consider him a representative of the younger generation of acting talent! He received an Oscar nomination, achieving an artistic breakthrough, and four of his films have already grossed over $100 million in North America. His appeal is unparalleled among the new generation!"

Ali pointed to the lounge door: "Please welcome Martin Davis!"

The audience burst into warm applause.

Martin stepped out of the dressing room, waved to the crowd in the hall, and went onto the stage.

He took the microphone and said, "Thank you for the compliment, Ali, but you're exaggerating."

Having secured sufficient benefits in the actual contract, Martin doesn't mind showing his sentimental side: "I've never thought about leaving WMA. WMA was the first agency I signed with, and Thomas Lane was the first agent I signed with. He's been with me all this time, and I will continue to witness WMA's glory."

Thomas stood at the edge of the stage, the lights shining brightly on his head.

Upon hearing Martin's last words, he took a small step forward, and the responsibility of the agent naturally popped into his mind: if Martin were to leave WMA, it must be because he, the agent, had interfered and sowed discord between Martin and WMA, and it had nothing to do with Martin himself.

CAA contacted him, and he used CAA's pressure to force the company to agree to give Martin superstar treatment.

In the eyes of the company and Ali Emmanuel, Thomas was a traitor to WMA during the negotiations.

But Thomas didn't care.

Even now, as long as Martin continues to work with him, he remains a top-tier agent in the industry.

On stage, witnessed by representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, Martin signed a new three-year management contract with the WMA.

After exchanging contracts, Martin and Ali shook hands firmly, and the latter then opened his arms and gave Martin a tight hug.

Ali asked with concern, "You don't seem to be in very good spirits?"

Martin nodded: "I encountered some psychological barriers, but it's nothing serious."

"Don't ignore it," Ali cautioned. "See a doctor promptly."

This signing ceremony, which boosted the morale of the entire company, came to an end, followed by a celebratory cocktail party at noon.

Martin stepped off the stage, noticed Thomas's almost reflective forehead, went over and bumped fists with him, saying, "Congratulations, partner!"

Thomas also gained tangible benefits by taking advantage of Martin's contract renewal, becoming a partner of WMA.

Thomas had only intended to laugh, but once he opened his mouth, he couldn't stop laughing.

There was no way to contain myself; the tangible benefits I received were too numerous, and my mood was too good to bear.

But Thomas wasn't delirious; he knew where all this came from, and said, "From now on, no matter what it is, even if it means killing an enemy like Pete, just tell me and I'll do it!"

Martin shook his head and laughed, "We're all law-abiding citizens, why would we do such filthy things?"

Thomas said, "It's just a metaphor."

Martin said, "Let's go to the hotel together."

Just outside the WMA, Ali Emmanuel gave an interview to reporters and announced his contract extension with Martin.

In the new agency contract, Martin's salary includes online revenue sharing, while the agent's cut has been reduced to five percent.

In the detailed terms of offline revenue, the union mandates a revenue-sharing system where WMA no longer takes a cut from brokerage fees. During the one-year window of the film's offline market, Martin's brokerage fee for offline revenue is four percent, decreasing by one percent annually after the window ends, until it reaches zero.

These are privileges reserved for superstars.

WMA's agreement to such terms was due to the immense pressure exerted by CAA's frequent contact with Thomas. The management team, led by Alibaba, was determined not to allow CAA to poach a key client they had nurtured and who was poised to become a super-powerful company.

Furthermore, Martin himself has a strong commercial appeal.

"The Reader," which began its limited screenings in November, has expanded from single-cinema screenings to screenings in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago.

On its first weekend in North America, thanks to the availability of enough seats in independent theaters, "The Reader" grossed $3.9 per theater.

Later, the screening scale was expanded. Although the film was not very commercial, thanks to Martin's huge fan and supporter group, there were always audiences wearing red Coca-Cola cult T-shirts, filling most of the seats in the theater.

Most importantly, the film isn't particularly dull. For just a few dollars, you get to see Martin Scorsese's body, except for the most important parts, and Winslet's action scenes, which are almost completely exposed. It's definitely worth the ticket price.

The Reader has a very strong reputation, especially among Martin's fans.

Many female fans went crazy after seeing that marble-sculpted back and buttocks, flooding movie websites with positive reviews and high scores.

As for critics, films of this genre are naturally considered to have an extra star rating.

To this day, after 12 weeks of previews, the film has received incredibly high praise from both audiences and the media, with an average Metacritic score of 85 and an IMDb score of 8.4 from general audiences.

The positive word-of-mouth, while partly due to the careful management by the production team and Warner Bros., also reflects its alignment with market demands and mainstream media.

Since 2008, "The Reader" has been shown in 1566 theaters in North America, with a cumulative box office of $5589 million.

In terms of individual awards during awards season, he is a veritable trophy harvester.

Kate won eight Best Actress awards across various categories, while Martin Scorsese, who didn't personally campaign much, still took home five Best Actor awards, including the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award.

Second only to Daniel Day-Lewis's nine.

Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese has been shortlisted for the Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild Awards for Best Actor.

He has also been nominated for Best Actor in a Drama at the Golden Globe Awards, which will be presented in January.

If it weren't for Daniel Day-Lewis standing in his way, and if Martin hadn't known that the old men at the Academy were obsessed with Lewis and that messing with him would have had endless consequences, he would have already gone all out to win the Best Actor Oscar.

After attending the cocktail party at noon, Martin appeared at the latest celebration party for "The Reader" in the afternoon.

The so-called celebration party is not for the purpose of celebration, but rather to provide a formal pretext to invite many celebrities in the industry to a banquet, and to further promote the event through public relations.

After all the social engagements and networking, even someone like Martin was mentally exhausted.

I finally found an opportunity to speak with Kate Winslet, who was trying to sound cheerful.

"After I got back, I went to see Nicholson and Warren Beatty first. I have no hope of winning; a nomination is all I need." Martin had a long-term vision and wasn't in a hurry, but Kate was different. He reminded her, "Blanchett has been ignored by various preliminary awards and hasn't even received a Screen Actors Guild nomination. She's not a threat at all. This year is your best chance."

"Thank you for helping me get Blanchett sorted out ahead of time." Kate was very grateful to Martin, believing that Martin had teamed up with Nicholson to get Blanchett for her sake.

Martin didn't hold back and spoke frankly: "I have no hope of winning an award. The only hope of winning a major award is you. If you win Best Actress, the film will sell better. I signed a revenue-sharing agreement. Whether you win an award or not will affect how much I earn."

"You're putting more pressure on me," Kate said, pinching her brow. "What will you do if I don't get it?"

Martin said viciously, "I'll sell you to Africa, by the pound!"

Kate asked curiously, "Why are we calculating it by the pound?"

Kate was so angry she didn't want to talk to him.

Martin, however, easily piqued her interest: "Even though Blanchett is gone, don't let your guard down, especially be careful of the French."

Kate asked, "Marion Cotillard in 'La Vie en Rose'?"

"Yes, that's her. Keep an eye on her." In Martin's eyes, and based on the information he gleaned from Warren Beatty, Kate surpassed Marion Cotillard in terms of experience, roles, performances, reputation, and publicity. However, he remembered that this woman had apparently won an Oscar.

Kate nodded: "I'll keep an eye on her."

It's not uncommon for major Oscar awards to be upset in extremely unexpected ways.

"Don't let someone upset you; nobody will sympathize with you then, they'll just laugh at you." That bastard Martin, always trying to get more points, kept fueling Kate's fighting spirit: "Then the French might launch a new round of daily insults against Britain."

(End of this chapter)