Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

"Mr. Ovitz..." The owner of Ivar's Restaurant was very satisfied with the visit of the president of the famous CAA. The person who later acquired this restaurant chain made his fortune in Hollywood and was impressed by Ovitz's energy. Have full understanding.

The restaurant is having difficulty operating, and they are planning to spend money on a big advertisement to save the restaurant from less and less traffic after the aquarium is closed. But they can't afford much budget to hire big-name advertising companies.

At this time, a woman named Shelly Hochron took the initiative to contact them and said that she could tailor a marketing plan for them. Only after meeting her did I find out that this Xie Li was actually an employee of CAA.

Shelley Hochron kept silent about when CAA would start engaging in advertising business, but introduced that they could do creative work for them first, as long as they paid for the production costs of the advertising. We will discuss the creative cost later depending on the effect of the advertisement.

Just like that, a new advertisement chasing the recent hot movie "Dances with Wolves" was released, and the effect was very good. There was another queue at their restaurant. The shareholders who bought the restaurant from founder Ivar contacted Shelly Hochron and were ready to pay a creative fee.

"Gentlemen, I assume you are satisfied with the results of the advertisement?" Ovitz sat down and ate some of the green salad provided by the restaurant.

"Yes, this is the creative fee we prepared for CAA..." The boss did not expect that Ovitz would come in person this time. He took out a check, folded it and pushed it over.

"Huh?" Ovitz opened the check gracefully, and the six-digit number on it stung his eyes. Then he picked up a pen, wrote "void" on the front of the check, and pushed it back, "Gentlemen, I think we need to have a good talk..."

……

Ovitz has a charming charisma that, to those who don't know him well, comes across as a confidence that he knows his trade inside and out, like the owners of Ivar's. Under his well-reasoned explanation, they also felt that the check was too small. This ad is not a one-time thing and could become one of the restaurant’s logos, the “Clam Man”!

They are especially lucky that the boss of one of the largest brokerage companies in Hollywood can choose a company like his as a client because he wants to develop new business. Otherwise, they would not be able to hire such a master at all.

"Do you understand, Shelly? This is how business is done, take advantage of the information gap, take advantage of their ignorant worship of celebrities, first give them a good thing they have never seen before, and then ask for a bold price. Don't be afraid of asking for a high price. , if they don’t want to, just pretend to call me and say that if I come, it will be more than this price.”

Ovitz will personally train every novice once. If they fail in the future, that will be their own business.

Moreover, he has to keep this advertising business secret from other partners within CAA, otherwise he will never come forward for such a small business.

"I understand, thank you." Shelly Hochron kept nodding.

"Understood, just get on with your butt and prepare the materials." Ovitz waved his hand and asked his subordinates to quickly prepare the materials for the next customer. "Hmm...this clam is quite delicious."

Automobiles continue to march towards the latest darling of the capital market, Microsoft Corporation. This is the main reason why Ovitz came here.

Ovitz already feels that he has hit the ceiling of the industry. Even if he is the best in the agency industry and has won agency contracts with more than 50% of celebrities, he still feels that his ability can do greater things. .

The career path he originally designed for himself was to make a fortune through the acquisition of Panasonic Electric, and then strive to become the CEO of the acquired company.

But that kid came out again and made his own affairs dirty. Not only was his consulting fee reduced by half, but Panasonic's chairman no longer mentioned inviting him to serve as a senior executive of the new company. These Japanese people are all the same. If they don't want to do something, they will never mention it.

……

"I'm so angry, Balmer is such a ****"

A short time later, Ovitz returned to the car and began to curse.

Microsoft said it was a so-called high-tech company, but it turned out that their senior vice president in charge of marketing, Steve Ballmer, was simply the worst salesman, and his words were similar to those of Amway, a direct-selling company.

This man is bald. Although he is in a high-tech company, he speaks vulgarly and has a neck as thick as a boxer. Even if you say he is a debt collector from a loan company, some people will believe him.

He rejected Ovitz's proposal after just a few chats. What about celebrity endorsements and famous Hollywood directors filming commercials? We at Microsoft don’t need this.

"Boss, your secretary has called you several times for your phone number." Shelly Hochron handed over the car phone. She was also a little scared of Ovitz's angry look.

"Hello? I'm Ovitz."

"There are three gentlemen from the FBI. They said they want to verify things with you..." The secretary looked a little nervous on the other end of the phone.

"FBI? What are they going to do?"

"They said it involves state secrets and they will wait until you return to the office for an interview. Boss, please come back quickly. These people are still in the company. If a client sees it, it will be very troublesome."

"Okay, I'll be right back." A cloud of doubt arose in Ovitz's mind. What did he let the FBI know about him? Get them to come to the office? If word of this spreads, what will your customers think of CAA? "You ask a few gentlemen from law enforcement agencies to come to my office to rest, and then get me through the phone call of my lawyer."

Ovitz rushed back to Los Angeles as quickly as possible and went directly into the office. He didn't want to bring a lawyer, as if he had done something, and he planned to check it out with the FBI first.

"Hello, Mr. Ovitz. I am..." Three people from the law enforcement unit, one wearing an ordinary jacket and slightly older, took the initiative to shake hands with him.

"Hello, I don't know what the three FBI gentlemen have to do with me." Ovitz looked at the other two employees. They were wearing suits and their temperaments looked different from the older one.

"Let me introduce, these two are CIA employees. Because they do not have domestic law enforcement rights, they need an FBI employee to participate..."

"CIA?" Ovitz's heart skipped a beat. How could it be them? All the preparations I had made with the lawyer on the road were in vain.

"Hello, Mr. Ovitz. We recently noticed some remarks you made in an interview."

"Remarks, what remarks?" Ovitz stood up as soon as he heard it. As long as it's not about Israel, I'm not afraid of these people at all. The CIA is better. Anyway, you have no law enforcement power in the country. I am a citizen. What can you do to me?

"Please don't get excited, we want to ask you some questions about some of the services you provide to Japanese companies."

"I want my lawyer to be present. This is a business secret..." Ovitz became firm. America is a society governed by the rule of law. Can these people still mess around? I'll talk to a congressman, what else can you do?

"Are you sure? Very good, we'll come back tomorrow..." The two CIA agents in suits stood up and left. The FBI detective in the jacket was not so tough and stepped forward to shake his hand. "This is just a normal procedure, Mr. Ovitz, sorry to bother you. If you think of anything, call me at any time."

Ovitz shook his hand and asked him out without any pretense.

"If someone reminds you and you think of something again..." the man said one more thing before going out.

Ovitz asked him out without even looking up.

Ovitz, who felt relieved after nothing happened overnight, was stimulated again in the office the next day. Sure enough, as the FBI person said, someone from a new government department has arrived. This time it's an IRS prosecutor.

Because of his interview with the Wall Street Journal that day, the IRS believed it was necessary to verify whether the consulting fees he received from Panasonic last year were properly reported in accordance with tax law requirements.

Just like this, all kinds of people come to visit the company. Even Ron Meyer, the partner who co-founded CAA with him, couldn't help but talk to him about this matter.

"I'm pursuing Michael Douglas now, and it's time for Cher to renew her contract. Can you settle this matter as soon as possible? Don't fill the office with the power of law enforcement?"

"What should I settle? They don't know what they are here for. Just leave these matters to the lawyers." Ovitz also suspected that someone was targeting him, but he couldn't say anything now. As for the consulting fee, it was actually for him personally and had nothing to do with CAA. But it was hard for me to speak out, otherwise I would be blamed by Meyer and other senior partners.

"Why don't you ask our friend, Mr. Allen Cranston? Try to resolve this matter as soon as possible and get him, Michael." Ron Meyer walked out of the office.

"Hmph..." Ovitz punched the table. Meyer has many key clients, but he is not very ambitious and timid. When he squeezed out several other entrepreneurial partners, he could only watch his actions obediently.

But just such a person actually wants to do it by himself early today... Those cutting-edge agents in the company are becoming more and more lawless now. These self-cultivated wolves have great ambitions and appetites. Of course Meyer is harmless to them, but they actually have a good relationship...      However, Meyer's proposal does make some sense. He picked up the phone and asked his secretary to call Senator Allen Cranston's office and make an appointment with the senior senator from the Donkey Party.

"Michael, another senator from our state, Pete Wilson, is about to become governor. He has appointed a temporary senator, but he will soon face re-election. Can I expect your support?"

Senator Allen Cranston called Ovitz. The two senators in California are from the Donkey Party, but this temporary change will cause instability in the senatorial election. As a senior senator, Congressman, let Ovitz do something first. His celebrity clients who came out to support the interim senator seeking re-election were all very effective campaign tactics.

"Of course, many of my clients support the progressive Donkey Party from the bottom of their hearts. They would stand up for it without my approval."

"Hahaha..." Allen Cranston smiled heartily. He is now the whip of the Donkey Party in the Senate. He has been a senator since 1968 and has been re-elected to this day. "You know, I I have always been interested in Hollywood, and if I hadn’t been engaged in politics after retiring from World War II, I might have tried my hand at acting.”

"Haha..." Ovitz could only pretend to agree.

Allen Cranston was no ordinary veteran. He had been a journalist before the war. He was the first English translator of someone's work. He recognized the anti-Semitic tendencies of the Germans at the time and was sued by someone. Pass.

During World War II, he was also engaged in open information intelligence work in the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. After he retired, he never talked about his service experience.

"I..." Ovitz wanted to ask who he had offended.

"Listen, little guy. Your interview with the Wall Street Journal crossed a line. I have only one piece of advice for you, don't mess with the White House. This person is not a Hollywood actor. You don't need me to remind you of his background. ? Take care of yourself!"

With that said, Senator Allen Cranston hung up the phone.

"The White House? When did I mess with the White House?"

Ovitz quickly found a clip of his interview with the Wall Street Journal... and slowly searched down, finally finding the sentence they mentioned about him.

"Why don't you ask Ronald Lee?"

"I?!……"

A chill ran up his back and along his spine, and Ovitz felt himself shiver.

"Didn't you say that Ronald has no relationship with the White House? I even watched all the videos of the inauguration ceremony."

He immediately realized that he had got a crucial factor wrong. The reason why Ronald was able to steal his consulting business was not because he knew some bullshit Japanese culture, but because he knew the key people!

My talkativeness may have made the big shot behind the scenes unhappy.

Besides, he is not impeccable in the Israeli espionage case.

Alan Cranston's reminder made him completely sober. Unlike his predecessor, the current commander-in-chief was a Hollywood actor. He still had a passion for Hollywood, and he might not be able to use such private affairs to work for the powerful department.

The current commander-in-chief is the head of a powerful department. The current directors of the FBI and CIA, as well as middle-level cadres, were all his subordinates.

"Fxck!" Ovitz broke into a cold sweat. He read the report for a long time, and then asked his secretary to invite Ron Meyer.

"Ron, you have to do me a favor!"

"Oh?" Meyer was wearing a casual suit and looked harmless. It seemed that Ovitz hadn't asked his old friend for help for a long time, and now he finally thought of his old friend, with that happy smile on his face.

"The Wall Street Journal quoted me saying that I was in a hurry to go to Spielberg's party and made an offhand comment that they may have misheard."

"What do you mean?" Meyer's smile was still very warm, with a hint of inquiry.

"This is it. I wanted them to ask you, because you are in an objective position and I can't comment on my other businesses outside of CAA. But they listened."

As he spoke, Ovitz pointed to the name "Ronald Lee" on it.

"Ronald Lee, Ronald Meyer...it's kind of like...I'm going to call them, do you want a new corrected interview?"

"Oh? No, I'll tell you, and then you can call them and issue a correction, otherwise it will cause misunderstanding..." Ovitz didn't want Meyer to have the opportunity to be interviewed and be in the limelight. CAA is best remembered when it is only tied to Ovitz's name.

Three times, five times and two times solved the crisis, and Ovitz let out a sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the next day, the Wall Street Journal published a corrigendum in an inconspicuous place. And those people from powerful departments stopped harassing me after that.

Only the poor Ivar restaurant was sued by "Dances with Wolves" and is struggling to respond. Their boss also called, hoping to get back his millions in creative fees, but Ovitz refused.

Are you going to sue me if you can? Advertising Creative is only responsible for some creative content. If the basic facts you provided are wrong, what does it have to do with me if someone sues you?

Besides, this kind of small business is also used to train the team. What Ovitz has in mind is the advertising business of Fortune 500 multinational corporations.

For example: Coca-Cola.

Just as he was thinking of Coca-Cola, Ovitz received a call from the other party.

"I'm Ovitz."

"I'm Don (Keough, CEO of Coca-Cola)"

"Mr. Keogh."

"There are many objections in our marketing team. They told me that we are not opposed to you stripping advertising production from those advertising companies and giving it directly to creative personnel, but there is no need to go through an agency and you can go directly to the director. and stars.”

"Ah..." After planning for a long time, Ovitz, who had basically convinced Coca-Cola's board of directors and was preparing to take over Coca-Cola's advertising business, suddenly suffered a blow.

"But I think Coca-Cola doesn't necessarily understand what's going on in Hollywood."

"We had a happy partner before, the famous Hollywood director Ronald Lee. I have seen the effect tracking of his movies. It can be said that some of our best advertisements since the 1980s, and Pepsi's best Several advertisements were shot by him.

If you want to play a greater role here, you have to convince these people in the marketing team. "

"Pah..." Ovitz hung up the phone with a heavy thump after the other party hung up the phone.

"Ah..." He slammed the table several times, Ronald, Ronald again!

"Answer Niceta's call for me, I want to talk to him." Ovitz vented, and then had to put down his body and call CAA's partner, Ronald's agent Niceta.