Birth of an actor

Only one day later, Li An called William and said that he would treat him to coffee.

Although he didn't say what to talk about, Li An's tone was very solemn.

William agreed, and at the same time, he had some not-so-optimistic guesses about his prospects in "Brokeback Mountain". Li An asked William back to talk about things so soon, it is unlikely that he wanted to open up and prepare to compromise, but it seemed to be a showdown.

Facts have proved that William's words came true, and when he met Ang Lee again, he was really dismissed by the director.

Of course, Ang Lee expressed it very tactfully. He reiterated the differences between the two on the concept of film creation, and expressed his biggest worry-he was afraid that the film would become William Brand in the end. Lee's Brokeback Mountain, not Ang Lee's.

This kind of worry cannot be dispelled by verbal promises alone, unless William is willing to sign a series of supplementary terms with Ang Lee - to respect the other party's complete creative freedom, not to interfere in the filming of the film, and to give the other party the final edit of the film Quan and so on—otherwise, during the cooperation period, Ang Lee may not be able to make movies with peace of mind, and he will always worry that his works will be tampered with.

That's right, William can push the boat forward and agree to these terms, give Li Ang a reassurance, and relieve the other party's worries. The two can continue to cooperate as if there is no such dispute.

But the problem is that they have all passed the stage of making movies to make a living. Movies are not only careers, but also carry ambitions, pursuits and even dreams. What's the point of continuing to cooperate?

"I can resign, as long as I can find a replacement actor." William didn't say anything particularly firm, he still wanted to wait for Ang Lee to clarify his attitude, whether he wanted to replace the leading actor, or was he looking for room for further negotiations. "If we re-audit now, will there be too much time?"

"Actually, there is no need for another audition..." Li An replied with a complicated expression and some hesitation. Judging from the unconscious grasping movements of his fingers on his knees, he seemed a little nervous, but he finally looked directly at Looking into William's eyes, he said: "Among the actors who have already auditioned, there are just the right ones."

"I see." William nodded, took a sip of coffee, and was not overly surprised.He is increasingly a master of understatement in dealing with all kinds of news, good or bad.Ang Lee has even considered the candidate actors, so it is a matter of course for him to resign from "Brokeback Mountain".

The two quickly agreed on the replacement of the starring role. However, William will no longer play the role, which does not mean that he has nothing to do with "Brokeback Mountain". The cooperation between Willlot and Focus Pictures will continue, and his Producer status also remains.

The most troublesome problem of changing the leading role has been resolved, and Willlot's investment in "Brokeback Mountain" and his co-production status have also remained the same. Ang Lee suddenly felt much happier, and began to talk to William about James Shaw. Some proposals from James, for example, Universal and Miramax want to participate in the film production.

William's reply was that he welcomes cooperation with Universal, but Miramax is not.He even said bluntly to Ang Lee: "Harvey Weinstein is a full-fledged businessman. A director with a strong literary and artistic temperament like you is not suitable to find him as his boss. In fact, among all the directors who have worked with Weinstein, he is also Only Quentin Tarantino has been given full respect."

William seldom commented on a person like this behind his back. The reason why he said this today is to remind Ang Lee that Weinstein is known as "Harvey Scissorhands" in Hollywood.How did this name come about?Miramax produces a large number of art films every year, some of which are self-produced, and the other is imported overseas art films, but without exception, they must first go through under the hands of Harvey Weinstein.Films imported from overseas will be re-edited and commercialized only after conforming to the North American film grading system and market tastes. Self-made films will also be edited by an editor who has won the Oscar for Best Editing Award, and the cut will be more in line with the aesthetic taste of the academy judges. piece.

In other words, although Harvey Weinstein has made a large number of art films, he is not a real literary worker. In Weinstein's heart, art exists to win trophies and honors. The box office is the only criterion for testing the success of a commercial film." This principle has the same effect.

As for why Quentin Tarantino became the only exception, it is probably because of his violent temper on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can only be said that Harvey Weinstein also has a favorite or even a favorite director—Wayne Stein has publicly praised Quentin countless times as "the greatest and most talented director in the world today"—and is willing to make an exception.

If Ang Lee wants to make a movie whose core is entirely his, it is best not to cooperate with Weinstein, because at Miramax, the final editing rights will always belong to Harvey Weinstein.

"I didn't even think about making a movie for Miramax in the past." I was warned not to cooperate with the powerful Weinstein. If I were replaced by some directors, I might dismiss it and even suspect that William had ulterior motives, but Ang Lee But I understand that this is indeed a good intention.

After thinking about it, Ang Lee also said sincerely: "I have heard many friends talk about Weinstein, and I also know some of his temper and personality. We are indeed not the same kind of people. And to be honest, he is very popular among Asian filmmakers. It has a bit of a bad reputation.”

William was a little curious: "Because of what?"

"Using the scissors directly on obscure and difficult movies, the result is that the director's foreshadowing was cut off, which is one reason why the film is so bad. Hong Kong movies are better, but Japanese filmmakers are more unlucky. Even Hayao Miyazaki has had movies that were rejected. Unfortunately, when he sold "Princess Mononoke" to Miramax, he even sent Weinstein a samurai sword as a warning." Ang Lee recalled the rumors he had heard from his friends: "Still Buying a large number of films cheaply in a packaged way, but not showing them at all, just releasing the videotapes, and signing purchase contracts with some well-known local film companies or directors on the grounds that they will help win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, But when the film was about to be completed, the price was suddenly lowered, and the contract was terminated if he disagreed... In short, Weinstein's reputation in Asia is much worse than his reputation in Hollywood. Many people think that he is a movie broker, not a Filmmaker."

Hollywood is the world's film center, and various film-related industries are extremely developed, and internal competition is already very fierce. If films from other countries and regions want to enter the North American market, they must either sell their copyrights directly or cooperate with local film companies, and they will lose This gives companies like Miramax the opportunity to pick and choose.

European films with the same historical origin and religious and cultural background are treated better. Unless Asian and South American films are extremely scarce in the North American market—for example, Bruce Lee’s martial arts action films opened a door to a new world for North American audiences. However, the Hollywood studios with strong imitation ability quickly produced similar genre films—otherwise, the cultural rebellion against Hollywood would always be just a joke. On Sunset Boulevard, the original group of people still made the film rules.

William and Ang Lee spent some time discussing how Harvey Weinstein treated foreign filmmakers unfairly and exploitatively, and when the current power structure and rules of the game in Hollywood will change.

The conclusion is that unless there is a new form of film -- as HBO's series has subverted people's concept of traditional TV dramas, shaken the status of the five major public television networks, and successfully established itself as one of the six major stations -- otherwise No matter how successful the emerging film company is, it can only become the next Miramax or the next Willot, and it will not threaten the status of the Big Seven.Of course, if you follow the example of the Japanese and spend money directly, copying Sony’s model of buying Columbia in the late 80s to acquire a film group, then that’s another story.

Following this topic, William also talked about streaming movies, but this concept is too novel now, and even Ang Lee, who is keen to try new things, thinks it is a bit too bold and risky.

Although William and Ang Lee are very relaxed and happy when discussing these topics, is it necessary to talk about them all the time?Of course it is not necessary.The reason why they did this was simply to use some new topics to divert the previous embarrassment. They couldn't just say that the cooperation was interrupted, and then immediately walked away.

Whether it is William or Ang Lee, they are trying to maintain a friendly atmosphere, no matter whether they cooperate or not, they support and respect the other party's decision.

In fact, William specially asked Ang Lee to have dinner at Mr. Chow's restaurant and was photographed by the media. It was also because of this consideration that he and Ang Lee had a good personal relationship through the news. If the cooperation failed in the end, everyone People understand that all negotiations on "Brokeback Mountain" were carried out in a friendly and peaceful state. Even if they no longer cooperate, it is because of differences in ideas or inappropriate schedules, so as to avoid too much brainstorming by the media and create a lot of divisions and disagreements. The scandal came out.

After all, "Brokeback Mountain" was first known to the public because of William's participation. He is the number one actor known to everyone. His sudden decision to withdraw may make some people speculate whether there is any ulterior motive in it.The media will be excited like a group of flies that have found a seam egg, endlessly harassing William, Ang Lee and other crew members, and bringing huge public opinion pressure to the actors who will replace William. These negative factors will undoubtedly affect the film’s success. The successful completion is also what Willot, the producer and investor, does not want to happen.

By the time the coffee had died down, the topic of the two had turned from other topics, and they naturally talked about how to release the news of the replacement of the leading role, what reasons to use, and how to deal with public relations, etc., and quickly reached an agreement. consensus.

William looked at his watch. There was still time to go to the agent's office. He stood up and said goodbye to Ang Lee: "I won't be attending the script rehearsal in three days' time. Let's decide on the leading role as soon as possible. See you at the producer meeting."

At any time and any place, William Bradley can become the biggest luminous body. When he is sitting and drinking coffee, people dare not come forward to disturb him, but they will pretend to turn around and glance around inadvertently, and turn their heads to get excited with their companions. Whispering "That's right! It's him!", when he got up to leave, people would chase his back with their eyes, and only started whispering to their companions when they were out of sight.

William's departure took away the last bit of attention from other customers to Li An. The coffee shop returned to calm after boiling for a while. Li An was about to leave, but suddenly he didn't want to leave immediately. It was already cold to the touch. cup, he called the waiter, ordered another cup of coffee, then looked ahead and fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Li An felt indescribably complicated in his heart, both feeling lost and relieved.

From seeing the script of "Brokeback Mountain" for the first time, Ang Lee knew that if the story of this theme wanted to be successfully filmed and released in Hollywood, it was destined to encounter many obstacles and pressures. He and James Shams Those futile efforts to run around also confirmed this point.

So from the very beginning, they positioned "Brokeback Mountain" as a literary film for a small audience. James Shams was purely holding the idea of ​​fulfilling his wish, and he must make this film that has been wandering in Hollywood for many years and has no one. The script that the studio was willing to take over was filmed, and Ang Lee wanted to ease the trauma caused by the failure of "The Incredible Hulk" by repositioning his own film style, in addition to being really moved by the script. It is not extravagant to win awards as high as the box office can be - of course, the story of "Brokeback Mountain" is very suitable for the taste of the European market, so you can also try to participate in European film festivals and see the progress of post-production. It is best to catch up with Cannes Or the Venice Film Festival.

William appeared just when Focus Pictures needed help the most. His investment and starring directly sent "Brokeback Mountain" from obscurity to the list of Hollywood's most watched new films - after all, this can be watched by William Bradley on the script!

William Bradley's vision of film selection is a puzzle that countless film actors are eager to know but are struggling to solve. Most of his works are win-win works with achievements in both commercial and artistic fields. The box office is Waterloo, but it is popular in overseas markets, and it is also very popular. Some movies are indeed not good at the global box office, but they have won countless awards after turning around.At the end of each film, there is not a bad film, and no one can tell whether these films have made William Bradley or William Bradley has made these films.

At first, Ang Lee thought that it was great luck to meet William Bradley in "Brokeback Mountain", but later he discovered that everything has two sides-too much The attention and too much controversy made Ang Lee, who had never entered the inner circle of Hollywood, feel at a loss. The film has not officially started, and he can't use the filming as an excuse to hide in Canada to find a clean.Still, it probably wouldn't matter even if filming had already started, the Rocky Mountains would be filled with swarms of media reporters, and maybe even helicopters.

To be honest, as a Chinese director, Ang Lee, like Alfonso Cuaron and other foreign directors, pursues a low-key code of conduct. He prefers to make a good film in obscurity, and never wants this state of attention lasts too long.What's more, even his hometown Taiwan is now hyping up his cooperation with William Bradley, and the theme of "Brokeback Mountain" has complicated the mainstream media's emotions. Ang Lee's younger brother is discussing with him to buy it in advance When "Brokeback Mountain" was released in Taiwan, he also casually complained why he couldn't cooperate with William Bradley in a movie with other themes, which would make more money.

All this made Li Ang, who is naturally shy and shy, a little at a loss. Now that the cooperation is no longer possible, his first reaction was to breathe a sigh of relief, secretly happy that he was finally able to escape the stress and regain peace.However, after the sensibility, Ang Lee, who returned to rationality, couldn't help but recall the few shots William took during the audition, which fit as if the character came out of the book. It can be imagined how eye-catching it would be on the big screen. gorgeous……

Did I make a wrong decision?Such a thought suddenly crossed Li An's mind, but he shook his head immediately, and put aside all his thoughts.Maybe there is no way to have the best of both worlds, Li An can only think so.

……

Hollywood's professional brokerage industry has been surging in recent years. Among the five major brokerage companies, WMA has suddenly turned from prosperity to decline after another group of senior brokers left. The three companies ICM, UTA, and Endeavor have been developing fairly well, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Seeing that WMA, which has been a leader in the industry for more than 100 years, finally no longer dominates one side, the three companies have not yet started to compete for territory. CAA has already He sharpened his sword and jumped out, announcing that he was going to be the new boss.

Of course, CAA has the capital to say this. CAA, which has been established for 30 years, not only has the most shining star lineup, but also the first signing model that packages directors, actors and production staff to the studio, and N brokers The resource sharing business model of serving one client has directly led the development of the Hollywood brokerage industry.However, it is not so easy for CAA to sit firmly on the first place by virtue of these, because it also faces a strong threat from IAA.

Although IAA is younger and has only been established for more than five years, the founders of this agency, Amon Goffman and Ali Emanuel, are both gold medal agents who have been in Hollywood for many years. They left WMA together to co-organize IAA. The experience of several years is as legendary as Michael Ovitz's departure in 1975.

IAA has had a mature brokerage team since its inception. Amon Goffman and Ali Emanuel are both Jews. They not only have natural advantages in Hollywood development, but also have deep network resources in Wall Street, Silicon Valley and even the White House. .

Moreover, when Michael Ovitz led CAA to start from scratch, few superstars were willing to transfer contracts for him. The entire film packaging business was accepted by major studios only after early and difficult sales. From the very beginning, it has contracts with several superstars such as William Bradley, which has a strong appeal to the new generation of actors. It also cooperates closely with Willot, almost taking off with each other's rocket speed.

Most importantly, among the stars signed by IAA in recent years, there are not only promising directors such as Christopher Nolan and Alfonso Cuaron, but also Chris Evans, Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Alba, a sweetheart actor who is extremely popular with American audiences, and European actors such as James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender who are unexpectedly suitable for the North American market.

In stark contrast to IAA, the development of CAA in recent years has been a bit slow. Although CAA holds the most superstar contracts, most of them are veteran superstars who have been famous for many years. On the other hand, although most established superstars still have top status and fame, it is embarrassing that their market appeal is declining year by year, and the films they have produced in recent years are often empty-handed.

What is more puzzling to CAA is that CAA has ten times more talent scouts than IAA. Why are some of the most promising newcomers in Hollywood being scouted and signed by IAA?

In Hollywood, business models are imitable, and customers represent the future.The cake in the film and TV industry has been almost divided. If CAA wants to take the lead, it has to find new business. Therefore, CAA has taken a fancy to the competitive sports industry. The American sports industry has maintained a strong growth momentum in recent years. Player salaries It is rising steadily, and the live broadcast of sports events is also a big business worth billions of dollars, and the profits are very considerable.

Soon, CAA recruited some well-known athletes and agents through poaching, and began to establish a sports agency business. WMA, ICM, UTA, Endeavor and other brokerage companies also joined in unwillingly. The five major brokerage companies quickly shifted their battlefields and started fierce competition among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States.As for IAA, it took a different approach, considering agency corporate clients, or opening a branch office in Silicon Valley to help celebrities in the technology circle act as brokerage business.

The flames of war among brokerage companies are rife, and the momentum of gunpowder has not only become the favorite topic of discussion in the industry recently, but even the studios are very interested. HBO plans to produce a TV series featuring Hollywood actor managers as the protagonist, and will also invite a large number of stars. The guest appearance has received high attention from the industry and widespread interest from the audience in the previous market research, and the pilot episode is currently being filmed.

When William arrived at the IAA, Amon Goffman was in "that Amon" state, throwing a tantrum for some reason, and terrified the rest of the office area to tremble.

Seeing William, everyone showed the expression of seeing the savior, especially the trembling assistant Eric, the young man was so surprised that he almost breathed out.

"Did something happen?" William stood by Eric's desk and glanced into the glass wall behind him. Amon Goffman happened to be looking down at the documents, and he hadn't noticed William coming yet.

Eric looked like he wanted to gossip, but he didn't dare to gossip too much: "Ammon has brought an actress for many years, the one who acted in NBC's medical drama that became popular in the past two years, and was poached by CAA. And The agent who dug her was Amon's sworn enemy, Brad Pitt's agent Anthony Curry."

Although Eric had already lowered his voice, his voice still caught the attention of Amon Goffman. The Jewish manager looked up angrily, and when he saw William who was about to knock on the door, he forced his luck to suppress his anger went back.

William walked into the agent's office, pulled out a chair and sat down.Eric saw the opportunity to deliver twice the amount of coffee, then turned around and left, with a feeling of rejoicing in his escape.

"I heard that you have been pried into a client?"

"Eric told you? He is a gossip queen." Amon Goffman sipped his coffee, shrugged and said, "It's not really an important client, but I have taken her for many years and picked her up for two This is a hit longevity drama, and we were talking about a movie, but now we can save this effort."

Speaking of this, the Jewish agent showed a cold smile: "I like the sentence in Martin's book very much, 'If you have a debt, you must pay it'. It happened to be the development of Nicole Kidman in the past two years after winning the Oscar. It's not going well, except for "Cold Mountain", which is a bit of a splash, several other movies have hit the rocks, and it is obvious that there is something wrong with the script CAA chose for her. I want to dig her in. The lion does not often stretch its paws, and it will be misunderstood Recognized as a cat."

"A question: Since I have cooperated with you for many years and still have a movie to shoot, why was it poached by CAA?",

"She has always been very interested in sports, and CAA is now aggressively developing sports agency business, promising to help her create a sports apparel brand named after herself, which will be sold in major stadiums in North America. She likes this idea very much. Of course, she came to me before deciding to sign a contract with CAA, and showed me the brand plan, saying that if I could give a similar plan, she would choose to reject CAA and renew my contract, but I satirized her There is no future prospect for the sports apparel brand plan.”

"Your tone must have been mocking."

"No."

"There must be, Ami, I understand you. And when you relayed the story just now, your expression already showed obvious disgust."

"...or more or less." Jewish brokers made no secret of their attitude: "Brokers are never meant to please people. Our duty is to rationally plan their careers for our clients and help them do what is most beneficial. It's a choice of culture. Besides, I don't consider her a friend, not everyone is like you."

"What do you mean like me?"

"I generally divide customers into two categories." Amon Goffman raised his hand, cut the air in front of him in half, pointed to the left and said, "You." Then he pointed to the right, "And people other than you .”

"I never thought that I have such a high status in your heart." William was a little moved: "To be honest, Amy, I am very touched."

"If you are moved, don't always create 'surprises', and be more considerate of me, a middle-aged man." Amon Goffman still remembers the fact that William almost participated in a protest speech and shouted for affirmative action. That was really close to coming out Only one step away, there is "Brokeback Mountain", which makes him even more headache. "Those street shots with Leonardo are good. He is very close to you, until it does not arouse any suspicion, and it can reduce Roderick's sense of existence."

"Uh..." William asked hesitantly, "How do you define surprise?"

This rhetorical question made the smile on Amon Goffman's face gradually freeze: "Will, you don't happen to have something to tell me, do you?"

"Yes."

"Is it a notice, or a discussion?"

"Actually, before coming here, I met Li An and made a decision—"

"Wait." Amon Goffman interrupted William with his hand, first pushed away the easily broken cup, then took out an inhaler from the drawer and put it at hand, finally turned the chair around, and closed his eyes He took a long, deep breath, and then turned around: "I'm ready, you can speak now."

Is it that exaggerated?William took a sip of his coffee in a smug manner.However, he also knows that when the agent meets him and wants to talk about things now, he acts like an enemy. In fact, it is because he has created too many "surprises" for the other party before, so that he almost formed a conditioned reflex up.

Well, William is not going to keep it any longer, he simply said: "I want to quit. (Iwantout)"

"No!" Although he had already made enough mental preparations, Amon Goffman almost exploded on the spot. With his hands on the table, he squeezed out words one by one from his teeth: "I will never agree! I swear to death be opposed to!"

Before William could react, the Jewish manager yelled at his rear again: "Get out!" His expression was utterly ferocious.

To be honest, this attitude scared William a little.

No need to look back, from the stumbling footsteps behind him, William can imagine the whole process of Eric from poking his head to listen to gossip, to being found yelling and fleeing.

"When did you become so optimistic about Li An?" William asked cautiously.Didn't Amon not like him playing "Brokeback Mountain" all the time? Now that he wants to quit, he thought his agent would be very happy. Why does he seem to be very resistant?

"What does that have to do with him?"

"You object to me quitting "Brokeback Mountain", isn't it because you suddenly discovered that Ang Lee is very talented?"

"..."

In just a few seconds, William found that his agent experienced several emotions such as sullen, dazed, awakened, and surprised. The expressions were rich enough to make a set of GIFs.

"I thought the exit you were talking about meant coming out of the closet." Amon Goffman touched his face, which had changed too much and almost cramped, and said with relief.

"...It's my fault." Only then did William realize that his too brief statement had caused a lot of ambiguity. He explained the differences between himself and Li An very sorry, and emphasized: "Although I don't act "Brokeback Mountain", but this project still belongs to Willot, I also support and hope that this movie can be made well, so when announcing the reason to the public, you may need to think more carefully, find the most suitable reason, and avoid The media continued to speculate and hype, which brought too much trouble to the crew."

"It's simple, and the best reason is the schedule conflict! Isn't the "Harry Potter" series not yet finished filming? It's fine to just announce that it conflicts with the filming time of this film. If there is no filming of this series in the near future The plan can also be said to be in conflict with your new movie." Regarding William's concerns, Amon Goffman gave a solution without thinking, which was as simple as drinking water for him: "There are no new movies. You can also make new movies, and I can get you involved with the new works of several big directors at any time, Woody Allen or Ridley Scott? Presumably they are also happy to spread rumors with you."

William thought about it.

The bad news of William was good news for Amon Goffman, he continued to add very relaxedly: "You know, Will, I had prepared a supplementary agreement for you in "Brokeback Mountain" In ", the degree of nudity and physical contact with other actors has been restricted in all directions. There are about 30 clauses. The lawyer is making the final revision. Although it is not used now, I feel very happy, thank you God, the old man finally heard my prayer!"

"You thanked too early, Amy, God may not have heard your prayers." William cleared his throat, and said, "Actually, I think your supplementary clause still has its place-it's just a new one I wanted to make my own LGBT-themed movie."

The Jewish manager's smile gradually froze.