Hollywood Road

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In this place in North America, it seems that the laws and regulations are very perfect. The government, the judiciary and various industry associations are all doing things in accordance with the law, but after all, society is composed of people, just like Bill Rossis and Carla Faith can reach privately. Like cooperation agreements that actually violate the rules, there are certain gray areas in any industry.

As Robert Downey Jr. said, even in North America, many regulations are dead, but the people who operate are alive.

"Actually, the reason Michael Ovitz came to you is very simple. You have shown enough potential now. If you can invest in his manager's company, he will definitely find a way to win you over."

It seems that Robert Downey Jr. knows this very well. He picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth. He said, "When you have a good impression of the artist management group and become dependent, they will definitely encourage you to leave CAA and stop using it in the future. broker."

"Don't use a broker?" Murphy asked questioningly. "You mean they, as managers, can act for brokers?"

"Laws and industry regulations do not allow it," Robert Downey Jr. gave an affirmative answer, "actually it is possible."

Murphy looked at Robert Downey Jr., waiting for him to give a more detailed answer.

As we all know, managers other than brokers do not need to be licensed to engage in work. However, relevant laws and regulations stipulate that managers must not engage in the activities of obtaining jobs for clients, and they must not conflict of interest with brokers.

Similarly, managers do not have the curse of contract deadlines and commission caps that are not strictly stipulated.

"Managers have a larger power space than brokers,"

It’s a rare opportunity to show off in front of Murphy. Robert Downey Jr. is a **** and said unhurriedly, “Managers can enjoy or part of the client’s work results, including being a producer. Traditionally, it’s believed that, Because the manager’s responsibility is not to get a job for the client, but to make career planning for it, there is no conflict with the broker."

Murphy put his arms around his chest and simply waited for Robert Downey Jr. to speak by himself.

The best way to deal with someone who has a stomach and wants to pour it out is to try not to pick him up. He can't hold back his mouth, and he will soon pour out the stock in his stomach.

Seeing Murphy not continuing to ask questions, Robert Downey Jr. couldn't help pinching his nose, holding up his cup and drinking.

"Did you know, Murphy? The Hollywood brokerage industry is facing huge challenges right now!"

Sure enough, Robert Downey Jr. couldn't help but start to pour out. "Nowadays brokers are more about acting for those famous clients who are already well-known and attractive. No matter how bad they are, I will look for you..."

He pointed to himself, "Or I have shown enough potential customers like this."

This is very realistic, but it is also the actual situation. If it weren't for the great progress before and after the filming of "Fruit Candies", would Bill Rossis sign Murphy? If it wasn't for "Chain Saw" to sell? Will CAA renew the brokerage contract with Murphy?

Murphy understood what Robert Downey Jr. meant, and saw that he was no longer so bad, and then said, "So, those newcomers who are not famous, seem to have little potential, and need to develop will not be favored by the agent. Managers have become a rigid demand in this part of the market?"

"That's right." Robert Downey Jr. nodded his head vigorously, but Murphy shook his head and asked, "For customers who don't have an agent, should the manager get a job for them?"

Previously, Robert Downey Jr. said that for managers, many of the so-called "problematic" customers are usually taken over, either newcomers who have just debuted, or customers who have no marketability, managers. People need to invest a considerable amount of time and funds to incubate and develop these customers, so that these customers can gradually become attractive to employers.

Therefore, managers usually need an extendable contract period and a higher commission ratio to encourage managers to develop long-term, continuous, and risky development of "problematic" customers.

This is also the reason why Murphy didn't catch much cold with Michael Ovitz's invitation, and no one wanted to accept his own income again.

"Yes, it's the manager!" Robert Downey Jr. said in a gesture, "This is the basic conflict between managers and brokers. If managers get a license, they will be limited by the contract validity period and commission caps. Customers will face huge risks; if the manager does not have a license but "gets a job" for the client, he will run the risk that the labor commissioner will cancel the contract and confiscate the income due to violation of the regulations."

He shook his head. "The facts are far from the case. As long as customers don’t report them, no one will care about them. Even if someone reports them, it’s not a problem now. Before I was arrested, the California Labor Court handled a lawsuit against a manager. In the case, the result of the penalty not only failed to deal with the defendant’s manager, but also expanded the manager’s “getting a job” boundary."

"Oh?" Murphy was interested, "What kind of punishment is it."

"In that case, the labor court set an exception for managers to obtain jobs'illegal'," Robert Downey Jr. gave the answer immediately. "As long as managers play an active role in a production project, You can bypass the restrictions of franchising and directly hire its customers, which means you can legally seek jobs for your customers!"

Murphy was a little surprised, "Can you still do this?"

Such an exception almost confirms the legitimacy of the manager’s “getting a job”.

This is too simple. Even a layman can think of a way for managers to obtain legitimacy. The law stipulates that brokers cannot directly participate in film production, but managers can, and a manager can first operate as a production crew. People or one of many producers, so that it meets the requirement of “playing an active role in a production project”, and it is legal and reasonable to seek jobs for your clients later.

I have to say that things like the law, if played around by others, will have completely different effects.

Robert Downey Jr. added, “Some managers also invest in and share in the projects of production companies, so that their influence on film projects will become very large, and they will even be able to gain dominant power. This also means some Managers and producers have enough power to develop production projects that can work for their clients without interference from other producers..."

"Of course, this will affect the interests of brokers and further amplify the conflict of interest between the two."

He shrugged, "In the past, the relationship between the broker and the manager was complementary, but now it is a competitive relationship. Basically, the situation now is that the manager can do whatever the broker can do—even more, the more More and more managers have the essence of a broker."

Murphy suddenly remembered, "I heard Bill mention it, it seems that a manager company has approached him."

"This is normal." Robert Downey Jr. was not surprised at all. "The current trend has caused a large number of brokers to flow from the brokerage company to the company of the manager's business, which in turn has further blurred the broker and There used to be a clear demarcation between managers, and many managers and manager companies are also providing customers with services that "get a job" in a practical sense."

"But the brokerage company still has its own advantages." Murphy frowned and said, "The manager company can't get the agency rights of the superstars."

"It's the case for now, but it won't always be the case." From a traditional acting family, Robert Downey Jr. is far more informed than Murphy. "It's where you and Gal Gado hide at home. During the few days of his seclusion, Michael Ovitz’s artist management company had already dealt with Robin Williams, and Robin Williams fired his agency. In the future, he will completely rely on his managers to complete the various tasks. This kind of transaction, and the artist management company has set the next goal for Leonardo DiCaprio!"

This is a super A-level customer of CAA.

Times are changing, the environment is changing, and an industry is also undergoing various changes.

From what Robert Downey Jr. said, with the blurring of managerial boundaries, many entertainment brokerage companies headed by CAA and William Morris are bound to suffer a huge impact and even lose their dominant position in the industry.

But Murphy remembers very clearly that even after ten years, CAA's market size in Hollywood has not shrunk, but continues to grow gradually, but the growth trend has become abnormally slow.

Although his knowledge of the industry is far less than that of Robert Downey Jr. who has family traditions, Murphy is not a fool. After thinking about it for a while, he figured it out.

The fundamental reason for CAA to remain strong lies in the one-stop packaged service and cross-management service!

Although the law expressly stipulates that brokers are not allowed to participate in film production, but from another perspective, the broker’s package transaction is actually a producer.

The traditional broker model is becoming more and more passive, and their income cannot be "contended" with the managers because of the blocking of the commission ceiling. The one-stop package service has broken through this limitation. The package transaction is actually similar to the production, although Brokers were banned by the union from becoming producers, but they were not banned from packing clients together for trading.

Murphy expressed his thoughts, but Robert Downey Jr. was not surprised. He said naturally, "This is another conflict of interest between the broker and the manager. This kind of packaged transaction makes the broker actually become a system. The filmmaker will affect the manager's production mode, and of course there will be conflicts of interest."

When Robert Downey Jr. said this, Murphy has fully understood that the one-stop packaged service is so respected by the brokerage company, not only can attract customers and earn more profits, but also in the competition of managers. Continue to maintain your position in the industry.

Moreover, CAA's multiple brokers' cross-cutting management services to customers does not only increase the cost of job-hopping. This integrated service from work to life to special opportunities is also a manager's job under the cloak of a broker. .

Use packaged services and integrated services to attract customers, master upstream resources, and obtain higher profits-"brokers" dressed in the cloak of managers forced them to be managers in the cloak of brokers. This is the moment A true portrayal of Hollywood's brokerage industry.