Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1586: Seeing Myself Twenty Years Ago
"So, you and Ron come to Universal MCA, and I agree to all your terms. That's it. This negotiation has dragged on for too long, so let's finalize this matter today."

"Ha, Edgar, today is a very good day. Come on, Ron, let's open the champagne and celebrate..."

Ovitz was very happy and told Ron Meyer to open the champagne. Meyer quietly went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of 1985 Krug champagne that had been prepared long ago.

This wine is different from the Louis Roederer Cristal champagne or Dom Perignon often used in Hollywood celebrity parties. It is more suitable for celebrations in business occasions and was prepared by Ovitz long ago for this negotiation.

"Tchin-tchin!" Bronfman Jr. toasted in French, the official language of Montreal, Quebec, where Seagram made its fortune.

"Tchin-tchin!" Ovitz and Mayer were not used to toasting in French at first, but as they were both agents, they quickly adjusted themselves and everyone was in a good mood.

"Mary, prepare a memo. I have something important to announce to everyone tonight... In addition, there will be a party tonight. All employees can come and attend. The catering will be prepared according to the highest standards of celebrities. I don't have many opportunities to party with them."

After seeing Bronfman Jr. off and getting into his limousine, Ovitz told his secretary to get ready so that in the evening he and Mayer could say an informal farewell to all CAA employees.

When the news reached the outer offices, most of the partners, known as "young Turks," smiled their faces, especially those who had obtained bank loans of varying amounts through Richard's introduction. Seeing that their dreams of many years would come true in just one day and they would become formal partners with shares, they happily returned to the office and started making phone calls.

However, the lower-level employees, that is, the ordinary agents who make up the vast majority of CAA, all looked worried. They were not informed of what Ovitz would announce, but in connection with the recent rumors, everyone felt that Ovitz was likely to leave.

The main difference between these regular agents, and trainee agents, and those young Turks is that they haven't signed a real Hollywood star.

Their chances of further advancement in CAA, or in the agent industry, actually depend largely on Ovitz. Either their current agent is brought in by Ovitz to join the next big production package agreement and become famous overnight, or Ovitz makes them the junior agent of a star in the regular rotation.

If Ovitz leaves, it is a question whether the big studios will continue to rely on and fear CAA as before. After he leaves, CAA's current big-name clients will surely become the "feudal" territory of many agents, and there will undoubtedly be fewer opportunities for stars to rotate agents.

"Hey, they made a deal."

Richard was holding the phone in his office, his voice a little depressed. Of course, the person he was calling was Ronald. If Ovitz could reach an agreement with Bronfman Jr., then he and Mayer would be the CEO and deputy of the new Universal MCA, just like their roles in CAA.

By then, with the resources of Universal Pictures, even though CAA is no longer in Ovitz's hands, Richard and his team will still be subject to his control to a certain extent. Not to mention that they will become Ovitz's second party, Richard can imagine the situation when Ovitz will say to him, "You guys didn't do well after I left."

This outcome was definitely not what Richard wanted, although he had indeed become one of the most powerful partners within CAA.

"Well, is Bronfman Jr. still in the office?" Ronald suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

"Ah? He, he's not here. He left the office before Ovitz announced to us that there would be a general meeting in the evening. Mayer left with him." Although Richard didn't quite understand, he still answered Ronald's question in detail.

"Then there's also the biography. Hang on, I'm going to make a few calls now. I estimate that you'll hear new news within three days." Ronald hung up the phone, then picked up a new phone and sent a text message to the only number in the address book. "?"

In the lobby of the hotel where Bronfman Jr. was staying, Ron Meyer had just sent his future boss upstairs. He took out a new cell phone from his briefcase, checked the text message records, and then found a deserted place to call Ronald back.

"I heard that CAA will hold a general meeting tonight. Has the announcement been made?" Ronald's voice came from the phone.

"Damn it, it was pretty much as you expected. Bronfman Jr. called his dad in the car. Although I didn't hear the content of the call, judging from his expression and response, there must be something wrong. When we got to the hotel, he went back to his room and said he wanted to make a call.

Will it really change as you expected? I think it might take a 180-degree turn tonight."

"Are you sure Bronfman Jr. was calling his daddy?" Ronald asked with a smile.

"It's confirmed. When he said 'Daddy' on the phone, I saw that he looked very unhappy. It seemed that he didn't want me to see him like that. So he hung up after a few words and asked to go back to the hotel to talk again."

"That's probably the case. You have to seize the opportunity. Bronfman Jr. still needs a deputy to manage the company on a daily basis."

After carefully putting the second phone back into his briefcase, Ron Mayer took out a notebook from his bag, turned to one of the pages, and began to mutter to himself what might be the most important sales pitch in his career, "Mr. Bronfman, Ovitz and I are not tied together..."

On the other side, Ronald, who had put down the phone, also began to write and draw on his notebook. On the paper seemed to be a business map of Hollywood, with several circles on the outside, and the names of several major studios inside the circles, and in the middle were two small circles, marked with O (Ovitz) and M (Mayer) respectively.

He used a pencil to draw a line from the circle with the M on it to the big circle representing the globe. Then he drew a cross on the line connecting the globe to the circle with the O on it.

Next, Ronald drew a line from the circle of O to the big circle representing Disney. He put down his pen, thought about it, and drew another line to the big circle representing Warner Bros. Finally, he drew a question mark on the line connecting Warner and O.

……

"Mr. Bronfman..."

More than an hour later, Ron Meyer saw little Bronfman again in the lobby. The latter's handsome face showed the look of a Jewish child who did small business outside, but made less money after bargaining and was scolded by the adults at home for not knowing how to do business.

Ron Meyer, who is also Jewish, knows this look all too well. He often saw this look of disappointment in his father, who fled Germany to America at the beginning of World War II.

"Ron, we have to go back to CAA one more time. I need to confirm some details with Ovitz." Bronfman Jr. seemed unwilling to look Mayer in the eye and deliberately avoided his inquiring gaze when he spoke.

"Of course. I'll call the driver right away."

Ron, sitting in the luxury car that brought him here, seemed to have regained some confidence. His father Edgar said that he did not interfere with his negotiations this time, but actually used this opportunity to negotiate alone with Ovitz, the most difficult man in Hollywood, to let him do some exercises within a controllable range.

Those conditions proposed by Ovitz were actually tests from the other side. If you are not careful and do not fight back against such a negotiating opponent, he will take advantage of your weakness and continue to weaken your position, demanding more benefits, and gradually eroding the power and interests of the Bronfman family.

Although Bronfman Jr. was very embarrassed when Bronfman Sr. confronted his son at first, he gradually understood his father's intentions. Bronfman Sr. took this opportunity to teach his son how to do business in Hollywood in the future.

Moreover, what touched Bronfman the most was that his father did not ask him to go back and veto his negotiation results at the board meeting. Instead, he asked him to call him immediately after the negotiation, so that he could avoid his uncle and not give him a chance to criticize him.

Dad still wanted to hand over the Seagram Group to himself, and not give his younger brother any chance to use this matter against him...

Old Bronfman was still teaching him on the phone that Ovitz was a tough opponent, and even if he was to be employed, he had to design a good system and personnel to check and balance him. He couldn't be fully trusted and given power...

Once such a person has the opportunity, he will surely slowly erode the Bronfman family's power in Seagram. If he takes the opportunity to carry out major mergers and acquisitions, the Bronfman family's equity will inevitably be weakened. In addition, with the 5% option given to him in five years, combined with the dilution of this merger and acquisition, Ovitz may have the capital to threaten the Bronfman family at that time. If he is given one or two more merger and acquisition opportunities, it may become a question of who has the final say in Seagram.

For example, in the current Disney, not long after the founder Walt Disney passed away, his daughter and son-in-law were driven out of Disney by his nephew, and the nephew was no match for the later investors. Ten years later, who can guarantee that Bronfman Jr.'s uncle will be on the same page with him? Bronfman Sr.'s health is not very good, and his heart needs to be repaired. All these must be prepared in advance and the business must be handed over to his son slowly.

The elder Bronfman was actually using the acquisition of Universal MCA and the hiring of Ovitz as a whetstone for his son, allowing him to learn the art of managing people that the Bronfman family had learned from the days of selling bootlegging.

Bronfman Sr. also told his son that whether or not Seagram could hire Ovitz was not the most important thing. What mattered to Bronfman Jr. was learning how to manage these Hollywood talent who had worked their way up from the grassroots.

Ovitz, who is used to being in the top position and who defected from William Morris and built the largest agency in Hollywood, CAA, from scratch, may not be the most ideal candidate for the new Universal.

A capable senior manager who is still struggling is the ideal subordinate for Bronfman Jr. To use Disney as an example, if he was a member of the Disney family at the time and wanted to introduce external executives, he would definitely choose Katzenberg instead of Eisner...

Thinking of this, Bronfman Jr. turned to Ron Meyer and said, "Ron, I think Michael (Ovitz) may be dissatisfied with the new details I brought, but I have no influence on your terms. I have also been having a lot of good communication with you. I think you and Michael are not a package deal like Guber and Peterson who went to Columbia?"

Ron Meyer was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that before he could even start selling himself, the other party had already extended an olive branch. There was no change, that is, he would have to go to Universal as the second-in-command.

This was no problem at all for Ron Meyer, who had been playing second fiddle for twenty years, and there was no one in Hollywood better at playing second fiddle.

"I think we should still try again. After all, Ovitz might agree to your new conditions." Ron Meyer was ready to surrender without any worries.

"Very good, my offer to you is still valid, Ron. No matter what the result of this negotiation is, you should find a chance to talk to me again. My promise will not change within three days."

The car quickly returned to CAA, and Bronfman Jr. walked into Ovitz's office again in full view of everyone.

He, Ovitz, and Ron Meyer sat down. Bronfman Jr. followed his father's instructions and spoke quickly.

"We had to reopen the negotiations and they would not accept these terms."

"Huh?" No matter how well-mannered Ovitz was, he was still angered by Bronfman Jr.'s inconsistency. The veins on the back of his hand were exposed, and he suppressed his anger, took off his glasses, and wiped them with a cloth.

After adjusting his mentality and tone, Ovitz replied softly:
"This means that the board is not under your control..."

Bronfman Jr. was irritated by his light-hearted contempt and answered quickly, "Seagram is a large public company. My father and his brother are major shareholders. That's how public companies operate. It's not like a small private company (like CAA) that can easily decide major matters."

With that said, Bronfman Jr. had some psychological advantage again, and he continued, "I could keep pushing our thing, but in the long run, that's not healthy for either of us."

Ovitz breathed a sigh of relief. He had been wavering, but now it seemed as if God had helped him make a decision. But he couldn't lose to Bronfman, a rich kid who knew nothing, in terms of momentum:

"I needed at least three years to turn Universal around, and if the Bronfmans didn't have my full support, if I might not have the time to tear the company apart and reshape it, then there was no point in doing this."

"Very good, then let's end this meaningless and lengthy meeting." Bronfman Jr. felt that he had the psychological advantage and had left Ovitz speechless. Then he stood up, nodded to Mayer again, and left.

Ron Meyer suddenly had an idea, and he said to Ovitz, "Michael, things are not at the end of the road yet. I think we can make one last effort..."

"Really? I think Bronfman Jr. has made up his mind, or his dad has made the decision for him."

"I don't think so. This negotiation has been going on for quite a long time. It would be a shame to give up now. Sometimes things are like this. When it seems that the negotiation cannot be successful, everyone should lay out their cards. Maybe they will re-evaluate their decision."

Ovitz smiled slightly. Ron Meyer was afraid that he would not be able to be the vice president of a big studio like Universal. "Don't worry, Ron. We can also consider Warner Bros. Their CEO Gerald Levine's position is not very stable. If Batman doesn't do well at the box office this time, we can go to Warner together, and the two of us can still create miracles there."

After Ovitz finished speaking, he looked at Mayer's grim expression and knew that the other party didn't quite believe his empty words about the way out of Warner. He wanted to talk to Bronfman Jr. again, so he let him go. After all, Universal was more attractive than Warner.

"Okay, you can go again and make a final effort." Ovitz agreed with Mayer's idea, "But before you go, you have to do another thing with me..."

The two came to the screening room that could accommodate all the employees. Ovitz and Mayer walked onto the stage, and Ovitz spoke to the employees below...

"During this period of time, everyone knows that I have received an invitation from a major studio, but now Mayer and I have made a decision that we are not going anywhere..."

Mayer looked back at Ovitz in astonishment. It turned out that he was still deciding all important matters of CAA on his own without considering his own interests.

"Oh oh oh……"

The whole theater was filled with a sense of relief, and the ordinary agents stood up, clapped, and jumped to express their joy. Some young agents even hugged each other, feeling lucky that they still had the opportunity to become a big agent like Ovitz who could dominate the fate of others in Hollywood.

Ovitz was also very happy that he stayed. It seemed that the employees were very supportive of him staying, which was the foundation of his livelihood.

Ovitz waved to everyone and gestured to a few young people who jumped onto chairs. It is also very important for big bosses to have fun with the people, especially in occasions like this.

Suddenly, Ovitz's eyes were drawn to the people in the first few rows of the audience. Richard, Kevin Hooven, Jay Moloney and other young Turks all crossed their arms and stared at him indignantly, without any of the cheerful emotions of ordinary agents.

This……

Ovitz suddenly thought of the same expression on his face 20 years ago when he, Ron Meyer, and three other young agents of William Morris had the same expression.

Feeling uneasy, unappreciated, and ready to take action!