American Life

Chapter 230 The ninth person, follow suit

After the "Thor" premiere, Charlie quickly got in touch with Bob and David Gersh, the two owners of The Gersh Agency, the sons of the company's founder.

According to the theory of interpersonal relationships, there are only six people apart at most between anyone on earth, but in Hollywood, that number is only two - your agent and the other person's agent.

Therefore, almost the day after Charlie released the news, the other party contacted Charlie.

Judging from their tone, they did not resist this matter and were willing to talk to Charlie about this matter, which confirmed Charlie's thoughts.

The Gersh Agency has been having a hard time in the past few years. Almost all of the well-known stars in Hollywood are concentrated in the hands of the four major agencies. Even an old agency like Gersh can only sign some less well-known actors. A small artist who occasionally appears in the series and plays a supporting role.

Kristen Stewart used to be one of these people, but he was favored by the heavens and starred in Twilight and became an instant hit.

Before making formal contact, Charlie also needed to know the potential legal risks that acquiring a brokerage company would bring to him, as well as the legal procedures required for the acquisition. In short, he needed a lawyer by his side, so he called Saul.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to go to Los Angeles. There are still several cases that need to be dealt with here. An employee of Venus took us to court, and a group of people actually started to copy our commemorative albums..." Sol said in Chattering on the phone.

"Then send a smart subordinate over."

"Actually, boss, I have a better choice. Elmo is in Chicago. She has been living in your mansion these days, staying with Faith Hill."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I just found out about it, I heard Artis mention it accidentally, and she also heard it from Stephanie."

"When did you come?"

"How many days has it been? You'd better ask yourself the specific number."

"I know." Charlie hung up the phone.

The next afternoon, when she saw Elmo again, she looked slightly apologetic.

"I just wanted to visit your company at first. I found you weren't there. I was about to leave, but Faith stopped me. I stayed like that for a week."

"What about your cases?"

"It's done, you forgot, Victoria asked me to stay away from this case. I didn't contact new clients, but I was preparing to look for opportunities in the United States, such as business mergers and acquisitions."

"It just so happens that there happens to be a commercial merger and acquisition case here about your charging price."

Ai Mo laughed dumbly: "Okay, I won't charge you any money this time."

On the way out of the airport, Charlie told him about the acquisition target.

"Holding a talent agency company? Is there such a precedent in Hollywood?" Aimo frowned immediately after hearing this.

"Only in a similar situation, MCA made Universal a subsidiary of its own, and then it was forcibly broken up by the Department of Justice in 1962, and they were forced to abandon the talent agency business."

"So, which one are you going to give up then?" Elmo looked at Charlie.

"I'm not ready to give up on that one. I have another plan. At least I can distance myself from him in name."

"Tell me specifically?"

“A series of investment shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands dispersed the shareholdings of nine shareholders through cross-shareholdings and acted as concerted parties.”

"No. 9, don't tell me that all these nine shareholders are women... God, you are so crazy." Looking at Charlie's reaction, Elmo knew that he had already had this plan.

"But I only saw 8 people. Who is the 9th person?" Aymo wondered.

"You will know when the holding is completed." Charlie gave up.

Elmo chose to ignore this question and continued: "If you do what you said, the nominal legal risks can be eliminated. In terms of procedures, you need to comply with the California Talent Act. In addition, you need to contact the three major Hollywood guilds directly related to Reported to employee unions, AMPTP and ATA."

The three major guilds in Hollywood are the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Screen Actors Guild, and the Alliance of Television and Radio Artists (SAG- AFTRA).Represents Hollywood employers.

AMPTP is the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing employers. PB Pictures and Marvel Pictures are included, but they have held several meetings to discuss the issue of the minimum salary for actors.

The last mentioned ATA is the Artists Agency Association, which is composed of more than 700 talent agencies in the United States.

These five major labor unions are the basis for Hollywood's operation. They represent the interests of various groups in a collective name.Negotiate rights issues such as minimum salary, signature, welfare insurance, etc.

"ATA is eager for someone to stand up and test the other party's bottom line. These brokerage companies have long wanted to become producers."

The last time ATA and SAG had a falling out, ATA had the upper hand, and SAG was forced to agree that the agency could take part of the production company's shares.

This time it goes a step further.

Gersh's Los Angeles office is in Beverly Hills, and Charlie and Elmo travel non-stop to their destination.

In addition to Bob and David Gersh, they were also received by Leslie Siebert, the company's senior managing partner.

"We have more than 170 employees in our offices in Los Angeles and New York, including 40 partners, and more than 2000 clients in Hollywood."

"Including Kyle Chandler, Patricia Arquette, Adam Driver, J.K. Simmons and Taylor Schilling."

Charlie knew nothing about the remaining names except that J.K. Simmons would play the coach in "Crackling Drummer" in the future.

Hollywood is iron-clad, there are talented actors, and the entire SAG has 16 members, and no more than 100 people are truly internationally famous.

"And of course Kristen Stewart, it seems like you're very optimistic about her future."

"I have to correct you. As a Hollywood practitioner, I am here to provide reference for Ms. Elmo next to me. It is not that I want to acquire." Charlie mentioned in particular.

"Of course, we also know this." Leslie Siebert said immediately.

The two parties entered the conference room, and Charlie asked before giving his offer: "Do you agree with the terms in the letter of intent to acquire?"

"51% of the company's shares are sold, and the remaining partners still hold dividend rights."

High-end firms often have several partners who enjoy the company's dividend rights. Within Gersh, this part of the package is only %, which is still within the acceptable range for Charlie.

"Very good. Although Gersh Agency has a long history, the artists currently on hand do not have any appeal. I can only give 1500W at most." Charlie put his hands on the table.

"Just one Christian can make you so much in three years. Your price is too insincere." Bob Gersh shook his head.

According to the 10% commission, if Christine's schedule is full enough, she can indeed earn so much.

"But how many years does her contract have? If I remember correctly, there is less than a year left. Do you think I can still sign a contract with her on this condition? Give me a reason why she won't change jobs." Charlie shook his head .

When renewing the contract, Charlie will indeed try to persuade Kristen to change the terms, but in a direction that is more beneficial to him.

"As for the issue of staying after the contract expires, I can guarantee you that I was the one who discovered her when I was still an agent. This can be written in the contract." Leslie Siebert said. .

"This kind of renewal right involving a third party does not have legal effect." Aimo immediately added.

"Moreover, even if she agrees to stay here, can you guarantee that she will renew the contract with the original conditions?"

"Of course not. Actors with greater box office appeal should be given more generous conditions."

"You are right, so now Gersh is only worth 1500W at most."

CAA later acquired ICM for US$7.5 million. Although Gersh’s business volume cannot be compared with ICM, the acquisition price of 3000 million W is not high at all.

"We have 40 high-quality partners in the industry."

"If possible, I don't want any of them. I didn't acquire Gersh for these senior partners."

"I'm not interested in any of these actors either."

Charlie's requirements for this company were very low, and Gersh was indeed not very competitive, so that the two company owners and main managers did not have any leverage.

"With this money, you no longer have to work hard to manage the company. You will also receive a dividend every year, which will be enough for the two of you to live and feed for the next life." Charlie said.

His plan was to hold a controlling stake first, and then gradually acquire the remaining shares, including the two good sons who did not feel sorry for him, and finally complete the full shareholding. If something went wrong, he would have corresponding records.

The two bosses can only accept the status quo, and the two sides have reached a preliminary agreement.

"Whether it's in name or not, you need to meet with the employees. This is not only responsible for yourself, but I also have an explanation for them." Leslie Siebert continued.

As the company's senior managing partner, she is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. She currently occupies 5% of the net profit share, in addition to corresponding bonuses and a considerable salary income.

The acquisition agreement separately stipulated that Leslie Sieber should be retained in his original position for at least two months.So at least now she is still a manager, and two months is enough time for Charlie to test her abilities.

Charlie thought for a while and still rejected the proposal. He didn't want to attract too much attention to this acquisition. The person who nominally acquired Gersh was just a little-known private equity company from the Cayman Islands.

"Then at least meet some of our backbones. This will make them feel at ease. I'm afraid you don't know yet. Except for CAA, the job-hopping rate in this industry has always been high. There are many managers who will take artists to find new employers. Others will start their own brokerage companies, and there are no barriers to entry in this industry.”

"Why is it CAA?" Charlie never knew what the magic power of CAA was.

"The cost of leaving is too great. There is a clear division of labor within CAA. An agent only needs to deal with one problem. Moreover, the salary at CAA is far higher than that of his peers. There are many with an annual salary of one million US dollars. In addition, there is a promotion mechanism. Each agent Individuals who enter CAA will first stay in the mailroom for several months, and some even exceed half a year. For another crucial reason, they must never disclose work problems to the outside world and do not complain about colleagues. In internal meetings, You have to say everything you want to say. There are no positions in the CAA office, and even the door of the CEO is empty."

"Someone once described CAA like this. This company is like a castle, and the employees inside are like soldiers. You can only see these people walking in a hurry, but you have no way of knowing what they are going to do."

"You seem to know a lot about CAA?"

"After Michael Ovitz left the company in 95 to become the CEO of Disney, CAA briefly experienced some turmoil. Some partners chose to leave, and I was one of them. As for the result, you have also seen it. I am sitting across from you now. .”

"If possible, I would like you to manage this company in a CAA way."

"If you want, I can try, but no matter how hard I try, I can't achieve the effect of CAA."

"Of course, I don't expect you to achieve the same results as CAA, it's just a simple attempt. In addition, I promised to meet with a few key players."

"You are somewhat self-aware." Leslie Siebert stood up and arranged for people to come in.

The first person to come in was an unattractive woman who greeted Charlie and introduced herself as Rhonda Price.

Leslie Siebert said she has a great group of artists on her hands, including the lead singer of Green Day and several well-known stage actors on Broadway.

After that, several other backbones came in, and the whole afternoon passed like this.

When Charlie and Elmo left again, they saw the former Rhonda Price interviewing. The other person looked very young, standing there with her fingers clasped, her movements a little reserved.

Seeing Charlie suddenly stop, Leslie Siebert couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Meeted someone you know?"

"Not really." Charlie walked straight over.

The young girl seemed even more nervous when she saw three more people suddenly appearing on the opposite side.

"My name is Elizabeth Olsen. I am currently studying drama at New York University. I started acting at the age of 4. I am 19 years old this year. I used to play a substitute role in Bainaohui."

"The sister of the Olsen twins." Leslie Siebert beside Charlie whispered.

Compared with the timid young girl in front of her, her two twin sisters are obviously more famous.

I don’t know if it was because of the tense relationship, but her performance was not good, which made Rhonda Price look a little impatient.

"I will give you the results later." She motioned for Omei to leave first.

"I think we can give her another chance." At this time, Charlie suddenly said.

(End of this chapter)