I'm in Hollywood

CHAPTER 53 - WISE ENOUGH TO NOT REFUSE

CHAPTER 53 – WISE ENOUGH TO NOT REFUSE

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Elawn

Since the news that Drew had stayed overnight at Eric's home broke, newspapers and tabloids' sales directly shot up. Eric reckoned the number of paparazzi would probably also proportionally increase.

The next day after he acquired the agency, articles had already started to pop up.

One of the reporters from The Los Angeles Daily:

"It is difficult to understand why Eric Williams has chosen to buyout Sid Agency. Kapoor Sid indeed possesses outstanding ability as an agent, however, thanks to his fallout with Michael Ovitz, he was evicted from the CAA and has been struggling in the industry ever since. Rumor has it that Kapoor Sid had initially intended to sell the agency and develop in Europe, however Eric Williams' insisted on his staying. It seems that the young director's success has gotten to his head, and he probably still does not realize that going against the CAA was probably not the wisest choice to make."

The Hollywood Reporter focused on the matter of Eric increasing the commission:

"Renamed as the "United Talent Agency", it has been reported to us that the first thing Eric Williams did once he took over, was to increase the incoming commissions to 10%. It was also said that Eric Williams would give priority to his own agency's actors and actresses whenever he'd shoot a movie. As long as his standard remains similar to 17 Again or Home Alone, let alone 10, even if he was to demand 20%, it would still be enough to make a lot of people join him in drove. However, this is only wishful thinking as making movies is like gambling, and one just cannot keep on winning. We believe Eric Williams might have some difficulty getting through this year unscathed."

It was the same with other newspapers, they were all criticizing Eric's move. Some had even tried to squeeze out everything of this hot topic, and issued an invitation to interview Michael Ovitz.

What was even more surprising was that the CAA's boss hadn't declined, and although he hadn't came forward himself, he had let his assistant disclose that he was very optimistic about Eric Williams' potential, and hoped that their two sides would be able to cooperate.

There was seemingly nothing wrong with this statement, however some of the media saw things differently; to them, it was simply a veiled warning to the young director: as long as Kapoor Sid stands on your side, the chance of us cooperating is slim.

But of course, those were only conjectures.

Then, it was announced that Eric's next movie would be called Pretty Woman, and it didn't take long for the resourceful paparazzi to find out that the director had extended an invitation to Richard Gere.

This made the paps excited again as Richard Gere was a signed artist of the CAA. Under normal circumstances, the actor would probably accept Eric's invitation without a second thought, however things were different now, and if the negotiations fell out, it was enough to confirm the paps' previous speculations.

......

In the newly renovated Firefly Studios' conference room, Horner Willie sat leisurely with a cup of coffee. He was one of the best CAA's agents, and was also the one in charge of Richard Gere, which was the reason for his presence here.