Chapter 28 - 028 Inquire about the broker

Only now did Hugo realize how powerful his agency was.In the early nineties in Hollywood, there were only three top-tier agencies: the oldest and most powerful, the William Morris Agency (WMA), and the two up-and-comers, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and International Creative Management (ICM).These were the only three agencies in Hollywood at the time that charged a 10% commission, which was a testament to their capabilities.Simply put, an agent's responsibility was to rely on its connections to provide intermediary services for its clients, and then take a commission from the client's earnings to generate profit.The more powerful the agency, the richer its resources and the broader its network, leading to more and better work opportunities, which naturally allowed clients to gain broader development prospects.The reason the three major agencies dared to charge a 10% commission was precisely because of their capabilities.Before signing with an agency, for new Actors without an agent, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists would act as unions.They could provide a large number of work opportunities and, when necessary, arrange for an agent to help the Actor sign contracts, with the overall goal of protecting the Actor's interests.Hugo's first work, "the little diner", was successfully performed with the help of the Screen Actors Guild, after which he was brought to International Creative Management by Ron Meyer.It had to be said that Ron was quite capable; he pushed Hugo step by step to the position of a rising star in acting, and was rewarded with "dead poets society".As for the subsequent three works, "fatal moment", "rock", and "hudson hawk", while Tracy certainly played a role, Ron's role as an agent could not be ignored.Unfortunately, all three of these works failed unexpectedly, which was a real pity.Before "hudson hawk" finished filming and was released, Hugo and Ron's agency contract happened to expire, so Ron transferred Hugo's agency contract to Joseph.Although it was still within International Creative Management, it was clearly a step down in level.And the subsequent performance of "hudson hawk" proved Ron's foresight.It could be said that the "scent of a woman" crew's final decision to cast Hugo in the role of Charlie was undoubtedly due in no small part to Joseph and the International Creative Management behind him.This was the first time Hugo felt very lucky.Having experienced all this himself, he knew clearly how important it was to have a powerful agency and an outstanding agent.This was also the first time Hugo felt the benefits brought by his predecessor—if one didn't count this handsome appearance.Mentioning the agency reminded Hugo of Charlize, whom he had met earlier.He had been busy preparing for the "scent of a woman" audition these past few days and had actually forgotten all about Charlize."Joseph, let me ask you something. Do you know an agent named... uh..."Hugo rolled his eyes, struggling to recall the agent's name, but he just couldn't remember.Joseph stood by, watching Hugo's conflicted expression without any reaction.Finally, Hugo had to helplessly give up; he started searching for that agent's business card, but he couldn't remember where he had put it either.Joseph resisted the urge to roll his eyes and sat down on the mattress, watching Hugo rummage through everything—first his pockets and wallet, then the jackets in the closet, then the nightstand and desk.Finally, Hugo patted his head and opened the "scent of a woman" script.He successfully found a hard card inside the script and then revealed a face full of joy."Oh, I remember now, his name is Carl Earl!"It was Superman's real name, but Hugo didn't have a deep understanding of American comics, so his associative memory wasn't that strong.Hearing Hugo's words, Joseph finally couldn't hold back and rolled his eyes: Please, you didn't remember that, you just read it directly off the name on the business card, didn't you?Someone who couldn't even remember where they put the business card..."Joseph, do you know him? He said he is an agent at International Creative Management."Hugo walked happily in front of Joseph and handed over the business card.Joseph looked at the excitement and confusion on Hugo's face; it seemed he wasn't even aware of his own absent-mindedness.Joseph could only sigh inwardly before taking the business card."Our company does have a guy named Carl Earl; we all call him Superman."Apparently, this name was much more effective for Americans.Joseph looked at the business card. "Yes, this is his card. What's wrong?"Joseph seemed to think of something; he slightly frowned and looked at Hugo with a puzzled expression, sizing him up."Don't tell me he gave you his card and said you had great potential as an Actor, right?"If that were the case, it would be hilarious.Hugo was, after all, the male lead of three films, so if he were treated as an ordinary person by an agent, that would really be too much of a blunder.Hugo reacted quickly this time, immediately understanding Joseph's meaning, and waved his hands repeatedly."No, no, it's a new model friend I met. Carl thinks she has great potential to become an Actor and gave her his card.""But I'm not sure if this is real or some kind of scam, and since I saw it was from our company, I just thought I'd ask."Joseph nodded in sudden realization."Carl joined the company around the same time as me. His situation is even worse than mine—at least I have you as an artist under me," Joseph didn't say that although Hugo's situation wasn't great either."But Carl previously managed two Actors, and the results were not good. In the end, he was fired by those two Actors. He doesn't have a single Actor under him now, which is why he's back on the streets acting as a talent scout.""Fired?" Hugo raised an eyebrow.He realized that an agent was actually a helper he hired; he was the boss, and the agent worked for him.Of course, an outstanding agent could also bring more work opportunities to an Actor, thereby making the Actor trust the agent more, which also had a reverse effect.Joseph felt a bit uneasy under Hugo's meaningful gaze.Previously, Hugo hadn't trusted him; even though he was his agent, Hugo had repeatedly bypassed him to go to Ron.Although on the surface Ron still gave some advice—advice that Joseph thought was completely irresponsible—privately, Ron had warned Joseph several times: "Manage your Actor, I'm not doing free work," and afterwards took a portion of Joseph's salary as a consulting fee before calling it quits.Now, hearing Hugo say this, Joseph immediately averted his gaze and said stiffly, "That is the Actor's right."Hugo was a bit confused; he was just making a small joke.Joseph didn't seem like the type of person who couldn't take a joke, so why did Joseph look so serious now?He couldn't help but chuckle twice."But our cooperation is just getting on the right track now; isn't this the honeymoon period? This kind of thing definitely won't happen."The mention of a "honeymoon period" made Joseph roll his eyes, but his serious expression softened quite a bit, and a faint, almost imperceptible smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth: "The success of the 'scent of a woman' project is indeed something worth celebrating.""Joseph, what do you think of Carl? Should my friend call him? Or should I just introduce her to you instead?"While speaking, Hugo thought that top agents certainly had more than one Actor under them, so it shouldn't be a problem to introduce Charlize to Joseph.Upon hearing this, Joseph's expression finally truly softened.The fact that Hugo was willing to introduce his friend to him showed that Hugo trusted him, which was progress."Oh, Carl is a very friendly person, and he takes his work very seriously; he is a trustworthy agent."Joseph knew that he didn't have the capacity to manage two Actors yet, so if Hugo's friend could become Carl's artist, that would be a good outcome."Then why did the previous two Actors leave?"Hugo didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his thoughts.Joseph didn't intend to hide it either; these things could be found out by asking around in the company."Carl is a very serious person. He hopes that Actors can devote themselves wholeheartedly to every job, so many times his personality is quite stubborn, which leads to quite a few conflicts."Hugo couldn't help but nod.It was imaginable; Carl was probably a rather serious person.This kind of personality was actually a taboo in interpersonal relationships, but once his work got on track, the achievements he attained would be even more outstanding than others."Furthermore, Carl has always believed that overnight fame is not difficult; it can be born from the combination of timing and luck.""But results obtained by opportunism and deliberate maneuvering for the sake of fame are hard to maintain. Even if one becomes famous overnight, the subsequent path for an Actor must still rely on their own strength to continue, otherwise, it will only be a career as a pretty face."Joseph said this and looked at Hugo."So, you know, not everyone can accept such ideas."Indeed, many people came to Hollywood with dreams of reaching the top in one step.As a result, Carl was always there advising others to be down-to-earth and start from the basics, which naturally was annoying.This was probably what was meant by "loyal advice jars the ears."Actually, in Hugo's opinion, Carl was a very excellent agent; at least he truly considered things for the Actors.Perhaps it was because Carl hadn't reached the pinnacle of an agent yet and hadn't been assimilated by the profit-first industry rules.It was just unclear whether his personality could be sustained to the end.If it could, that would definitely be a rare conscience in the industry."How about it, are you willing to introduce your friend to Carl?"Joseph asked seemingly casually, but he was actually a bit nervous inside.From a certain perspective, Joseph was very similar to Carl; otherwise, the two of them wouldn't still be in such a terrible state more than a year after entering the industry.Therefore, Hugo's affirmation of Carl could, in a sense, be seen as an affirmation of Joseph, which was very important to him.Hugo didn't think that much; he just nodded as a matter of course and said, "Of course, why not?"Hearing this, the tension between Joseph's brows quietly dissipated and was replaced by a faint joy.However, the slightly thick-nerved Hugo didn't notice; he continued talking there, "I should give Charlize a call..."