Hollywood Domination Chapter 13: Cesare Vijari
CAA, Creative Artists Agency, Creative Artists Agency.
Whether it is Jenny or Chen Zhen, of course they have heard of this name - CAA is so famous, as long as you have a little understanding of the American entertainment industry, you will not have heard of its name.
CAA was founded in 1975 and its headquarter is of course located in Beverly Hills, Hollywood. Outside of the United States, being able to sign with CAA is something to be proud of. Star artists who are signed must brag about it. Even the United States is very lucky to be a member of the CAA family. CAA has a very complete range of departments, including everything in front of and behind the stage. As long as the investor has an idea and enough money, CAA can piece together a star-studded team for him. From the director to the producer, costumer, and artist, all hold statuettes to create a full gold team. Of course, what the employer has to pay is also an astronomical figure.
After hearing the three words CAA, Jenny immediately understood why Fat Jim was so arrogant, even being so rude to Dave, an actor and assistant director whose status was not too low. —If Jim was the manager of some big star, Dave was nothing to him.
Of course, it's somewhat incredible that a big star's agent would come to see her perform, but in Hollywood, anything is possible. Universal Studios shoots not only TV series, but also many big-budget movies. The place where the directors held meetings last time was the studio office building, where there are even superstars who often come and go. It is not impossible to have a star agent . Since I saw her, was interested in her, and knew that she was filming here, it wouldn't take much to come in and take a look.
Jenny didn't speak all the way, but Jim kept talking all the way because of excessive excitement, but there was not much meaningful information in it, and most of the time he was talking about Cesare's bad temper , How precious is Jenny's opportunity, and how should she behave herself in front of Cesare.
"This is your chance," he said, "Girl, you don't understand how valuable this opportunity is, and you're going to skyrocket, God, it's a match made in heaven - but you have to be flawless, cut Sare is a terrible perfectionist, you have to know that I took a risk by taking you there."
He started to sweat, and there were two wet spots under the shirt, and the cologne couldn't hide the sweaty body odor, and Jenny was slightly disturbed by him. She made a conscious effort to stay away from Jim, lest he get too excited and drip sweat on her and stain the costume.
"Cesare," she said, "Jim, may I ask who Cesare is?"
They are all in Hollywood, and CAA is not far from Universal Studios. Jim made a sudden turn, parked the car in the parking lot, and hurriedly opened the door to get out of the car. Jenny followed quickly, "Vijari, Cesare Vijari, have you never heard of his name?"
"No." Jenny said truthfully. "Is he Italian?"
Jim wrinkled his face and made a very characteristic expression of collapse, "No, no."
He called while walking, "Oh, please be there, please be here—Nara! Tell me Cesare hasn't left yet!"
Then he was talking on the phone while using his pass to bring Jenny into the CAA office building, and pressed the elevator anxiously. Jenny was taken into the elevator before she even had time to appreciate the decoration of CAA. Jim directly pressed a very high floor number-only two floors away from the top floor.
"I have to explain to you." In the strong air-conditioning, Jim seemed to have regained a little restraint and reason. He took out his handkerchief and said quickly while wiping his sweat, "Since you don't know Cesare, then I I don’t think you will know the internal rules of CAA, we don’t have titles, only positions, no exclusive conference rooms, exclusive offices, adopt flat management, and claim that all agents are treated equally without distinction of qualifications.”
He said cleanly, "Of course, this is all **** for external publicity. As long as there is a difference in ability and seniority, there must be a difference in status. It's just that in CAA, status is reflected in the floor. The higher the status, the higher the floor. The higher the number, the floor we are going to is the exclusive office floor of CAA senior brokers, where very few people do not have their own offices.”
He took a breath and said again, "So you understand why this opportunity is so precious? Even within CAA, resources are limited and competition is fierce. And Cesare is a 45-story man, a Towards 45, always will be 45. Girl—"
"Jenny," said Jenny, frowning and looking at Jim thoughtfully. "I still have a lot of questions."
"You can ask later. Cesare will leave for the airport in an hour. There is no time to say anything now. I can only tell you that you'd better use all your efforts to seize this opportunity." Jim explain.
The elevator dinged and stopped on the 45th floor. Jim swept out like a whirlwind, but Jenny's pace was still unhurried. Looking at him with interest, he didn't make a sound.
"If you want me to impress him," Jenny pointed matter-of-factly, "then I'll just have to keep up my speed."
"Yeah, yeah." Jim suffocated suddenly, and then murmured, "Let's go, Cesare's office is here."
Jenny then followed Jim to the corner. Jim knocked on the door, whispered to an assistant girl sitting at the door, and then stepped forward to knock on the door. His movements changed from flustered to cautious, as if a lion was sleeping in the house, and excessive movements would awaken it from its peaceful sleep.
"Come in." A concise voice came from inside the room.
Jim pushed open the door and motioned for Jenny to come in with him.
Jenny walked into the house.
The next moment, she was taken aback in a rare way.
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Cesare Vijri is a very European name, and Vijri is a French surname—thank God, Jenny is still a good student, and she is somewhat knowledgeable in some fields she is interested in—and Cesare is a common name in southern Europe. Considering Cesare Vijari's status, Jenny expected to see a middle-aged man of southern European descent, with a medium build and dark complexion, because he has been working as a broker for many years. For his career, he should be kind and smiling.
——Cesare Vijeri subverted every guess she had.
He is tall, pale complexion, blue eyes, high nose, deep eyes, short pure golden hair combed back with pomade - although the root color of the hair is slightly dark, but it is a natural phenomenon of blond hair and blue eyes, in In adulthood, the uneven color of blond hair, with blond tips and brownish roots was not uncommon—he was, like Jenny, a thoroughly Germanic man.
And breathtakingly handsome.
It’s not that Chen Zhen has never seen handsome men and beautiful women. This is the 21st century, and the media is extremely developed. Beauty, in the past, Chen Zhen would fly to Milan and New York to watch shows from time to time, and was often invited to participate in fashion circle dinners at home and abroad-she has really seen many men and women who depend on good looks to earn a living.
None of them can match Cesare Vijari. Jenny thought: Even if this man is an idiot who can't even speak lines, as long as he is willing to walk on the catwalk, with his figure and beauty, he will be able to stand out within half a year.
Then she immediately began to wonder: He is so good-looking and so young, why does he hide behind the scenes instead of going in front and earning an astronomical fortune? Although agents earn a lot of money, it is impossible for them to earn more than the stars they represent.
Could it be that she misunderstood, in fact, Cesare Vijari is someone else, and this is just another client he represents?
But Jenny's conjecture was immediately shattered by Jim. He took a few steps forward, and naturally—and at the same time very nervously began to sell Jenny to Cesare, "You must see this girl, Cesare, she I found the best replacement, look how beautiful she is, and that's not all she has - this girl can act! Trust me, Man."
He shook his head with emotion, and glanced at Jenny, his tone was fascinated and convincing, "She is the least newcomer I have ever seen, Chesa, she is simply—— God, I don't know how to describe-"
Cesare stretched out his hand and twisted the bridge of his nose, then he turned to Jenny.
Jenny felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over her head, and Cesare's gaze—seriously, it was absolutely so cold. The reason why he is suffocating is not only because of his handsomeness, but also because of the indifference that seems to be born in him all over his body. This kind of indifference is like aristocratic blood. Just looking at it, you will suddenly feel a strong sense of embarrassment, feeling that you are useless and inappropriate from head to toe.
Even she was no exception, being watched by Cesare, she thought that she had been running for a long time under the scorching sun, maybe the makeup on her face was a bit off, and she was still wearing a costume that didn't quite fit, with a belt behind her back. A few traps made her think that she only had more than three thousand dollars in her bank card and God knows when she will have her next role this time. Under Cesare's gaze, she had the urge to curl up, which was so natural that it was impossible to resist.
However, Jenny Jane is not just Jenny Jane, she is also Chen Zhen, the former young wife of the real estate business kingdom, Chen Zhen.
Under Cesare's weight, instead of curling up, she straightened her back and smiled casually at him.
Cesare's eyes narrowed.
"It looks good and can score 90 points." He said suddenly, still maintaining his eye contact with Jenny, "but her temperament is plain, how can you convince me that she has the potential to become a superstar? I told you earlier, Look at people carefully."
Jim didn't react at all, so he missed the opportunity to defend himself, Cesare turned back to his desk and continued to pack up the documents, "She is pretty, yes, let's shoot magazine covers, she is qualified as a model. Good acting, good acting, with this look and good acting, she could be a lead actress in a series, and she might even have a future in the film industry, but we're talking about superstars, Jim, you know we're in What are you talking about? I know you have always been playful, and you will use any cheap tricks to pick up girls, but you dragged people straight into my office?"
There was a slight pause in his tone, and then he continued to speak without changing the tone of his voice, but——Jennie realized that Cesare Vijri could become even more indifferent and unattainable. "This is your new lower limit."
Cesare tidied up the documents on the table and turned to face Jim. "You have two minutes to convince me not to fire you, start counting now."
"Chesa, I know, I know what you mean." Jim was already sweating, and as soon as he found an opportunity, he immediately began to talk endlessly. "Yeah, I really just wanted to have fun at first, and I noticed her the day she tried makeup around the world. I heard that she was on set this week, so I wandered over to check it out and wanted to use—you know, That's the trick - 'Hi, I'm CAA's agent' - Anyway, I passed by, but as soon as I got there, God, as soon as I saw her in front of the camera - I knew it wasn't The woman I can touch, Chesa, you should see it, you will understand, she is simply Marilyn Monroe reborn, no, she is better than Monroe, younger, more beautiful, but that kind of temperament, The feeling of leading the audience—”
Cesare's eyes moved to Jenny's face again, looking her up and down, and there was a slight fluctuation on his cold face.
"Tape," he said. Jenny found that he valued words like gold.
"Uh-uh--" Jim suddenly stuttered awkwardly, he should have suddenly discovered his negligence. "I-uh-I know you're going to New York, then Paris, and won't be back for two months, this girl is in the first episode of the new season of CSI, and I-uh-they Haven't cut it into a piece—"
Cesare closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose again.
"It's 10:43 now," he looked at his watch, "I want to see her performance video before 11:30, and you have 47 minutes."
Jim looked back and forth at Jenny and Cesare, and Jenny waved to him. As if he had received some order, he suddenly turned around, pushed open the door and ran out madly. The door was pushed open by him vigorously, shaking back and forth on the door frame, and Jenny could hear his footsteps eliciting bursts of exclamation.
Cesare did not watch Jim with her. When Jenny looked back, she found that he had come to the back of the desk, opened the drawer and took out a bottle of air freshener.
Next, he walked to the place where Jim was standing just now and sprayed it in the air several times, and put the freshener away meticulously, before he gestured to Jenny. "Sit."
It is still a single word, a concise and clear 'sit', no please, and not a relatively euphemistic 'haveaseat'. Cesare has always had the initiative and doesn't seem to mind abusing it.
And Jenny decided that it was not good for her to continue this situation. It wasn't just because she didn't like being in the same servile position as Jim, but also because Cesare didn't seem to have much interest in her so far.
Even though she was still quite confused about Cesare's identity and experience, the performances of Dave, Lynch, and Jim all showed one point, that is, what Jim has been emphasizing is not wrong, Cesare It's a big shot, and this is Jenny's big chance.
How could she let it miss?
"It's 10:44," she said, sitting in the guest chair opposite her desk, crossing her legs and resting one hand gracefully on the armrest, "1 hour and 47 minutes until 12:30. Mr. Vijay, nice to meet you."
She switched out of the Marilyn Monroe mode almost fluently, lowered her voice, switched the position of her legs, with a calm smile on her lips, stared at Cesare Vigeri, almost Said mockingly, "Now, you have 1 hour and 47 minutes to convince me that you are a good agent."
Cesare's attitude remained motionless, still as cold as before, only a slight ripple appeared on the tip of his nose, and a few invisible flickers in his eyes. Jenny knew, however, that she had succeeded in piqued his interest.
"Very good." Cesare said, "You have successfully attracted my attention, bonus points."
He took out a blank file folder, snapped it open, offered a cold courtesy, and asked symbolically, "Now, can we officially start?"
Note: CAA is indeed the best agency in Hollywood, occupying more than half of the market share, covering everything from the front and back of the stage of movies and TV dramas, to artist agents and performance managers in the music industry. According to reports, the music market is relatively late to develop, but its share is still above 35%. Among the 100 top performances every year, 35 will be represented by CAA.
CAA does adopt flat management in reality, but the floor representative status is my fiction. Their headquarters is indeed in a building in Century City~ and a very distinctive system of CAA is the cross-agent system. Every high-level artist does not have only one agent, but multiple agents manage part of the business separately, so it will not There is a phenomenon of agents jumping jobs and taking away artists.