America 1987

Chapter 4 CAA

However, this is a foreign agency, so people who don't usually pay attention to this area might not know much about it.

But those who signed with it are all incredibly famous.

Initially, as an entertainment agency, its clients were mostly people in the entertainment industry, including directors such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Later, it also signed domestic directors such as Ang Lee, John Woo, Wong Kar-wai, and Feng Xiaogang.

The cast includes Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Nicole Kidman. In a few years, actors from mainland China such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen will also join the cast.

Among musicians are Madonna, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and others; later, they even extended their reach into the sports world.

However, the biggest names under this company are not the people mentioned above, but someone from the political circle—Biden.

Biden signed the contract when he first left his post as Vice President of the United States in 2017. During that time, he published his memoir, "Promise Me, Dad," and earned more than $100 million through a nationwide tour arranged by CAA, as well as through speaking engagements and book publishing.

After the contract expired, on February 3, 2025, just two weeks after leaving office, he signed a new contract with CAA.

The co-chair of CAA stated, "President Biden is one of the most respected and influential voices in American national and global affairs," and "We are deeply honored to work with him again."

Upon hearing the news, Trump responded with shock: "You must be joking!"

This is not the first time CAA has signed a contract with a politician. Previously, the Obamas and their spouses, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the political maverick who lost to Trump in the presidential election, had all collaborated with the company.

This demonstrates that the power and future potential of this agency far surpass those of companies like Huayi Brothers, which often play villainous roles in Chinese entertainment novels.

That's why David looked back at the company headquarters building with longing in his eyes.

The original owner of this body was a student who had just graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. After being transported to this world, David realized that his starting point was ridiculously high after figuring out his current situation.

His excellent memory and physical abilities go without saying—the standard advantages of a time traveler. Just the fact that he graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts is already extremely valuable.

The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts (USC) is often referred to as "half of Hollywood's success." USC alumni are frequently described as "the driving force behind Hollywood."

Notable alumni include Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ron Howard, and Robert Zemeckis, among other top-tier figures.

They have a natural advantage in the Oscar race.

Since 1965, an alumnus has been nominated for an Oscar on average every two years;

Since 1973, at least one alumnus has been nominated for an Oscar every year;

As of 2024, it had received a total of 256 nominations and won 78 awards. Considering the Academy Awards were founded in 1929, and only 96 editions had been held by 2024, calling it a "favored son" wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Therefore, David felt that it would be a waste of his talent not to come to Hollywood to make movies, given his excellent qualities.

The first movie he chose for himself was "Ghost"—a relatively commercial Hollywood film.

This was his first project, which he had carefully considered and decided upon.

Unlike other common American entertainment articles that suggest making low-budget films to win the three major European awards and build a reputation before moving on to commercial films, David Ovitz felt he should follow Spielberg's path as a director.

First, establish your industry status and influence by making blockbuster commercial films, and then try to transition to art films to win the recognition of industry professionals.

By the late 80s, Hollywood had shifted from the era of "New Hollywood" auteur films to a period dominated by high-concept films.

The core logic of major studios is to "drive box office with stars, special effects, and simple themes," and their primary expectation for new directors is replicable and predictable commercial returns.

Artistic reputation had become secondary capital in Hollywood by the late 80s.

The most typical example is David Lynch—his debut film, Eraserhead, was a "pioneering horror film that was a huge success in the midnight movie scene," and his subsequent film, The Elephant Man, was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director at the Academy Awards.

But when he transitioned to commercial films and made Dune, which cost $4200 million but failed to bring returns to the studio, he was immediately marginalized by the Hollywood mainstream and could only continue to make some low-budget films to earn a reputation.

You have to prove you have the ability to make commercial films first, otherwise it will be difficult to gain mainstream recognition.

The film David Ovitz chose, *Ghost*, was commercially successful in its original timeline.

全球总票房高达5.057亿美元，是1990年的全球票房冠军，要知道1991年上映的那部最佳科幻片续集《终结者2》也不过才5.2亿美元。

Moreover, the former only cost $2200 million to produce, while the latter burned through $1.02 million due to special effects. In terms of return on investment alone, even James Cameron would have to rank lower.

There's a common saying in entertainment articles that a film needs to gross three times its production cost to break even, but this only applies to domestic films.

Hollywood films, due to the higher revenue share for the North American domestic market, have a lower break-even point compared to domestic films.

As long as the marketing and distribution costs do not exceed half of the production cost, the production cost can be recovered if the box office reaches 2.5 times the production cost.

Many pseudo-movie fans like to include marketing and distribution costs when calculating costs, and then multiply them by a certain percentage to compare with box office revenue to see if they have made a loss.

Actually, there's no need to add anything, because production companies usually assume that marketing and distribution costs are about half of the production cost, and they've already estimated the box office revenue needed to break even before providing the budget.

It's 2.5 times the production cost, so there's no need to add any marketing or promotion costs.

And this is assuming the film is released globally. If the producers lack confidence in the film itself and only release it in North America, then the film only needs to reach twice the production cost to break even.

So if David can really achieve a return of more than 20 times, then the seven major film companies would probably all be vying to invest in and distribute his second film.

However, that's a long way off. Let's decide on the female lead first.

……

"Very well, Miss Maria, that's enough for now."

After the woman in front of him finished her performance based on a scene from the script, David stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded to her and said...

"Yes, sir." Maria seemed to want to say something more, but in the end she turned and walked out.

"Next." David took the last file from the table and looked at the young girl who walked in from the door.

She was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, about 5 feet 8 inches (173cm) tall. She wore a beige turtleneck sweater with dark blue trousers, which was very simple and gave her a fresh feeling.

No wonder she became a sensation in the original timeline with her role as a farm girl in the TV series "Flowers of May," becoming one of the most popular television actresses in Britain.

Her long, glossy black hair fell naturally, with slight curls, giving her a classic and innocent look. Apart from her hairstyle, everything else suited the character's image quite well.

After a brief look around, David composed himself and said in a calm tone, "Please sit down, Miss Catherine Zeta-Jones."

"Thank you, Mr. Ovitz," Catherine said with a smile, sitting down confidently in her chair, preparing for the interview.

No wonder she dropped out of school at 15 and moved to London alone to start a full-time acting career; she's very precocious.