The Legendary Actor - Chapter 38

Andy left, and the whole conversation seemed to be without any direction, as if it had no purpose.

In fact, Andy’s visit to Pioneer Village today was just a passing through, an impromptu visit to do some preliminary fact-check, and he didn’t even do his homework.

After all, the current Renly is only a rumored exotic fruit, “The Pacific” has yet to be aired, and the media and audience feedback, and performance strength have yet to be measured, so there is no need to jump to conclusions yet. Of course, if he had a pleasant surprise at the first meeting, there is nothing wrong with signing a brokerage contract on the spot.

However, the final outcome of the meeting was far beyond expectations.

The young man, who was only twenty years old, showed a calmness and wisdom that transcended time; he was neither impatient nor overbearing, and his goals were clear and unwavering. On the surface, he appeared to be an unrealistic idealist, but in reality, he had a clear vision, even an ambition, for his future plans.

Andy knew that Renly was not the type to be pushed around, and that working with such a straightforward personality was bound to cause a lot of stumbling blocks on their way. But this is a double-edged sword, which can either make or break a legend. The key is how much strength Renly has, whether he has an accurate judgment of his own talent, and whether he understands the line between confidence and arrogance.

As for predicting the future of Renly, Andy thinks it’s hard to tell a middle ground between being a star or a flop. So, he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions; he needs time to make a clear judgment and more information to weigh the options “The Pacific” is undoubtedly the best platform, not only because of the show itself but also because of the performance by Renly, which will be the basis for Andy’s judgment.

Of course, Andy also thought about the possibility that other agents might get there first while he was waiting to see what happened. However, Andy believes that Renly is not a person who can compromise easily, just like he would never nod his head if he had invited him today, but Renly also needs to investigate.

This is why Andy chose to leave. He did not mention his job as an agent, nor did he mention the contract with Renly, nor did he even mention his purpose today. Andy believed that Renly was a smart man who understood his intentions.

Renly did understand, even if he wasn’t explicitly conveyed to. There were enough clues for him to deduce what was really going on.

Again, he was in no hurry to make a decision, and like the other agents who had shown interest in him, he decided to take another look. It wasn’t because he was so confident that he wanted to pick a bigger agent; it was because he knew very well that while an agent picks an artist, the artist should also learn to pick an agent.

Strictly speaking, artists and agents have an employment relationship – the artists hire the agents, and they are the buyers at the market.

In Renly’s opinion, the long-term vison and values of an agent are more important than abilities, resources, and connections. A manager who has a long-term vision, a bigger perspective, and an understanding of the trade-offs between profit and loss will make an artist’s life easier; on the contrary, an agent may also become a grave for the artist.

Generally speaking, an agent’s influence on an artist can be divided into three parts.

The first is the trade-off. The agent’s fee comes from the artist’s commission, which is ten percent for the top five agencies in the industry and eight percent for other agencies.

The higher the artist’s fees, the higher the agent’s income. For this reason, many agents continue to persuade their artists to take on commercial films, even selling out their artists in exchange for short-term profits.

Edward Norton is a case in point. He was very eager to be a part of Paramount’s “The Score” and was thrilled to have a collaboration with Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro for the first in his careers. Finally, his agent reached an agreement with Paramount, and the price for Edward’s participation in “The Big Deal” was that he would go on to star in another Paramount production. At the urging of his agent, Edward agreed.

The contract payment was honored a year later, and Edward was cast in the commercial film “The Italian Job”. Paramount, however, forced Edward to complete the production for contract money.

After the film was shot, Edward fired his agent, and the box office flopped.

The second is an eye for selecting works. Generally speaking, an artist’s choice of work is based solely on the recommendation of his or her agent, who instead has limited sources of information. This means that the taste of the agent will determine the quality of the artist’s work.

Some people wonder how Nicolas Cage became the king of bad movies. It all started when Nicolas went on a shooting spree to pay off his gambling debts, but it was his agent’s inaccurate judgment of the script that caused the tragedy.

There is also the case where an artist suggests a project that he or she would like to be in, but the agent thinks that it will be a flop, so he or she switches sides and recommends other works.

The last one is about crisis management, the cooperation of the agent and the PR team, which will become an integral part of the artist’s image project.

Kristen Stewart is a classic case in point.

She started out with small-budget indie filmmakers, and her acting ability made people optimistic about her future, especially with the “Twilight” series becoming a worldwide phenomenon. But in fact, the Hollywood academy doesn’t like idol actors, and it is often said in the industry that if you star in an idol movie, you won’t get an Oscar in the next ten years, which is one of the reasons why idol actors are becoming more and more difficult to develop and are easily replaced by up-and-coming stars. The popularity of “Twilight” brought Kristen exposure, but it also kept her away from the independent film industry, and monotonous acting drew some criticism as well.

Later, while filming “Snow White and the Huntsman”, Kristen cheated with director Rupert Sanders on her fianc, Robert Pattinson, with whom she was seemingly chummy and all that staff. The negative news almost destroyed her career, and she was accused bythousands of men of having fallen from grace.

She changed agents, and less than a year later, she appeared in “Still Alice”, “Cloud of Sils Maria”, “American Ultra”, “Personal Shopper”, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” and many more, working with such big names as Ang Lee, Woody Allen, Julianne Moore, etc.

The career is not only not declining but also flourishing. In contrast, the other main character in the cheating scandal, Robert, has not received any proper work for three years, which is a stark contrast. Especially considering that people are always harsher to women and more lenient to men when it comes to the news, but this time it seems to be the other way around, which makes it all the more evident of what an agent is capable of.

Of course, in addition to the agent, Kristen’s turnaround is also due to a good PR team, which is a different story.

Just as an agent chooses an artist based on their talent, market value, image packaging, and potential, an artist must also choose an agent based on their business ability, long-term vision, communication skills, and potential value.

Leonardo DiCaprio changed five agents in just two years to work with Martin Scorsese. But no one wants to change agents too often, if they can help it.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that there are options. It’s the same with Renly.

Even without the guidance of an agent, he can create a world of his own with his own hard work and perseverance. Although it would be difficult for an independent artist to walk without the help of an agent in the grand framework of Hollywood, at least Renly has other possibilities, which is why he is not in a hurry to settle on any agent.

The advantage of being born again gives Renly the capital to do so.

From the short encounter with Andy just now, Renly already has a preliminary impression of him. He smiled from head to toe and seemed to be a kindhearted agent, but anyone could feel the calmness and wisdom in his words. The ability to become a senior agent at Creative Artists Agency is not to be looked down.

He is judging them, and they are judging him, aren’t they? Renly believed that they should not have to wait too long for their next meeting.

“Who was that?” After seeing Andy off, Langly turned to the party and Neil asked in passing.

“Old friend.” Renly replied with a smile, then grabbed Neil by the shoulders, walked toward the table, and said cheerfully, “Party time!” Everyone made their voices heard, welcoming Renly to the first wave of St. Patrick’s Day festivities.