At a coffee shop in Beverly Hills.
"Did you need me for something?" Charles was called over by his mother.
"Charlize Theron's Agent, who she's worked with for many years, has terminated their contract," Evelyn suddenly said.
"And then what, you signed her?" Is his mom that formidable now, poaching talent?
Evelyn took a sip of coffee. "Theron's Agent was the one who discovered her. For years, Theron has been seen as just a pretty face, and she wasn't happy about it. She always wanted more artistic films, roles that would showcase her acting skills."
"You know monster, the disfiguring performance. Her Agent strongly opposed it, but Theron insisted on taking the role."
As she spoke, Evelyn spread her hands, clearly indicating that the two had a falling out and terminated their contract.
Sexiness and beauty have always been Charlize Theron's labels. As an Agent, of course, they were happy to showcase Charlize Theron's sexiness and beauty, which also led to many endorsement deals.
Theron, who urgently needed to shed this label, was unwilling to continue, and she and her first Agent since her debut went their separate ways.
Charles, of course, knew what his mother meant. After all, Charlize Theron's fame is considerable now, and she wanted to bring her under her wing.
"I said before, if you can sign her, you might have an oscar best actress winner signed artist next year," Charles said casually.
"Go persuade her, sign her! That way, Mom, your status at ETA will definitely be extraordinary. Becoming a partner will be no problem!"
Evelyn smiled. "Now Naomi Watts and Keira Knightley have significantly more influence, and there's also Sofia Coppola and others. I'm still very popular among female artists in Hollywood."
"If Charlize Theron truly gets Oscar recognition through monster, ETA will definitely promote me further to keep me, and the partner position should be secured."
"Of course, you're also a reason. Capet Pictures and Universal Pictures' distribution contract, and your plan to develop movies with budgets over a hundred million dollars, are not a secret!"
After all, they were mother and son. Charles, developing movies at Capet Pictures, would certainly not forget the artists his mother represented, bringing opportunities closer.
Charles nodded. These were all minor matters.
"CAA is strong and well-staffed. You'll need to prepare well to convince Theron," Charles said, after all, his mother was with ETA, which couldn't compare in scale to CAA.
"Regarding films, I can support her choice for art-house movies; she just needs to look at more scripts. Commercially, we can leverage her beautiful appearance to secure endorsements for high-end brands," Evelyn had ideas ever since she learned that Charlize Theron and her Agent had parted ways.
"Just tell her that we will fully lobby for her Oscar acting awards. monster is set to be released at the end of this year anyway, specifically for awards contention!" Anyway, she would win Best Actress for monster, isn't this perfect timing?
"Heh, where would I get those resources? ETA wouldn't invest too much either!"
"Oh, just arrange a few press conferences, get a few newspapers to report on it a bit, just a gesture, it's not a massive promotional campaign, is it?" Charles continued to remind her.
"Alright, I understand," Evelyn said, standing up, then reminded Charles,
"Megan is coming to Los Angeles, and you're still gallivanting around with Scarlett. My God, are you making your mother specifically look after your girlfriend?"
Charles paused, then gave an awkward laugh and said, "That's not it at all. All the potential new stars I asked you to sign are meant to bring the greatest returns with the lowest investment, aren't they?"
"If it weren't for that, would I be taking care of the artists you're optimistic about, one after another?" Evelyn rolled her eyes at Charles and was about to leave, but then, remembering something, she turned back and asked,
"Early next month, Mom is going to Venice. lost in translation and Naomi Watts' 21 Grams have both been submitted to the Venice Film Festival. Are you going?"
lost in translation was produced by Capet Pictures, and Charles was the producer, so he should, by rights, go.
However, Charles shook his head. "I won't be going. lost in translation's international distribution is currently handled by Columbia Samsung; they have people responsible for it. I'm heading to New York in the next couple of days. underworld, distributed by Miramax, is premiering next month!"
"Capet Pictures doesn't have distribution channels, so I'm too lazy to attend film festivals. It would be upsetting to see good movies and not be able to buy them for distribution."
"Alright then!" Evelyn didn't mind. lost in translation's international distribution had already been sold, and Charles not wanting to waste time promoting himself and seeking investment was also a bit of a loss.
Megan Fox was the first person Charles had known. As for Scarlett Johansson, Evelyn also knew that the lost in translation project must have sparked something between the two young people.
Evelyn didn't know that Naomi Watts had slept with her son, otherwise, what would her expression be? However, Naomi Watts' boyfriend is Heath Ledger now.
Charles leaned back in his chair. Megan Fox was currently the most low-key artist under Evelyn, with basically no fame.
"Should I start preparing to discuss developing a live-action transformers movie with Hasbro? This series cannot be co-produced with others; it's a cash cow," Charles thought to himself, but his current strength didn't allow it.
Leaving the coffee shop and just getting into his ferrari 360, his phone rang.
"Hello, this is Charles!"
"It's Britney. Charles, you haven't contacted me in months!"
Charles was stunned. How long had it been? They met at the New York metropolis Charity Gala in May, and now it was already late August. He really forgot.
"Haha, my dear Britney, I've been really busy lately. New movies to develop, and others about to be released," Charles certainly couldn't say he forgot.
"What's up? Are you doing well lately?"
"On the last day of the month, the V (V Music Video Awards) is being held in New York. Come with me!"
"Oh, sure, no problem!" Charles was just about to go to New York anyway. Britney Spears, one of America's top pop stars now, has a lot of attention. Showing up at a movie premiere with her shouldn't be a problem.
"Alright then, I'll wait for you!"
Hanging up the phone, Charles started the car. In the future, when he had money, he'd get a few limited edition sports cars to drive. Currently, Charles's cars weren't very expensive.
The ferrari 360 cost him $150,000 when he bought it, and the BMW Z8 was around $130,000. The corvette Z6 was less than $100,000, and the four-door coupé Mercedes A GT was also just over $100,000.
He's getting carried away. In this day and age, converted to RMB, damn, it's not cheap either.
Well, the used car market is big here in the US, but Charles has bought all new cars. He hasn't bought any limited edition sports cars yet!