HWI 216

Hollywood What If Chapter 216

Kazir knew that his status was no longer so simple. His hard work paid off and he was recognized as a true top director who could bring profit to an agency.

From 1995 to 1999, he created films that were blockbusters.

Napoleon Dynamite

The Hangover

Taken

John Wick

The Bourne Identity

In just five years, he made five big movies. Honestly, that was amazing. Because making a movie was never easy. The manpower, the budget and the creation of the movie was never easy.

For Kazir to make good movies in a row, he was already a top director. It would be detrimental for CAA to let him go.

Initially, Kazir Grey had no intention of making conditions. He wanted to work with CAA for a long time.

However, lately many agents have been trying to contact him. Some of them even knocked on his car just to talk to him... Frankly, it was frustrating and these agents didn't respect his privacy.

Suddenly he had an idea. He "agreed" to Franklin Maxwell's terms and told the agent that he might return to WMA if they agreed to his terms.

With that, CAA felt a certain danger. They didn't want to lose him. They hoped that Kazir would give them a chance to prove themselves.

CAA was an agency and they had to find jobs for their actors until the clients had a steady income from which CAA could profit.

The projects that Grey Pictures did were for CAA, most of the crew and cast came from CAA, which created jobs and money for both sides.

If CAA lost Kazir Grey and Grey Pictures, it would be devastating.

Kazir used the situation to his advantage. In reality, Kazir didn't have anything he wanted from CAA. He had money, fame and authority over his projects.

The 2% commission was not that enticing to him, even though he was making millions. If there was one thing he was worried about, it was the future of Grey Pictures and Continental Cinematic Universe.

As a veteran of the industry, Kazir knew that Fremont Smith was an important individual for CCU. It would be hard to replace him. It would affect their plans.

A change of agent would possibly affect Fremont's contract with Grey Pictures. Notice that Fremont Smith has a trilogy contract with Grey Pictures, and he has to make three movies for Grey Pictures in a decade.

Now the "new" agent could pester Grey Pictures to change the contract... The thing was, Kazir didn't want that to happen.

It may sound bad, but Kazir didn't want that to happen. He wanted to keep the trilogy deal. As for the salary, Fremont Smith had every right to ask for more. He deserved it anyway, and Salvatore was there to negotiate between the two of them.

So he used the situation to ask one of the co-chairman to agree to his request. Again, Kazir was no longer just a director. He had the status to negotiate with CAA.

So fast forward... He got what he wanted. CAA lowered their commission rate and decided to keep quiet about Fremont's possible agent change.

Kazir won that battle without having to face Kevin Huvane. That was a victory.

As for the WMA and other agencies, he didn't give a fuck if they wanted to make a deal that would satisfy him. Kazir, of course, had already signed the extension contract with his lawyer Terrence Downey.

...

...

...

"... So you really passed."

Kazir muttered weakly as he looked at the woman who was sitting pretty on the waiting chair.

The last round of auditions for female roles was today. Kazir decided to take a break since they had been going on for half a day now. As he left the audition room, he looked at the actresses waiting in the hallway.

The women began to pose, quite seductively, keeping their composure and giving the director their sweetest smiles.

This was not the first time this had happened, so Kazir was used to it. Although, he admitted, everyone in the corridor was beautiful.

Unfortunately for them, the leading female role was already taken by Angelina Jolie. She didn't bother to come to the audition today because she signed the contract yesterday. They are now looking for actresses to fill the other female roles.

Angelina Jolie was still a rising star and her salary was acceptable, it didn't even reach 1 million. The woman lost her credibility a few years ago because of drug addiction.

The actress was fine now and Kazir even confirmed it personally yesterday. The woman seemed normal. She didn't look drunk or something. Which was good, because Fox, the female hitman in Wanted, was based on Angelina's appearance.

"Good morning, Director Grey!"

Someone greeted him as he walked, and Kazir instinctively looked at the person calling his name.

"You..."

He was surprised to see a young woman in the lineup.

"Ah, I'm sorry, maybe you don't remember me. I'm Jessica Alba. We last met in--"

"No, I remember you."

Kazir replied.

The women in the hallway looked at them. They stared at Jessica Alba, who struck up a conversation with the director without shame. Jessica Alba was the youngest contestant in the audition. All the actresses except Jessica were over 20 years old.

They didn't like that Jessica Alba hoarded all of Kazir's attention. If that happened, the outcome of this audition would be obvious.

But it seemed that Jessica Alba ignored their hatred, or she just didn't feel the actresses' hatred for her. Well, this is a rare opportunity to connect with a hot, young and talented director like Kazir.

Keep in mind that Kazir Grey was only 31 years old. In this industry, that age was still young. Some actors and actresses blossomed late in this industry.

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[ I will post another chapter later. It depends on what hour, but I'll surely post one.]