Perhaps some people would be intimidated by CAA's name, but with Murphy's character, things would never voluntarily retreat when it came to this point.
He looked at Leon Rose across the table and slowly said, "CAA is indeed powerful, but to control the media? Do you guys really think you're Viacom or News Corp?"
Murphy shrugged his shoulders and added, "Even Rupert Murdoch and Samuel Lei Shi Dong wouldn't dare to say that they can control all the media."
CAA did have some influence over many media outlets, but to say that it could control the media would be a joke.
A story like Kobe Bryant's is never going to be suppressed by CAA, one of the media's favorite things to do is to make a star and then destroy it so it's newsworthy and appealing.
If he sold the photo to the media, those media could inform CAA before publishing it, it was already giving CAA face.
Although he underestimated the other side because of his age and inconspicuous status, Leon Ross didn't pay enough attention behind him, thinking that by throwing out the big mountain that is CAA, people would generally leave a few points of face.
But the young man on the other side is obviously not so good at fooling around, and will not be fooled by those unrealistic things.
This person was soft and hard, Leon Rose did not have too good a way, in fact to this point, in the case of the other party holding Kobe Bryant's photos, he was in a completely passive situation.
Unless he wants those photos to be exposed.
It's just that the consequences of those photos coming to light would be quite serious, and I'm afraid that a lot of what this person called Murphy said would evolve into the truth as well.
Even if only one of them happened, his side would have to pay a rather heavy price.
"Young man!" Leon Rose looked at Murphy, "Don't be too greedy, CAA is not that easy to mess with."
Murphy slightly sidestepped his head and met the other party's gaze, saying, "I never had the intention of wanting to mess with CAA."
Only a fool would want to mess with CAA, he was just unlucky enough to stumble upon it.
Leon Rose was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when Murphy followed up, "I've hurt people, been in jail, and engaged in the lowest level of work, only able to run for the most basic livelihood. But I have no relatives, no property, and no worries ..."
"No worries ..." Leon Rose silently repeated this sentence, as far as he knew, the other side also really has nothing to worry about.
To put it bluntly, the opposite party was just a poor scoundrel who had walked out of the slums of Los Angeles.
What was the best way to deal with such a person? After going around in circles a few times, Leon Ross thoroughly understood the point at issue.
"Go ahead," he asked bluntly, "name a reasonable figure."
Crossing his arms on the coffee table, Murphy said calmly, "I'm a Kobe Bryant fan and would do anything for him, he's a great ballplayer and a city hero of Los Angeles ..."
From the time he sat down, Murphy never said anything related to money, words that at some point could very well become a handle.
Like this kind of deal, between the stars and the media and reporters, there must exist for numerous cases, but Murphy is still very careful.
Leon Rose's face became more and more serious, and finally decided to treat Murphy as a heavyweight negotiation opponent.
"Clever and cunning as a fox, calm and stoic as a hunter!"
For some reason, Leon Rose remembered these words when he looked at Murphy.
"Ten thousand dollars!" He tentatively opened a price.
As if Murphy hadn't heard it, he was still gushing, "I'm a fan of Kobe, and I definitely won't do anything to harm my idol ..."
Leon Rose originally thought that with some means, he could set this matter right without too much effort, but in the end, he had to use the money strategy, but fortunately, he was prepared when he came here, and his employer had said that any problem that can be solved by money is not a problem.
Of course, there was a limit to the amount of money.
"Thirty thousand dollars ..." He continued to raise the price.
Murphy was still telling how he admired Kobe Bryant.
"Forty thousand dollars ..." Leon Rose's voice became low.
Across the room, Murphy was already holding Kobe Bryant up as a superstar unrivaled in the world.
Leon Rose looked deeply at Murphy, "Greed is an original sin! Young man, fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money."
Murphy didn't have the tendency to hold his tongue, as if he really was a big fan of that basketball superstar.
"You ... "Leon Rose's eyes glazed over, "Seventy thousand dollars! That's the highest I can offer, don't be greedy!"
Murphy was unmoved.
"Eighty thousand dollars!"
"Ninety thousand dollars ..."
Looking across the room, Murphy guessed that it was almost the bottom line.
"You have to know how to stop." Leon Rose's voice rang coldly again, "One hundred thousand dollars."
"Like I said, I worship Kobe." Murphy also knows the reason for stopping, although the opposite side of this agent's attitude is not good, but the use of all the means of the bright side, he does not believe that CAA will only do things brightly and squarely to come, now the price for him is not low, obviously did not touch the bottom line of the CAA, "Kobe is my idol, I absolutely will not let anything that jeopardizes the idol to circulate out! "
Hearing Murphy's words, Leon Rose couldn't help but look at Murphy again, feeling that this young man was even more sophisticated and intelligent than he had estimated.
"I want all the copies." Leon Rose stabilized his mind and feigned calmness, "And a non-disclosure agreement."
Murphy picked up his cup, drank the remaining coffee inside, and stood up, "You know my number."
After saying that, he didn't bother asking for the storage disk and turned towards the cafe's entrance.
One night's hard work, in exchange for one hundred thousand dollars, Murphy thought that this business was perfectly fine.
Afterward, Murphy rejoined his attorney Robert and went to Burbank, officially signing a temporary work contract with Channel 6 to participate in the production of that documentary.
Channel 6 had its own editors and production staff, and even though Murphy would be credited as assistant director and cameraman on the untitled documentary, there wasn't much to get involved with.
Murphy didn't think much of it either, he was really an inexperienced rookie compared to the professionals at Channel 6, and wasn't quite ready for the job of assistant director.
More often than not, Murphy was giving the editors a hand.
Since the material didn't have to be filmed, and all that was used was past video footage, the importance of the editor's work was emphasized, and it wasn't unreasonable for Murphy to follow the editor.
It was never easy to become a qualified director and editor.
In the editing room, Murphy stood out of the way, not saying a word, just watching the editor called Griffiths busy, the other party is dealing with the Bill Road case video as well as Murphy a long time ago to shoot a robbery in the Latin community, he used a parallel montage mixing, the poor people who fell to the ground shot and the rich white people are closely linked, as if he wanted to use this way to prove that the violent crime in Los Angeles has long since ceased to be confined to one place, and that both the poor and the rich are victims.
And the footage here is much more realistic and gory than the specially processed footage shown on news broadcasts, ignoring the faces **** that mask the identities of the dead, and it's also much more appealing to the eye.
"The material you shot is rare."
The work came to an end, Griffiths walked over to Murphy, pointing at the Bill Road case footage on the screen and said, "I've been in the business for so many years, but I haven't seen anyone who can capture such a shocking scene."
"Thanks." Murphy made a rare humble remark, "It's just luck."
The door of the editing room was knocked from outside at this time, after Griffith answered, someone pushed the door in from outside, Murphy turned his head to look, it was Carla Faith who was wearing a professional set of dresses, she nodded her head to Griffith to greet him first, and then shouted Murphy out of the editing room.
Coming to the lounge on the first floor of the TV station, the two of them found an empty table and sat down, Carla Faith directly said to Murphy, "It looks like you're really taking your studies seriously."
"Opportunities like this one are rare." Murphy said squarely, "I treasure it very much."
Carla Faith pointed in Santa Monica's direction and asked, "How's that matter being handled?"
"Basically taken care of."
The opposite party was a know-it-all, so there was no need for Murphy to hide it, "I'll sign a non-disclosure agreement with the other party's agency tomorrow."
"How much?" Carla Faith made a motion of counting the money.
Murphy shook his head, "Not a lot."
He held out five fingers and wiggled them forward and backward.
Carla Faith could read it and said with slight mockery, "That's not like you."
"It's been quite a lot." Murphy said contentedly, "It's just gossip, and the CAA is a lot harder for me to mess with than the LAPD."
"You shouldn't mess with CAA if you want to make it in the movie business ...," Carla Faith said unflinchingly, "You shouldn't mess with CAA."
Murphy finally showed that hint of helplessness, "How could I have thought that a basketball superstar like Kobe Bryant would belong under the umbrella of an entertainment company like CAA?"
But then he put away the helplessness, "Honey, you know, I need money, big money."
"I know that." Carla Faith didn't spare him any face, "And know that you're going to get even poorer than you are now if you go into the movie business."
She let out a low sigh and switched to a persuasive tone, "There's a rule in Hollywood that a director never invests in a movie he's making."
In anyone else's shoes, Carla Faith would never have said as much.
"I'm aware of this unwritten rule." Murphy leaned back in his chair, "But I can't think of any other way."
Pitching out scripts, none of them had responded so far; going to interviews at the theater, the other side would close the door just to learn about the experience of injuring a director ...
He had already wasted a year inside the prison; there really wasn't too much time ahead, and with every year that passed, the chances of being able to succeed got smaller.
Kara Faith looked at her wristwatch and stood up, "I'll just have to wish you good luck then."
After a year of bad luck, Murphy's luck has undoubtedly been quite good lately, but he wasn't sure how long this good luck would stay with him, especially in the movie industry, where luck is often important as well, and if the luck is bad, an even better movie that comes out at the wrong place at the wrong time could flop and not even recognize his mother.
A good movie is nothing more than the bare minimum for a movie to succeed.