Chapter 142: Two Invitations
Bright sunlight fell across the garden. Sitting at a small table beneath a palm tree, Tom Hanks closed the script in his hands and looked across at Eno Martin. Although CAA regulations technically made Martin just one of his co-managing agents, in Hanks's mind, only Eno Martin truly qualified as his agent.
"Eno, what do you think of this audition invitation?"
It was no secret in Hollywood that Duke Rosenberg and CAA had their share of friction and conflicts.
"Worried I might have a problem with it?" Eno Martin laughed. "Tom, I've never met Duke Rosenberg. We've never had any indirect contact, much less a conflict of interest. There's no bad blood between us. The ones with a grudge against Duke Rosenberg aren't the entirety of CAA, but the interest group represented by Martin Bob."
In truth, Tom Hanks knew that like all massive corporations, CAA was far from an internal monolith. The competition triggered by Michael Ovitz's departure had only intensified the company's internal conflicts. Eno Martin was Martin Bob's biggest rival, yet now he could only watch as the other man wielded absolute authority over CAA.
"Tom, a successful director needs outstanding actors, and outstanding actors need a successful director." Eno Martin showed no sign of objection. "Now that you have your School Faction acting awards, leaning toward commercial projects is no bad thing. Duke Rosenberg has proven himself to be one of Hollywood's best commercial directors, and a collaboration with him has a much higher chance of success."
"Won't Martin Bob make things difficult for you?"
The two of them had worked together for years and shared a genuine friendship, so Tom Hanks was still a little concerned. "He hinted before that we should try to avoid working with Duke Rosenberg."
"Tom, none of that is an issue for you or me." Eno Martin gently shook his head. "You are an Oscar Best Actor winner, and your latest film grossed over 300 million dollars at the North American box office. To you, CAA is merely a service tool. Don't forget, while Martin Bob has plenty of supporters, there are quite a few people backing me inside CAA as well."