"Be prepared for an upcoming scenario, where we might need to negotiate contract for a high profile watch endorsement."
Hearing Helen Herman's words, Matthew immediately understood that this was probably not a manufacturer that approached them proactively, and he couldn't help but ask, "You contacted them?"
"What did you think?" Helen Herman knew very well that Matthew was about to step into the A-list. Given his temperament, if her capabilities were lacking and someone offered to pay the breach of contract fee, it wasn't impossible for him to switch agencies. Therefore, she had prepared a big move specifically for this moment.
She said lightly, "You didn't think I take your commission and do nothing except negotiate film deals, did you?"
Matthew smiled, "I never thought that."
Helen Herman had just mentioned a watch endorsement. Given her strategy, it certainly wouldn't be a low-end brand. Judging by the standards of The other side of the Pacific back then, high-end brand watches often carried higher prestige.
At that time, there was even a saying: "The poor play with cars, the rich play with watches."
The fact that Helen Herman was able to secure a watch brand endorsement for him must have taken considerable effort.
"Which brand?" Matthew asked curiously.
"Rolex." Helen Herman continued in detail, "One of the global spokespersons for Rolex mechanical watches. It's estimated that someone from the Rolex headquarters will come to Los Angeles next month to negotiate the contract with us."
Matthew asked again, "There's no assessment like with Mercedes-Benz?"
Helen Herman shook her head, "No!" Her voice remained calm and indifferent. "As long as you don't object, we can sign the contract directly when the Rolex people arrive in Los Angeles."
Matthew shrugged, "Why would I object?" He added, "I thought it was Patek Philippe just now."
"Patek Philippe doesn't hire celebrities for endorsements; they insist on a marketing strategy where the watch itself is the spokesperson." Helen Herman knew Matthew wasn't very familiar with this and explained, "Rolex is essentially the ceiling for watch endorsements that mainstream stars can achieve. Rolex is the king of brand building, the king of stable value and price, and the king of distribution channels, while Patek Philippe is the king of niche high-end brands."
She thought for a moment and put it more vividly, "Patek Philippe is positioned as high-end luxury, and Rolex is positioned as mass luxury."
Matthew remembered Helen Herman telling him that top-tier brands generally don't seek celebrity endorsements.
In fact, he knew that Rolex was also a luxury brand, and securing such an endorsement would definitely help raise his prestige. Helen Herman hadn't revealed this information before, likely wanting to show him that her ability as an Agent was no worse than that of a major company's ace Agent.
The Rolex brand endorsement doesn't conflict with Mercedes-Benz, so since Rolex is interested, he will certainly accept it.
Helen Herman then said, "Rolex's intention is to sign a five-year contract with you..."
"They really know how to pick their timing!" Matthew couldn't help but interrupt Helen Herman. "With the two sequels to pirates of the caribbean coming out, I'll be popular for at least five more years."
"Rolex isn't a charity." Helen Herman thought this was perfectly normal and added, "The endorsement fee for five years is 15 million US dollars. Additionally, Rolex will sponsor you with their entire line of high-end watches for daily and public use. This is also one of the conditions of the endorsement contract: you must wear a Rolex watch in high-exposure settings such as premieres, awards ceremonies, and interview programs."
"No problem." Matthew had a strong sense of commercial contract ethics. "I can save money on buying watches in the future."
He then asked doubtfully, "Isn't the endorsement fee a bit low?"
Helen Herman seemed to anticipate Matthew's question and had already prepared the answer. "You are just one of the global spokespersons. Rolex has many global spokespersons, and three new ones are being added this time: besides you, there is the Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and supermodel Cindy Crawford."
Roger Federer has the longest contract duration, possibly 10 years for 20 million US dollars. Cindy Crawford's contract is the same as yours, both three-year deals, but since she is female, her endorsement fee should be slightly lower than yours."
"If you think it's appropriate, that's fine." Matthew was quite relieved about this, as his income directly affected Helen Herman's commission. He then asked curiously, "Rolex also hires tennis stars for endorsements?"
"You probably don't know since you don't usually watch tennis matches." Helen Herman explained casually, "Rolex sponsors several top tennis tournaments, and Roger Federer is Swiss. Endorsements by stars in the tennis world are generally quite high-end."
She thought for a moment and added, "The specific details will have to wait until the people from Rolex arrive."
Matthew nodded and said, "Alright, remember to let me know when they arrive."
If he could successfully sign the Rolex contract, his income just from endorsements would reach seven to eight million US dollars annually. As long as he continued to be popular, he would surely receive more endorsement advertisements.
Helen Herman clearly shared his thoughts and said, "In my plan, you can secure no less than five endorsement contracts. Mercedes-Benz and Rolex are just the beginning."
"Don't worry." Matthew understood Helen Herman and the subtext behind her words. "We're cooperating so well, I wouldn't switch agencies."
Unless another company offered terms he simply couldn't refuse, staying at Angel Talent Agency was the wisest choice right now. He was the top star at Angel Talent Agency, and the resources of the company and Helen Herman would be prioritized for him, even concentrating all their efforts on promoting the events between him and Charlize Theron.
If he switched to another Agency, he wouldn't receive this kind of treatment.
More importantly, the career path planned by Helen Herman was largely consistent with what he desired.
"is there anything else?" Matthew glanced at the wall clock and said, "If not, I'll be leaving."
"Yes, there's something I need your help with." Helen Herman didn't stand on ceremony with Matthew and said directly, "Eva Green, whom I just signed, failed in her first film in Hollywood, and her subsequent development is quite problematic. The pirates of the caribbean Crew is holding auditions for several supporting roles, including a Witch character. I think her appearance and temperament are very suitable for it. If you have the chance, please lend a hand."
Matthew thought about it; this shouldn't be too difficult. He said, "I'll handle it depending on the situation."
After leaving Helen Herman's office, before he even got downstairs, his phone rang. Matthew took it out and saw that Michael Fassbender was calling, inviting him to go to a bar for drinks that evening; James McAvoy would be going too.
After hanging up, he decided not to leave. He first sent a text message to Charlize Theron, then went back to Helen Herman to ask for the draft scripts of the two pirates of the caribbean sequels, and started reading them.
More than a month ago, Matthew had received the scripts for the latter two sequels specially delivered by Walt Disney Pictures and had studied them many times. However, even now, the scripts were not completely finalized, which was very consistent with the usual style of projects executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
Of course, the main plot should remain unchanged.
Although the scripts for these two sequels still maintained a three-protagonist structure, based on the popularity of the characters in pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl, the screen time for Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann had been significantly adjusted compared to what he remembered.
The most notable change was the continued strengthening of Will Turner's role. Although his screen time still couldn't match Jack Sparrow's, he could certainly be called a lead actor, supporting the entire story alongside Jack Sparrow.
A film's duration and volume are limited. Since Jack Sparrow was the most popular character, his screen time couldn't be reduced. With Will Turner's screen time increasing, the sacrifice naturally fell to Elizabeth Swann.
If Elizabeth Swann seemed like a supporting actress in pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl, then judging by these two scripts, Elizabeth Swann was truly going to become a supporting actress in these two sequels.
He just didn't know if Keira Knightley would have any objections to this. She was present at the engagement ceremony that day, but Matthew only spoke briefly with her and didn't mention the script or the character role.
Regardless, Keira Knightley would still carry the title of leading actress.
Furthermore, her career path was changing. Matthew heard Helen Herman mention that after the disastrous failure of king arthur, Keira Knightley did not plan to take on commercial entertainment films anymore, focusing instead on independent art-house genres. One film she starred in, Pride and Prejudice, is set to be released this year.
Matthew estimated that it would be difficult to see Keira Knightley in commercial films outside of pirates of the caribbean in the future. This was not only her own choice but also a negative effect brought about by the failure of king arthur.
The two sequels to pirates of the caribbean will begin filming at the end of this month.
After reviewing the two scripts, Matthew saw that it was nearing quitting time. He left Angel Talent Agency and drove to the bar arranged with Michael Fassbender. He arrived the earliest, and Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy arrived at the bar sequentially within the next ten minutes.
The three drank heartily, chatting while they drank, covering everything from Hollywood gossip to which actress they wanted to date, and then to their respective jobs.
Matthew learned from this that Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy were not planning to return to London for development but intended to stay and work hard in Los Angeles. The competition in the UK was indeed smaller, but the opportunities were also much fewer than in Los Angeles.
This was undoubtedly good news for Matthew.
"I have a project here; I'm one of the planners and will also serve as the lead actor." Matthew naturally wanted to help Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. "It's a movie adapted from the graphic novel 300 spartans, a war genre, and it has several excellent supporting roles."
He added, "It might require a lot of fitness training before filming starts."
Matthew didn't say much more; whether the two went or not was up to them, as this kind of thing couldn't be forced.)!