Hearing Eva Green take the initiative to greet him, Matthew stopped immediately and responded with a smile, "Hello, Miss Green."
The downward curve of Eva Green's mouth suddenly bloomed into a smile, "Just call me Eva."
Matthew nodded slightly. Just like when they met at the premiere of kingdom of heaven, Eva Green's long, dyed black hair fell over her shoulders, paired with black casual wear, making her skin look exceptionally fair.
He had heard Helen Herman mention before that Eva Green was actually a blonde.
However, the dark brown, almost black, long hair undoubtedly suited Eva Green's appearance and temperament much better.
Eva Green had large whites of her eyes, drooping eye corners, a slightly downturned mouth, and deep nasolabial folds. She was different from those blonde, blue-eyed women; if she had blonde hair, she would look somewhat out of place.
Just like the feeling from their previous meeting, Matthew always felt that the black-haired Eva Green had a unique appearance, beautiful in a way that wasn't generic. She possessed a beauty that was wicked, dark, cold, and mysterious, much like the female demons described in the classical literature from The other side of the Pacific.
"is the Crew's filming in Dominica all finished?" Eva Green quickly found a common topic. "I heard you guys ran into quite a bit of trouble over there."
Matthew smiled, "It was alright, the filming went quite smoothly."
Eva Green stood still in front of Matthew and continued, "I'm joining the Crew for filming in a few days."
"It seems we still have a few scenes to film together," Matthew said, looking at Eva Green.
Eva Green took a step forward, "Matthew, I haven't thanked you yet for helping me get this role."
She knew that the failure of kingdom of heaven had almost destroyed her path to becoming a Hollywood Star. Without someone's help, the future would have been very difficult.
"Don't mention it, I just casually put in a word with Gore Verbinski and the Crew." Matthew intentionally made it sound effortless, as if he hadn't done much at all.
Hearing this, Eva Green took it even more seriously in her heart. If a casual word could resolve an audition for a supporting female role, could he even influence the choice of the leading lady if he spoke up seriously?
She didn't doubt it.
The person in front of her was now an A-list star in the industry. His commercial influence was something even she, a Frenchwoman, was clear about.
"Thank you," Eva Green expressed her gratitude verbally. "Really, I'm very grateful to you."
Matthew said once more, "Eva, really, don't mention it."
Eva Green smiled at Matthew again and looked at the stairs behind him, "is Helen in her office?"
Matthew nodded, "Are you looking for her?"
"Yes," Eva Green had her own plans and said, "I came over today to see her about something."
"Then I won't delay you any further." Matthew prepared to take his leave, "We'll talk more when we have time."
Eva Green waved gently at Matthew, "We'll talk more when we have time."
She walked past Matthew and went straight to the second floor. As she turned at the stairs, she glanced back at the lobby. Seeing that Matthew had already left, she stood on the stairs for a long moment without moving.
For the next two days, Matthew stayed hidden inside Horner Estate without going out. Having filmed in Dominica for such a long time, he felt tired. He decided to take advantage of these few free days to relax properly.
However, having just stepped into the A-list, he was at a busy stage of his career. Even without filming, there were many matters that needed handling.
Bella Anderson made a special trip to Horner Estate. Currently, the contact between Matthew and supporter organizations in major cities across North America was coordinated and handled by her and Angel Talent Agency. Even with a top-down structure, these fan organizations couldn't become strictly disciplined entities.
Matthew and Helen Herman were both well aware of this. Their requirements weren't actually complex: they just wanted the fans to respond actively and go directly to venues and theaters to show support when needed, such as when Matthew held a large-scale event in a city or a new film was released.
Helen Herman had specifically analyzed for Matthew that the exhibition model for mainstream Hollywood commercial films would become increasingly extreme. The most typical manifestation would be in the opening weekend box office. In the future, the opening weekend might account for one-third, half, or even more of a film's North American box office.
As a result, a film's box office would need to explode during the opening weekend. Pre-sales and support during the first week would become exceptionally critical.
According to the analysis of Hollywood's Big Six, the more outstanding the first-week box office of a top-tier production in the future, the higher its chances of success, and it could even overcome the impact of negative word-of-mouth to some extent.
In addition, Angel Talent Agency was planning to use some hardcore fans in Los Angeles as a foundation to establish a more fanatical supporter organization.
Such an organization could provide support and also serve as a weapon to smear other competitors.
Subsequently, another management company took the initiative to come to the door, wanting to represent related business.
As everyone knows, a significant portion of Hollywood Stars have independent Agents and managers, and their functions are different.
Under California law and industry union regulations, Agents and managers have a clear division of power—Agents can obtain work for artists; their job is to close as many deals as possible to get the artist work. The manager's responsibility is to design and plan the artist's career, building their career path; their job is to provide career consultation to their clients and offer advice and suggestions on the career choices provided by the Agent.
To put it simply, the Agent provides the artist with employment opportunities, while the manager advises the artist on which opportunities to accept.
Just looking at it on paper, one can see a clear conflict of interest between Agents and managers.
In the past, Matthew had never employed a manager; this role was actually shared by himself and Helen Herman.
Of course, there were many stars who didn't employ managers, not just him. For example, many stars under CAA didn't have managers.
The conflict between the manager and Agent industries was obvious and had intensified in recent years, with the former even starting to replace the functions of the latter, quietly seeking work for clients.
Some big-name stars or directors even fired their Agents after hiring a manager.
As far as Matthew knew, Leonardo DiCaprio, who left CAA, didn't use an Agent but completely replaced them with a manager. Although this didn't comply with the California Talent Agencies Act, it was gradually becoming the norm within Hollywood.
Matthew had a detailed talk with the people who came to his door. He neither agreed to cooperate with them nor refused. Currently, his cooperation with Helen Herman was very pleasant, and he had no plans to hire a manager for the time being. Moreover, the most important function of a manager wouldn't be very useful to him for a long time to come.
A manager's biggest role was to suggest which opportunities he should accept based on the actual situation.
Matthew basically didn't need anyone else to provide suggestions in this regard.
However, keeping such a management company dangling was also a form of motivation for Helen Herman.
Additionally, Matthew needed a public relations team. He spoke to Helen Herman directly about this, and her suggestion was to directly hire an industry-proven PR team.
Matthew didn't have much of an issue with this. A mature PR team would have more experience in dealing with unexpected events.
Since entering the Hollywood circle in 1999, after seven years of hard work, Matthew had gradually climbed to the position of a Hollywood A-list star. Any A-list star basically meant immense fame and high income.
Similarly, many people would rely on him, an A-list star, to make a living, forming a massive team.
Since he had just entered the ranks of A-list stars, his team composition was still relatively simple. He had no manager; his Agent was Helen Herman; his lawyer was always Lawyer Wilson; his financial services came from PwC; Bella Anderson was his personal assistant; his PR team was outsourced; and he had a stockbroker far away in New York specifically buying Apple stock for him.
In addition, there were many people on the periphery serving him.
For example, the Red Penguin Company where Lister worked provided housekeeping services and daily house maintenance. Horner Estate employed two chefs and three maids, and there were three security guards at the estate gate working twenty-four-hour shifts. Helen Herman also suggested he hire a reliable bodyguard and so on.
These also required him to pay out real money for salaries.
Matthew had discussed this with an accountant from PwC. Even without counting his personal and daily living expenses, the commissions for his surrounding team alone would consume twenty percent of his film salaries and endorsement income.
For roles like Agents, lawyers, accountants, and PR, the remuneration wasn't a direct quote, but a percentage cut of related income.
This was also one of the reasons why Matthew no longer hired a manager. A manager's income also existed in the form of a cut, and the percentage wasn't lower than an Agent's.
Matthew had once asked Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves and found that his expenses in this area were still relatively low. Keanu Reeves was okay, but for a star like Johnny Depp, who had a team of dozens, the salaries paid to team members could reach more than thirty percent of his personal income.
A star who wants fame, works, and exposure needs operations, and operations aren't free.
Most stars earn a lot but have high expenses and no business sense. Often, when they transition from prosperity to decline, they encounter personal financial crises, which might even be the start of bankruptcy.
Matthew felt he was doing alright. His investments were relatively cautious, and although he spent money freely, he would never waste it recklessly. Most importantly, he had quite a bit of Apple stock to fall back on.