America 1982-Chapter 421 - 59: Susan’s Pressure

It wasn’t until Tommy called again that Susan remembered he had asked her to meet up after returning to California, saying that he would have Jason introduce his girlfriend to her.

Although she didn’t admit it to Tommy, the pressure of her current job was indeed quite hefty. She once joked to Mark that, if Mark couldn’t give up pimping, why couldn’t he just start working like a normal agent.

Only when she took over the mess that Mark had left behind did she fully realize that Mark’s way of handling his talents—sending them to various producers, directors, and film company bosses’ beds—was the only chance many unknown agents in the industry had to secure opportunities for their clients.

Mark always complained that the movie circle was monopolized by Jews; it wasn’t a joke but a harsh reality.

Hollywood had been dominated by Jews for nearly a hundred years. It didn’t matter who ran the film companies because throughout that century, those big movie company heads changed like a revolving door. The constant was the absolute influence of Jews in Hollywood.

One might realize that every business related to movies was controlled by Jews—the copyright companies, talent agencies, film companies, record labels, industry associations...

Initially, when Tommy asked her to take over the helm at Trailblazer Brokerage Company from Mark, Susan was somewhat reluctant inside. She felt that Mark might have already smoothed out all the obstacles before handing it over, and she was merely reaping the benefits.

It wasn’t until she stepped into the world of talent managing that she found out Mark hadn’t solved any problems and her thoughts were overly optimistic.

A hundred years ago, Jews had pioneered the profession of talent agents. They won over various performers from traveling circuses, convincing them to trust in their representation. They negotiated with circus owners or performance venues, ensuring artists earned more and then took their commission.

A hundred years on, and to this day, the industry was still Jewish territory. All of the most well-known agents in American history were Jews. The heads of the acting departments of major Hollywood studios were all Jews. In California, out of the top thirty talent agencies, every single owner was Jewish.

For those who weren’t Jewish and struggled to make a living in this circle, they couldn’t hope for the dream scenario where Jews ate meat and others drank soup. Savvy in business, Jews set the rule that, apart from themselves, other individuals or companies couldn’t be considered guests at the table but were simply the food.

For instance, after Mark founded ORTA company, he should have, in theory, joined the American Association of Performing Arts Agents—a professional association for talent agencies. But because he wasn’t Jewish, his application had been rejected several times over minor details. He was told to revise and resubmit, restarting the review period, and by the time Susan took over, the company was still amending its membership application.

Ultimately, it was Susan who, after painstakingly digging into her family history to find out that her long-lost maternal grandmother’s lineage had a trace of Jewish blood, adapted herself to some Jewish customs as much as possible. She then made friends with several Jewish female agents, building up a persona as a Jewish woman before finally managing to get the company into the association.

If she hadn’t found proof of her Jewish ancestry, even the association’s application would not have passed.

If she didn’t want to take such a troublesome route, there was an easier way: pay money to Jewish colleagues, who had the right to recommend new members, and ensured a quicker process than the standard application. However, since she wasn’t Jewish herself and had no connections, the reason Susan did not choose to pay was that she wanted to get to know more people in the industry during the application process. Besides, once the membership was bought, it was easy to become the target for those who considered her a naïve fool with too much money.

After all, in this industry, there are no fools.

The bosses of the three major agencies were all Jewish.

WMA Company, established in 1898, claims to be America’s premier talent agency and is dubbed a training school for agents. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Seventy percent of the well-known agents currently active in the United States started their careers as interns at this company.

From Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe, and then to the Rolling Stones, as well as other stars you can think of—all were under this company’s wing.

Gerald Ford’s ascendancy to the presidency owed much to this company since they rallied their artists to fully support him, promoting his political ideals and arranging for popular movie stars to build a crowd for Ford’s speeches.

MCA Company, known as the Kraken of the north of America’s entertainment industry, was founded in 1924. It started over two decades after WMA but surpassed its predecessor, becoming the largest talent agency in the United States. Its clientele encompasses films, television, sports, music, Broadway, and directors among several fields.

Nowadays, its most famous client is Ronald Reagan. With MCA’s assistance, Reagan had secured the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild before his candidacy for President of the United States. During his election campaign, MCA went all out to mobilize its artists to rally behind him, ultimately contributing to Reagan’s transformation from a Hollywood actor to the President of the United States.

CAA Company, established in 1975, was founded by five former employees of WMA Company. To secure their standing, they didn’t rush to compete with the two giants for star clients but instead took a different path. They focused on signing directors, scriptwriters, costumers, lighting experts, and other reputable figures. Eventually, everyone in Hollywood realized that it was challenging to proceed without engaging with CAA if they wanted the big names in the various specialized film roles.

Their clientele now includes names such as Spielberg, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Stallone, and even old-guard agencies like MCA and WMA acknowledge that CAA holds the greatest potential to become the future king amongst the top three agencies.

Apart from the bosses of the three major agencies, the executives of several big film companies were also Jewish, including those from Fox Film Corporation, which Tommy had set her sights on.

The main issue was that these Jewish people were extremely insular, looking out for each other and coexisting symbiotically.

This was also why Susan had been under such immense pressure lately because she dared not imagine the fate of all the artists signed to Trailblazer Brokerage Company if she followed Tommy’s orders to make a move against Fox Film Corporation.

She didn’t care, she would just walk away, Tommy wouldn’t give up on her, but those poor women, Tommy clearly saw them as cannon fodder.

In Hollywood, if you offended the Jewish community, you’d find it difficult to move an inch.

Or perhaps you wouldn’t even need to offend them; if the Jewish people asked an actor to help launder money, the actor had to comply obediently, otherwise, they would end up on their blacklist and be reduced to having no roles to play.

Why are all the actors in Hollywood, even if their agents send them to someone else’s bed, showing no dissatisfaction? Not that they aren’t dissatisfied, but they dare not voice it. As early as ten years ago, the Jewish people had singled out an unfortunate soul to make an example of, showing all actors in Hollywood the consequences of disobedience.

The well-known actor Clifford Robertson, in the 1960s, won an Oscar for his portrayal of John F. Kennedy during his service in the United States Navy in the movie "PT 109" and was even praised by Kennedy himself at The White House for his performance.

And then, simply because he refused to help his agent launder a small amount of money, he nearly starved to death in New Zealand.

The amount of money involved wasn’t large, just ten thousand dollars. The film company would claim to pay him this amount as compensation, but they wouldn’t actually pay him. Instead, someone else would go to the bank to cash the ten-thousand-dollar check, and all he needed to do when the IRS called was to say "Yes," confirming he had cashed the money himself.

He, feeling his status as a popular Oscar-winning actor, refused the agent’s unreasonable demands. Perhaps the agent didn’t even listen to what he said or didn’t expect him to refuse. So, when the IRS called to inquire about the account, Clifford Robertson said "No" and informed the IRS he had never received the money, nor had he cashed the check.

In the eyes of this Oscar-winning actor, the worst outcome would be the rule-breaking agent suspected of involvement in money laundering being sent to jail as a result, while he could just find another agent to work for him; after all, he hadn’t taken part in money laundering and hadn’t committed any illegal actions. The fault lay with the agent.

However, in reality, the agent was only sentenced to sixty hours of community service, while Clifford himself was genuinely blacklisted by Hollywood for four whole years. Not one film company offered him any work opportunities, not even television programs. To survive, Clifford Robertson was forced to flee to New Zealand, where he took on roles in TV dramas for meagre wages just to make ends meet.

Four years later, only after he actively humbled himself, admitted his mistakes, and signed an almost servile contract with the agent he had offended, did he reappear on the American big screen.

If even an Oscar-winning actor could end up like this, what about those young girls under her management? They might end up as high-class escorts after being used by Tommy or having to flee to another place.

She wouldn’t go against Tommy’s wishes, but she also knew what it felt like to sell herself.

She didn’t want these girls, who thought they had gained hope through her kindness, to ultimately plummet into an abyss, never to resurface, becoming complete sacrifices.

That was the source of her pressure.

"Susan~" Jason walked into Susan’s Los Angeles apartment with a big grin, opened his arms wide, and gave her a big hug: "Long time no see."

"Long time no see, Jason. Can you let go now? This is the first time I’ve heard that during a hug between friends, the man places his hands on the woman’s butt," said Susan, squinting her eyes and staring at Jason.

"You’ve changed, Susan. You weren’t like this back in the garage. Back then, you’d strip down to your underwear, then let me take your clothes to the laundry, and even let me have a peek at your chest as a fee for running the errand." Jason released Susan, his face full of regret.

Susan looked at Tommy, who had followed Jason in, and a dazzling blonde who stood six feet two inches tall and dressed very sexily: "I’m worried your girlfriend might find a moment to discuss with me how we can team up to sue you and split your estate."

"Let me introduce you, my girlfriend, Susan, who shares the same name as you," Jason said, pointing to the dazzling blonde.

Susan and the blonde Susan shook hands: "And here I thought her name might be Tommy."