After I started working for Sam, I conceived a new long-term goal: I wanted to run William Morris. To expose me to deal making, Sam had me assist a TV agent named Fred Apollo. I listened in on Fred’s calls and soon was closing deals with the networks on his behalf. After seven months at William Morris, when I was twenty-two, I was promoted to junior agent—a title so demeaning we’d do away with it at CAA. My pay doubled to $150 a week. Though my promotion came in record time, I’d missed my own deadline by three months. I felt like I had to catch up before the world got away from me.
