Another move I developed, almost unconsciously, was ground shifting. If someone on the other side of the table very confidently asserted a number that was confidential or that was plausibly in dispute—the budget of a rival studio’s competing film, for instance—I would instantly say “It’s higher” or “It’s lower,” depending on which served our interests. That assertion would throw the other guy off balance, and suggest that I knew everything, when in truth I only knew some things. At the very least, it would give me a gauge of how solid their information was, and how confident they were. If they
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