hollywood melon man

Chapter 39 Internal Disputes
  Inside Walt Disney, Michael Eisner took a group of Disney executives to watch the first cut of the "Dead Man" film.

Executives were full of praise for this imaginative horror movie, praising it as a horror movie that has never been seen before.

Disney's film selection experts also gave this film high marks and recommended that more theater resources be invested in distributing this film.

After the preview meeting, Michael Eisner had a special chat with little Gilbert and encouraged him to continue working hard.

To little Gilbert, Michael Eisner is now a boss-level figure. Such a person can say nice things to him in a pleasant manner, and it's hard not to feel frightened.

However, little Gilbert can deal with it calmly. He probably has seen too many ups and downs, and he can deal with any situation calmly.

Moreover, little Gilbert could also feel that Michael Asner's cold gaze beneath his pleasant appearance was an attitude that regarded everyone as nothing.

"Do a good job, little Gilbert. As long as you can continue to create value for Disney, Disney will not treat you badly." Michael Eisner patted little Gilbert on the shoulder and said.

Frowning secretly, little Gilbert had to pretend to be flattered and hold Michael Eisner's hand in excitement: "Thank you, Chairman, this is what I should do."

"Well..." After patting little Gilbert's shoulder, Michael Eisner walked out.

On the contrary, Robert Egger in the back has a very good attitude, is friendly and powerful, and makes people feel like spring breeze.

"Little Gilbert, the quality of this film is beyond my imagination. You did a good job." Robert Egger said with a smile.

"You're welcome, Bob. After all, it contains my share of the box office and investment." Little Gilbert said that this is what it should be.

"Yeah," Robert Egger was very satisfied looking at little Gilbert who was neither arrogant nor arrogant.

He added: "I have a bottle of good champagne there. I'll keep it for you. When the film is successfully held at the celebration party, I will open it for you."

This is what it looks like to be thirsty for talents!
  Little Gilbert was very satisfied with Robert Egger's attitude and promised: "Don't worry, we will definitely drink that bottle of champagne."

After a conversation, Gilbert Jr. continued back to the studio to work on post-production, while Robert Iger went to discuss with Michael Eisner the release of the film this summer.

Since 1992, Walt Disney's film distribution business has shrunk significantly. Warner has films to release this year, and other first-tier film companies have at least a dozen.

Only Disney, plus the animated film "Aladdin" to be released, has a few small-budget live-action films, but only five or six films.

Even Samsung from South Korea has released two movies in the North American market, and Disney is almost unable to compete with outsiders.

Fortunately, Disney, which started out with animation, is very impressive in terms of peripherals. Characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Winnie the Pooh bring Disney a lot of revenue every year.

Moreover, Disneyland in Paris also opened this year, causing Disney's stock price to rise.

From this perspective, it can be explained why Disney attaches so much importance to the Little Gilbert project.

Tall among the short, "Death Comes to Me" is actually a good live-action movie project for Disney.

In Michael Eisner's office, Robert Iger was reporting on the preparations for the announcement.

“At present, we have gradually arranged publicity resources. The media and tabloids are only the first step, followed by the release of trailers, TV program promotions, etc.

According to the results of our discussions with theater companies, the film is expected to open in 1800 theaters. ” said Robert Egger.

Michael Eisner was very satisfied with Robert Egger's work: "Well, I will leave this matter entirely to you. Make some achievements!"

"I understand, Mr. Eisner." Robert Iger said he had received it, then hesitated for a while and said, "I heard that the board of directors has been a little restless recently?" "Huh," Michael Eisner snorted coldly: "John That kid is dishonest again."

John is a member of the Disney family. Disney was founded by Roy Disney, and the Disney family has a strong voice on the board of directors.

Since becoming the CEO of Disney in 1984, and later becoming the chairman of Disney, Michael Eisner had to deal with matters with the Disney family.

Although Disney is no longer the Disney of the Disney family, it has not yet reached the point where the surname is Eisner.

The two sides fought without breaking through, and jointly maintained the Disney ship from a market value of 4 billion US dollars to a market value of over 10 billion US dollars today.

It's just that as the company grew bigger, some people on the board of directors were dissatisfied with Michael Eisner's exclusive power and began to move around to connect with each other.

As Michael Eisner's confidant, Robert Iger was certainly aware of the internal strife.

"Mr. Eisner, my suggestion is to introduce one of your own as CEO to break the current hostility of the board of directors towards you and prevent anyone from saying that you are authoritarian." Robert Iger suggested.

The idea of ​​​​authoritarianism was spread because Michael Eisner was also the chairman and CEO.

In fact, within Disney, Michael Eisner is indeed very arbitrary, and many of Disney's business actions come from his personal preferences.

For example, despite opposition, Disneyland was opened in Paris because Michael Eisner believed that Paris was the capital of art, and he liked art.

Another example is that he once intervened in the production of his animated films and replaced the heroine of an animated film with a male.

There are many such things, which is why Disney continues to criticize him.

Michael Eisner carefully considered Robert Iger's suggestion. In fact, he would have wanted to put Robert Iger as Disney CEO otherwise, otherwise Robert Iger was not qualified enough.

But at this moment, Michael Eisner thought of someone, and that person was his childhood friend Michael Ovitz, now the king of Hollywood agents.

Michael Ovitz has been extremely prosperous in the past two years. He has produced countless big-name directors and stars under CAA. He also facilitated Sony's acquisition of Columbia, and Panasonic's acquisition of MCA and Universal Pictures.

From these two acquisitions, Michael Ovitz alone took away $70 million in commissions.

However, Michael Eisner has absolute confidence. As long as he has the opportunity to become the CEO of a film company, Michael Ovitz will not hesitate to give up everything now and give up CAA.

The reason is simple. Hollywood will always be a world of movie companies and media giants.

Although the so-called emperor of the brokerage industry has a very loud title, he can be superior to ordinary directors and stars, but in front of the CEO of a large media company, he can only behave with his tail between his legs.

Michael Ovitz is said to have climbed on a table and performed a comical tap dance to please Warner Bros.

Fortunately, it is not the Internet age 20 to 30 years later, otherwise this emperor of the entertainment agency industry would probably become popular on the Internet immediately.

From this aspect, we can also say why Michael Eisner was sure that Michael Ovitz would agree to come to Disney as CEO, and even couldn't wait to come.

Because no matter how big a brokerage company becomes, it will never be able to compete with large media and entertainment groups.

Michael Eisner had to plan carefully and use Michael Ovitz to remove obstacles within the group.

(End of this chapter)