Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1605 The Renaissance of Animal Movies

"Today is the premiere of 'Panda Adventure' and we saw many parents bringing their children to watch the movie. In the crowd, we also found the famous Hollywood director Ronald Lee and his wife Diane Lane. Let's interview them."

After being filmed and edited in China, "Panda Adventure" was finally released in China in the first half of this year and achieved good box office results.

Ronald's Daydream Pictures re-edited some parts of the film, and then dubbed some of the footage shot in China, and finally the film was released during this year's summer vacation.

However, the preview was not satisfactory, although the audience said the film was quite touching and many people felt that their relationship with their children had become better through watching the film. But the biggest problem with this film is that it was released ten years late.

Director Chris Kane's technique is good enough, and the cute giant pandas are very impressive in his filming. The iconic Wuhou Temple and Qingyang Palace reflect the typical temperament of a southwestern city. Chunxi Road also has slogans promoting the real estate industry, which makes American audiences feel very exotic.

Moreover, the cooperation of the Giant Panda Breeding Center was very good, and many close-up shots of pandas were handled very well, which gave the children who love these animals a great enjoyment.

But the biggest problem with the movie is that there is no reason to go to the cinema to watch it. If this kind of drama was made ten years ago, it could still rely on cute animals like giant pandas to follow the trend of ET the alien. Today, with the continuous development of movie special effects and action sound effects, this kind of family-oriented film is not a big loss to watch it at home on video tape.

"Hi, Diane, Ronald, why did you come to see this movie?" The host was really conducting a live interview. She didn't even know that this was a movie invested by Ronald and really treated him as an ordinary audience member.

"Oh, my son Roger loves giant pandas, but there are only two in the zoo. There are a lot of them in this movie, and there are close contact shots with them. I heard that there are many friendships between children. I have to bring him to see it." Diane was very happy. The whole family was out today, and being photographed was also a kind of demonstration, declaring their sovereignty over Ronald to all the bitches in Hollywood.

"Oh, for me, there are not many opportunities like this for the whole family to go out and watch a warm family movie. I really enjoy this process." Ronald smiled and let his son play tricks around him. It would be good if such a program could increase the box office a little.

Sure enough, the box office performance in the first weekend was less than 2000 million. However, considering that this was the result of more than theaters, the film is likely to reach around million. For such a low-budget film, it is enough to make back the cost and accumulate popularity in the home video distribution market.

Since he was not professional in the videotape distribution market, Ronald simply handed over this small-market film invested by Daydream to Disney's home distribution department for videotape distribution.

Not to mention that they are the most professional in distributing heartwarming family-oriented films. This film, which mainly tells the story of father-son affection and friendship between children, is mainly aimed at children from white middle-class families.

Such videotapes, as long as they have the Disney logo on them, will be included in the search range of many middle-class parents who are choosing videotapes, which is also a very good boost to sales.

……

Originally this was just a small matter, but who knew that Disney's chairman Eisner would specially meet with Ronald for this purpose.

"It seems that your competitive condition is better than before the operation. I don't believe that I can't beat you in just one hole." Ronald took out a stack of US dollars from his pocket a little angrily, counted some and handed it to Eisner.

"Hahaha, you are the first person who says that I have better athletic ability after the surgery. That's how it should be. The surgery improves my health, not declares me a patient." Eisner nodded happily. It felt great to have the thousand dollars in his pocket, not a penny less.

The better feeling is to beat a young man like Ronald. And he doesn't think of himself as a patient who has just undergone heart bypass surgery. He doesn't slack off when playing golf, so he feels a sense of accomplishment when he wins.

"Tee off... snap..." Ronald placed the ball on the tee of the next par 3 hole, made a crisp drive, and luckily hit the green with one shot.

Then he made another very accurate putt and the ball went into the hole. This was a rare achievement for an amateur player like Ronald. He made it back on the hole, and Eisner finally paid Ronald out of his pocket.

Hehe, Ronald was happy. He had lost several holes to Eisner in a row, and the money he lost had already risen to a very high level. Although he didn't care about this little money, he was still very unhappy about the continuous losses.

After playing nine holes, the two went to the salon to rest. After all, Eisner was a real patient, and long-term exercise would make his heart beat unwell.

"I came to see you this time because I saw the skit film produced by your company. I was surprised that such a film with collaboration between humans and animals still has a certain appeal now..."

"Well, that's very interesting. I originally just planned to use it to do a project with China. If this movie is successful, then that big market will slowly open its doors to us. Fortunately, the first cooperation was good, and then I will send my Forrest Gump and Cameron's True Lies to be screened there, and slowly cultivate an audience for watching Hollywood movies. The last time a Hollywood movie was screened there simultaneously was Gone with the Wind..."

Ronald was a little surprised that Eisner actually talked to him about the panda movie. He thought the chairman of Disney wanted to seek support from him as a shareholder again. Calculating the time, Ovitz had been in office at Disney for more than a month, and he had already caused a lot of trouble.

"I thought you had handed over Disney's videotape distribution business to Ovitz?" Ronald asked immediately with an idea in his mind.

As COO, Ovitz was resisted by many departments within Disney. He only had the resources brought from CAA, so he must build a team loyal to himself. It is a reasonable choice to start from these inconspicuous channels such as TV series, movie tapes, etc.

"I am still the chairman of Disney..." Eisner's eyes narrowed, and the intimacy of the uncle next door disappeared in an instant, replaced by a sense of hegemony of a hero.

"Of course, as a shareholder like me, I have always followed the lead of your chairman, but this is a major strategic decision. If it is a daily operation, do you also want to bypass him as the COO and manage it directly?"

Ronald first reiterated his unconditional support for Eisner, and then, with an attitude of "How come you, such a big boss, still have to take care of these small matters?", he casually and seemingly inadvertently mentioned the scope of Ovitz's power.

"As the COO, he still has to report to me..." Eisner curled his lips, as if he was full of disdain for Ovitz.

Both of them were born bullies. Needless to say, Eisner would not hesitate to kick out anyone who wanted to challenge his authority, even if they were loyal subordinates like Katzenberg who had served him for more than a decade.

Ovitz had been working for a small company called CAA and was used to having the final say. He felt very uncomfortable in a complicated and fiercely competitive place like Disney. In many matters, he intentionally or unintentionally contradicted Eisner's authority.

So much so that just after taking office, Eisner had already begun to think about firing him.

For example, two weeks ago, the first thing Ovitz did after taking office was to sign a contract with Brad Grey, a writer for the famous SNL Saturday Night Live comedy show.

Brad Grey created The Larry Sanders Show for HBO, a sitcom based on a fictional late-night talk show.

The comedy was a huge success as soon as it was released, and many celebrities were invited to play exaggerated versions of themselves. The response from both critics and audiences was very positive.

Ovitz was determined to get him to ABC so that he would have a die-hard fan of his own in Disney's largest television division after the merger.

He began to understand that in a large company like Disney, the more people who obeyed him, the greater his power. As for how much value he created for the company and how much profit he made, it was enough to brag about it at the board meeting and investor advisory meetings. What was really important was to have more loyal subordinates.

In theory, this kind of poaching is equivalent to getting ABC a guaranteed profitable series, plus a producer capable of developing new best-selling series. However, even such a thing has received a lot of opposition within Disney.

The most crucial point is that Ovitz did not consult the person in charge of ABC operations. After Disney acquired ABC, Bob Iger, the ABC executive whom Eisner relied on, was very dissatisfied. He joined forces with Joe Roth, who was originally in charge of production at Disney, and they were also very dissatisfied with the contract. The two of them joined forces to go to Eisner's house to complain.

Eisner supported Iger and Ross and rejected Ovitz's signing, but did not give a reason.

This led Ovitz to misunderstand, and he continued to pursue more sensational poaching. However, he did not expect that Eisner did not want him to sign any sensational contracts so that he could earn enough authority to report directly to the board of directors.

"Honestly, is there still a future for movies starring real people and animals?" Eisner took a sip of mineral water. His wife now often restricted him from drinking his favorite alcoholic beverages.

"Of course, but several prerequisites must be met." Ronald didn't expect that Eisner was actually concerned about the specific film production.

He explained to Eisner why Panda Adventures was well received. The first reason was that the story of the movie was for children. This is what Disney is best at, so I won't go into details.

Second, animals are not equal, some animals are just more lovable than others, like the cute giant panda, or the dog Lundindin, a big star in the golden age of Hollywood.

Third, filming animal scenes is very difficult, and the same is true for filming children's scenes. You have to find a director who knows how to shoot, as well as some senior talents who know how to train animals to perform in front of the camera.

"That's it?" Eisner put down the mineral water and secretly ordered a Long Island iced tea.

"Yes, if there is a good script, it is very cost-effective. Warner Bros. avoided bankruptcy thanks to the German shepherd dog Lundindin brought back from Europe. The cost of shooting this kind of drama is very low. It does not require stars or computer special effects..."

Ronald thought, if you have a good script, I might as well work with you. Anyway, animal children's movies are exactly the type of movies that Disney understands best, and they are familiar with distribution and marketing, and they may even be able to enter the overseas market.

"I actually have a script here, it's called 101 Dalmatians, it's a live-action remake of the s Disney cartoon..."

"Oh, as long as you can find so many obedient Dalmatians, that would be a really good project. Can I participate?" Ronald immediately expressed his willingness to pay when he heard it.

"Very good, we got John Hughes to write the script, it will definitely be a good movie. With you, Hughes, and Joe Roth in charge of the film project, I don't see any reason why it won't be a hit."

Eisner was very happy. Ronald was a man who could understand what he meant without him having to explain things too clearly. No wonder he made a lot of money at such a young age.

He just wanted to tell everyone in Hollywood that he was the greatest genius of Disney. Ronald and John Hughes, two teenage movie geniuses back then, were able to work together again, not because of Ovitz, who came from a small CAA, but because he was the reason why these geniuses were willing to work together.

It is not so easy to do things in a big company. Can you just rush in and get it done? What you need to show is leadership, imagination, and the ability to bring together talents. What's the point of knowing those Hollywood figures? If you can't even unite your subordinates...

Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter when he saw Eisner's smug look. Ovitz's character and way of doing things aside, his ability was first-rate. Signing a successful TV producer was also a good move.

Unfortunately, Eisner, who was jealous of talented people, not only instigated people in various departments under him to hinder each other, but also prevented Ovitz from getting his approval for any actions that could establish his influence.

Who knows, no matter what Ovitz does next, he will be rejected by Eisner. I really want to see how this honeymoon period, which may be the shortest in Hollywood history, will end.

"The most important thing is that Chairman Eisner personally brought this together. This is the biggest reason why this movie can be a hit, right? Hollywood has always been a place that integrates geniuses. It requires the imagination of geniuses and tolerance for their various quirks." Ronald flattered him. For a project like this, as long as the script is good and a suitable dog is found, and it has a classic cartoon as the foundation, there is really no reason not to make money.

The cooperation with Disney was also a heavy blow to Ovitz's influence within the company. Eisner's position in Disney was much more stable than Ovitz's. His vote to restore the MPAA seat of his new United Artists was also more secure.