I’m in Hollywood

In the silence, Roger Ehlers, director of The Lion King, still asked unwillingly, Mr. Williams, did you really say that you want to change a new boss for the Disney animation department?

It's not the Disney animation department, Eric emphasized the pronunciation of Disney and said: To be precise, I plan to sell the hand-painted animation department as a whole. The Disney brand belongs to Firefly, and no one can take it away. Le-wen-

In the silence again, Peter Schneider suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis. If Eric didn't even care about the Disney animation department, then what was the point of what he and Roy Disney did before, more important The thing is, they lost the trust of the Disney animation department, and the two of them...

The worry in his heart gradually turned into fear, Peter Schneider suddenly stood up from his seat, pointed at Eric and shouted: No, you won't, Eric Williams, you will never make Disney animation The department sold, you just want to force us to make concessions, we will never make concessions, absolutely not.

Eric looked at Peter Schneider, who was hysterical, and said to the female assistant next to him, Kelly, go and call the security guard in.

Kelly glanced at Peter Schneider, got up and walked out of the conference room.

After Kelly left, Eric said to Peter Schneider: Either sit down and continue this meeting, or let me out, or I will let the security throw you out.

Peter Schneider gritted his teeth in embarrassment. After a few seconds of stalemate, he sat down slumped.

Compared with Peter Schneider's gaffe, Roy Disney was even more shocked. However, Roy Disney, who thought he was used to seeing wind and waves, understood that the more this happened. The more calm he had to be, he also felt that Eric might just be bluffing to force the animation department to make concessions. After thinking for a while, Roy Disney asked, Mr. Williams. Do you think Disney can be considered Disney without the animation department?

Eric sighed suddenly. After so long, these people still haven't figured out his mind: Disney will always have an animation department, but they will no longer use hand-drawn animation to make animated films. Moreover, Disney It will save several cartoon studios in Canada and Australia, and continue to provide TV animation for the Disney Channel. However, Disney's animation films will be fully turned to 3D digital production.

Roy Disney heard Eric speak calmly about the subsequent plan. His heart was stunned, but he still calmly gestured to the dozen or so people in the conference room on the surface, and said, So, you plan to sell us, that is, more than 700 people in the hand-painted animation department, hehe, even if you I really don’t plan to keep the hand-drawn animation department, do you think we will be willing to let you sell it as a bargaining chip?”

Roy Disney's words immediately gave everyone who fell into depression a boost.

All the animation department management looked at Eric with piercing eyes. It seems that as long as Eric says something inappropriate, they will resign immediately, turning the animation department into a worthless empty shell.

Hand-drawn animation is very different from computer animation. The production of computer animation requires not only skilled digital animators, but also tool software and technical support departments that contain a large number of technical patents, so it is not so easy for digital animators to change jobs. But hand-drawn animation is an industry with not too high technical content. An animator can participate in the production of hand-drawn animation after a few years of training, and even if he leaves the original company, the hand-drawn animator can continue his work without any obstacles. 's profession.

Of course Eric knew this. Looking at more than a dozen pairs of eyes staring at him, Eric smiled and rubbed the folder on the desktop. Said: Everyone doesn't need to test each other anymore. The decision to abolish Disney's hand-drawn animation department has been approved by the three directors outside Firefly, Warren Buffett, Tom Murphy and David West. So now this There will be no more surprises with the decision.

There was another chill in the conference room, though. In the end, no one was so angry that they slammed the door, and even Peter Schneider, who had just been furious, just stared at Eric angrily.

Eric patiently waited for everyone to quiet down again, and continued: Then, let's talk about the disadvantages of your voluntary resignation. You can all leave and turn the animation department into an empty shell without any value, which is fundamental to Firefly. It won't cause any damage. But then, let's make the most satisfactory assumption that you have found a new employer who completely agrees with the generous conditions you put forward to Firefly, with an average monthly salary of over 10,000 yuan, a brand-new work park, etc. Then, this negotiation will take at least half a year. After half a year, you still need to start everything from scratch, set up a new animation production department, start development planning, and find suitable animation projects, which will be another half a year. Next, animation The preliminary planning of the project, everyone knows how long it will take, and it is very uncertain. Perhaps, it has been two years since you left the first animation and started the production process, and the production time will take at least two years. Then, you guys 's new animation department came out with the first animated film, maybe four years later. No doubt, if you remember well, you should remember clearly, from Michael Eisner's decision to revitalize the animation department to the release of The Little Mermaid How long did it take, five years, I also helped you shorten the time by one year. Therefore, according to the salary conditions you proposed, the entire animation department needs to spend at least 100 million US dollars a year to maintain operation, and 400 million US dollars in four years is enough. Five big-budget films have been made. At that time, if the animated films you put out did not reach the stunning effect of The Lion King, think about what the new owner who waited patiently for four years and invested a lot of money would have in mind Think about it, you should all know that The Lion King was an accident, and the average level of Disney's animation department should be Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast these films. So, 90% of them may be very Very disappointed, and then the animation department is scaled back, the budget is reduced, the quality of the animation film suffers, and then it's a common vicious circle.

After speaking here, Eric paused for a while. It seems that they are waiting for the reaction of the arrogant people in the conference room, but Eric is also very sure that they will not have any more excited reactions. Because everything he just said is true. In the original time and space, Katzenberg left Disney to establish his own business. Just poached a group of people from Disney Animation to set up DreamWorks Animation. It took just four years from the establishment of DreamWorks Animation to the release of the first Egyptian Prince, and the box office of Egyptian Prince was also tepid. , DreamWorks' second animated film Shrek was launched three years later. If it weren't for Shrek being lucky to be a big hit at the box office, DreamWorks Animation, which has only completed two animated films in seven years, would have ended up closing its doors and disbanding.

After waiting for a while, Eric patted his palm lightly and said, Sorry, forgive me for being a talkative villain just now. Oh, no, my role today seems to be a talkative villain, but I still want to To add, if you quit your job, you are voluntarily violating the labor contract, and the year-end dividend that should have been generated because of the success of The Lion King at the box office will be gone, and this year-end bonus should be equivalent to most people's salary for more than half a year.

Roger Elles, who was sitting near Eric, asked dryly, Mr. Williams, can we know why you insisted on canceling the 2D animation production?

Just like steam looms replaced artificial looms. Electric looms replaced steam looms, this is the inevitable trend of technological development. 3D animation movies have too many advantages, of course. This can only be proved by time, if After a few years you find out that I was wrong, so you can laugh at me as much as you want. But now, I stand by my judgment, and I have given everyone enough time to change. But these things have recently made me realize, Everyone is better off doing their own thing.”

Roger Eiles glanced at the silent Roy Disney and Peter Schneider, sighed, and said nothing.

Of course Eric would not show the detailed information to these people, and no one would ask any more questions. He continued: Now, let's talk about the benefits of selling the animation department as a package. First of all, even if you leave. The Lion King profit dividend that belongs to you will still be distributed in your hands. Second, you can unite with The new owner is negotiating treatment, and I believe that the treatment you will get is much better than negotiating separately. Again, you can take away several 2D animation projects that the animation department has prepared and can immediately enter the production stage. Let me see, oh, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tarzan, these are great ideas. And you can also take away the 2d animations of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin The production rights for the sequel to the film, these will greatly shorten the time for you to produce results.”

Amidst the astonished eyes, Roger Ehlers asked in an unbelievable tone: Mr. Williams, are you sure you're not joking again?

If Eric's resolute decision to sell the Disney animation department has made everyone feel that he is not normal, let them leave with the copyright of The Lion King, and suddenly give people a feeling that he has gone completely crazy.

Of course Eric was not crazy, but explained very calmly: Of course I'm not joking, but what you can take away are the very simple sequel production rights of the Lion King films, your new employer only With the right to use these copyrights to make sequels and make money through film distribution, the rights to cartoon images and peripheral development of films such as The Lion King still belong to Firefly.

Although the original The Lion King grossed more than $900 million worldwide, the sequel was released directly on videotape.

However, Eric believes that if the sequel production rights are obtained, even if there is no peripheral development rights, other film companies will definitely develop sequel movies without hesitation, stimulated by the global box office of The Lion King of 900 million US dollars. At that time, Firefly could still sell well through the influence of these sequel films.

With the current global box office explosion trend of The Lion King, Roger Ehlers can also understand the harshness of Eric's conditions and the coexistence of lure, and at the same time he has begun to think about the sequel to The Lion King involuntarily. 's plot.

Then, the last point, after the animation department is successfully packaged and sold, you can get 5% of the total transaction amount as a reward. There is no precedent for this. It is a kind of compensation for Firefly's willingness to use it as a bargaining chip for this transaction.

If Eric first proposed this condition, it would definitely cause strong disgust, but now everyone does not have much resistance. Peter Schneider, who has been silent for a long time, said: Mr. Williams, the 5% supplement...the bonus is too small.

The average annual salary of the animation department is about 50,000 US dollars. If the animation department sells 1 billion US dollars this time, your average compensation will be 70,000 US dollars, which is equivalent to 16 months' salary, plus The Lion King ” reward dividends, each person is equivalent to the salary of the previous two years on average.” After Eric explained, he looked at Peter Schneider with a sneer on the corner of his mouth, and said: “Also, Mr. Schneider, you, and Roy Disney Sir, not on this list of awards, this is also the last resolution I will announce at this meeting, from now on, you are fired!

...

The news that the Firefly Group will package and sell the hand-drawn animation department quickly detonated the entire Hollywood after the meeting on the same day. And it was officially confirmed in the Los Angeles Times the next day that Firefly will be open for bidding in the form of a public auction a month later.

Immediately afterwards, Firefly responded to the request of the Firefly Creditors Union to settle in the board of directors of the group with an unprecedented tough stance.

After successively releasing the Firefly Group's financial report for the first half of 1994, the profit forecast for the second half of the year, and the huge deal with Condé Nast Group on paper media assets of US$1.52 billion, a Firefly Group spokesman publicly stated that, including the funds brought by the hand-drawn animation division that is about to be sold, Firefly The Group's expected non-operating free cash flow by the end of 1994 will be no less than US$3 billion, which is sufficient to demonstrate the excellent operational and financial status of Firefly Group.

Firefly Group will regularly disclose relevant operational and financial information to creditors, but creditor directors are not required to participate in the management of the company. If creditor institutions are still concerned about investment security, Firefly Group is very willing to initiate bond repurchase measures in advance. (To be continued.)

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