Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 385 A Failed Work

"Was his way of keeping those artists to work by giving them raises?"

Burbank, Disney headquarters, in Michael Eisner's office.

Michael Eisner and Roy Disney sat on the sofa. Because of DreamWorks SKG's poaching, the task of retaining the animators at Disney was handed over to the new president, Michael Ovitz.

Michael Ovitz simply and directly raised the salaries of all Disney animators.

Roy Disney nodded. "Actually, this is the quickest way!"

As chairman of Disney Animation and the only remaining member of the Disney family within the Disney Group, Roy Disney had no better option.

DreamWorks SKG and Pixar are formidable competitors that we are about to face.

The difficulty for Disney to maintain its dominant position in animation has increased significantly!

“Well, he’s been with us Disney for a long time after all,” Michael Eisner tacitly agreed.

What are your thoughts on 3D computer animation?

Roy Disney's eyes widened. "Animation absolutely has to be hand-drawn; computer animation simply has no soul."

"Pixar's 3D computer animation is like heresy, a blasphemy against animators."

Michael Eisner doesn't know much about animation production, but Disney's achievements in animated feature films over the years are undeniable.

Pixar's Toy Story was indeed good, but it certainly wasn't enough to seriously damage Disney animation!

"Universal Studios, Dawn has already started promoting 'Toy Story' at Universal Studios."

“Dawn has invested heavily in Universal Studios, and Pixar has been a major contributor.”

Movie-themed resorts primarily attract families, with children being the main focus.
If Universal Studios Resort develops well, it will inevitably take away some of the traffic from Disneyland!
Michael Eisner isn't worried about a few movies, but he can't ignore the various IP characters that come with them.

Roy Disney frowned. "Dawning has just gone public and has a lot of money on hand. The expansion of Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Orlando goes without saying."

"They're actually planning to build a new Universal Studios Japan resort in Osaka, just to compete with Tokyo Disneyland;"

"Aaron Anderson's move is truly impressive!"

Michael Eisner has always placed great importance on the development of Disney parks; Disneyland Anaheim and Disneyland Orlando are important sources of revenue for Disney.

Compared to other theme parks, only Universal Studios Hollywood can compare.

Previously, neither MCA nor Panasonic paid enough attention to Universal Studios.

“The current Dawn is different. Aaron Anderson has a lot of ideas about developing the consumer market. Dawn not only has the ability to develop various popular film and television IPs, but is also willing to invest heavily!”

The competition between Disneyland and Universal Studios in California and Florida will intensify.

"The amusement park's rides still need the support of film and television IPs."

For large entertainment groups, the "locomotive effect" of movies has a significant impact. "Let's go, the top executives at ABC are already waiting for us in their offices!"

With that, Michael Eisner stood up from the sofa and, together with Roy Disney, headed to the conference room.

On the other hand, the famous American comic book company, Surprise, encountered difficulties and faced a serious debt crisis.

Ronald Perelman, the owner of Marvel Comics, began raising funds, but he was heavily in debt and did not receive much support.
Therefore, Ronald Perelman tried various ways to attract funding while simultaneously selling off Amazing Comics assets!

After learning that Dawn was going to build a theme park called Island of Adventure at Universal Studios Orlando, they sent Marvel President Avi Arad to negotiate with Universal.
Hopefully, Universal Studios will build a Marvel World area within the Island of Adventure world...

Nighttime, in a club on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Aaron sat on a sofa with Jennifer Connelly in his arms, drinking wine!
As a result of Dawn's IPO, Jennifer Connelly and Nicole Kidman each received 100 million shares of Dawn stock.
She suddenly became a wealthy woman with tens of millions of dollars, so of course she was excited.

Jennifer Connelly wrapped her arms around the man's neck and kissed him affectionately. "The PolyGram production of *Dead Man Walking* seems to have received good reviews; critics consider it on par with *Sense and Sensibility*."

"They'll probably make a good showing at the upcoming Oscars!"

"Dead Man Walking" is a drama film directed by Tim Robbins and starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

With a strong cast and a compelling storyline, it has already been released in limited theaters.

Aaron smiled. "Dead Man's Walk is still no match for Sense and Sensibility."

"After all, it's based on a Jane Austen novel, and director Ang Lee's style is delicate. In comparison, Tim Robbins's filming style is much rougher!"

Jennifer Connelly nuzzled Aaron's face. "I auditioned for James Cameron's new film, *Titanic*."

"However, the audition did not go well."

"An audition for 'Titanic'?" Aaron caressed the woman's 34D breasts, feeling their softness.
"James Cameron has his own way of choosing actors, and he really can't decide for others!"

Universal is waiting for 20th Century Fox, the producer of "Titanic," to seek cooperation.

Jennifer Connelly smiled and said, "Anyway, I didn't have high hopes. After all, making movies about the sea these days is very risky."

"You know what, Aaron? Cutthroat Island has been released, and it's a complete failure!"

Aaron nodded. "Of course I know. MGM opened in 1650 theaters, and its opening weekend grossed only $240 million."

"As for its reputation, it has been slammed into the abyss by film critics and journalists."

The good thing is that Carlock won't be able to see it, since he went bankrupt two months ago;
Cutthroat Island had a serious budget overrun, costing a total of $9800 million, yet this is the result it achieved?

After Michael Douglas, the original male lead, withdrew, Gina Davis, the female lead, also hoped to terminate the project.

Unfortunately, Carlock insisted on his own way and found Gina Davis's boyfriend, Renny Harlin, to direct the film.

In the same year, Hollywood witnessed the maritime failures of two blockbusters, "Waterworld" and "Cutthroat Island."

This completely shattered Hollywood's confidence in maritime-themed works.

Once the "Pirate Ship" project at Universal Studios is completed, we can start making preparations!
(End of this chapter)