hollywood melon man

Chapter 574 Disney's Subsidiaries
On the eve of the Super Bowl, "The Last of Us" and "Iron Man" completed all production work.

Compared to The Last of Us, Iron Man faced the test first. Robin Wilder, the current CEO of Touchstone Pictures, was invited by Gilbert Jr. to attend the preview held within Marvel Pictures.

Robin Wilder's entire movie-watching experience was quite good. The film showed extremely high quality and has the potential to be a big hit during the summer vacation.

After the movie, Gilbert Jr. asked Robert Wilder, "How was it? Didn't the movie look good?"

"It's more than good!" Robin Wilder exaggerated, "This is even better than the first time I saw the Spider-Man movie. I think this movie will be a big hit in the summer season."

“Hahahaha,” Little Gilbert laughed, “Then I’m relieved, Robin. I hope Touchstone Pictures has enough resources to invest in publicity and promotion.”

"Of course, Touchstone Pictures' focus this summer is Iron Man," Robin Wilder agreed immediately.

After chatting with Marvel Studios about the distribution of "Iron Man", Robin Wilder said goodbye.

Watching Robin Wilder leave, Kevin Feige stood beside Gilbert and said: "In recent times, I have realized the complexity of the film industry.

It’s not enough to just want to make a good movie, the workflow of publicity and distribution is even more complicated.”

"That's why we need Touchstone Pictures. Even though they will take a commission from the distribution, it's a price that must be paid," said Gilbert Jr.

"Do you think it's possible for us to distribute the film ourselves?" asked Kevin Feige.

Little Gilbert shook his head slightly and said, "It's unlikely. The distribution rights are not something you can get your hands on just because you want to.

You have seen the situation of DreamWorks. Even with my support, Marvel Pictures still cannot go further on the road of distribution. "

Distribution rights and channels are one of the important conditions for becoming a Hollywood giant, and these things cannot necessarily be obtained even if you have money.

This is also one of the reasons why MGM United Artists was acquired by Arab funds but was still not kicked out of the ranks of giants.

The boss has changed, but the resources are still the same resources, the channels are still the same channels, nothing has changed.

Prince Abdul appointed an Arab executive to take control of MGM United Artists. This ordinary senior professional manager named Mohammed turned out to be very capable.

If a brick hits someone in Arabia, half of the ten people may be called Muhammad, but Muhammad is different from other Muhammads. This Muhammad is a capable Muhammad.

He is familiar with the workings of Hollywood and understands the conflicts within major corporations.

So when he first took office, he took advantage of the conflicts among the major companies and successfully helped MGM United Artists get through the most dangerous time.

After that, MGM, United Artists and Sky Studios signed a five-film distribution contract.

MGM United Artists also invested in and produced a number of films this year, and even shot a James Bond film called Casino Royale.

For ordinary directors and actors, the exclusion of MGM and United Artists by Hollywood giants will not affect their ability to direct and star in MGM and United Artists' films.

And this is "007". Which man dares to say that he doesn't want to be a James Bond?

Even Nolan, Gilbert's right-hand man, admitted that he is a loyal fan of "007", which shows the influence of this series of films.

Kevin Feige could probably guess what Gilbert was thinking: "So we'll always be working with Touchstone Pictures?"

"Almost!" Gilbert Jr. said: "Touchstone Pictures' current positioning is actually very awkward. At the beginning, its role was to help Disney release those live-action movies that Disney could not release.

This situation changed after Bob took office. Disney headquarters began to release live-action movies itself, and the power of Touchstone Pictures was weakened.

Bob gave the distribution rights of "Iron Man" to Touchstone Pictures, presumably also to let Touchstone Pictures get a piece of the pie.

I think Bob will make a reform and integrate the subsidiaries. "The Weinstein brothers withdrew from Disney's subsidiary Miramax on the pretext of a disagreement with Disney's major shareholder Gilbert Jr., and set up Weinstein Pictures to continue to release independent films and strive for Oscars.

But the deeper reason is that the Weinstein brothers were marginalized within Disney and their power was greatly reduced.

In order to develop Disney's live-action business, former chairman Michael Eisner acquired and established many second-tier Hollywood production companies.

Some of the famous ones include Buena Vista Pictures, Miramax Films, Touchstone Pictures, etc. It feels like they are trying every possible means to cure their disease.

With so many subsidiaries, there must be differences in the allocation of resources to each of them, and the power of the subsidiary controllers will also be different.

In addition, the numerous subsidiaries also brought about problems such as chaotic accounting management and bloated staff.

To this end, Robert Iger proposed at the board meeting last year the idea of ​​cutting and integrating some subsidiaries, while at the same time actively reaching out to potential production companies and studios.

These were supported by a large number of shareholders, including Gilbert Jr., and it was also because of this that the Weinstein brothers ran away and started a new business.

Thinking of the series of changes within Disney, Kevin Feige felt a strange feeling in his heart.

"Little Gilbert, do you want to sell Marvel Studios to Disney?"

Little Gilbert did not answer directly, but asked: "Kevin, do you want to move to a higher position?"

"A higher level position?" Kevin Feige was puzzled.

"Do you want to be the president of Disney?"

Before Kevin Feige could answer, Gilbert Jr. patted him on the shoulder and said, "Work hard, man."

After saying that, Gilbert Jr. walked away with a mysterious look on his face, leaving Kevin Feige standing there in a daze.

The president of Disney is a position that many people dream of. But how could Kevin Feige be so qualified to hold such a position?
Although it seemed impossible, a seed of ambition was planted in Kevin Feige's heart.

Gilbert Jr. was not acting on a whim, or teasing Kevin Feige; he had seriously thought about this issue.

It's very simple. Robert Iger is only nine years younger than Michael Eisner and will retire one day. After Robert Iger, Gilbert Jr. needs a president who is in his own interests to take office.

There have always been people within Disney who were dissatisfied with him, especially the Disney family shareholders headed by John Disney.

But with the support of Robert Iger and the box office revenue that makes Disney's stock price and performance statements equal every year, Gilbert Jr. is in a good situation at Disney.

But it’s hard to say what will happen after Robert Iger retires.

So while Robert Iger can still work for another decade or so, Gilbert Jr. made arrangements in advance and supported Kevin Feige.

This operation has been carefully discussed by Gilbert Jr., Ivanka, Cameron Diaz, David, and Sheena Boone, and it is very feasible.

As for Robert Egger, Gilbert Jr. needs to communicate with him continuously.

When Robert Iger worked at ABC, it had nothing to do with Disney. It was only because Disney acquired ABC that Robert Iger was able to enter Disney.

Kevin Feige can also copy this route. When Marvel movies explode with huge power, Disney will definitely not be able to sit still.

The distribution rights can be snatched away by other companies at any time, but by turning Marvel Studios into a subsidiary, there won’t be that worry.

(End of this chapter)