Hollywood Director 1992

While Link and Jobs were having coffee at the cafe, news of their meeting quickly reached Michael Ovitz and the top executives of the Big Seven studios.

Although the news that Guess Pictures was trying to acquire Pixar Studios was no secret in the industry,

Jobs's attitude had always been tough, refusing to negotiate or even talk much, so the probability of Guess Pictures successfully acquiring Pixar was extremely small.

"Michael, do you know what they're talking about? Can you find a way to find out what Jobs is thinking?"

In the Disney CEO's office, Michael Eisner dialed Michael Ovitz's number, his tone tinged with urgency.

Michael Ovitz took a deep drag of his cigarette and said helplessly, "That's difficult. We can't just install listening devices in the cafe."

"Then that's going to be difficult."

Eisner sighed, his brow furrowed.

Pixar Animation's development speed in recent years has been remarkable, especially its breakthroughs in computer animation technology, which have allowed it to surpass Disney Animation Studios in many ways.

While Disney was still relying on hand-drawn animation films, Pixar had already used computer technology to produce several animated shorts and had repeatedly won Academy Awards for technical achievements.

Pixar's success not only made the film industry see the potential of computer animation, but also made Disney feel unprecedented pressure.

Before last year, Disney and Pixar Studios had a good relationship, even co-producing an animated film, with Disney providing the production funds and Pixar Studios responsible for the animation production.

It was former Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg who initially contacted Pixar Studios.

Jeffrey was also the head of Disney's animation department. In the past few years, Disney Pictures' blockbuster animated films such as "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Aladdin," which topped the annual box office charts, were all led by Jeffrey.

Now that Jeffrey has left Disney, the two companies' cooperation has also been put on hold.

Michael Eisner had personally spoken with Jobs, hoping to restart the project, but Jobs, with his eccentric personality, showed no mercy to those he didn't like, and didn't even want to talk about it.

Unfortunately, Jobs didn't like him.

Michael Eisner had to find someone to replace him in negotiations with Jobs, but at this time, Guess Pictures suddenly stepped in and proposed an acquisition plan to Pixar Studios.

Although Pixar Studios rejected Guess Pictures' proposal, it also put its cooperation with Disney on hold, seemingly waiting for a higher price.

For this reason, Michael Eisner personally called Link to ask if he really intended to acquire Pixar.

After receiving a positive answer, he hoped that Link would give up acquiring Pixar Animation, as it was not very friendly to Disney.

After all, Link was also a Disney shareholder, and obstacles to Disney's development would also harm his interests.

Link said that acquiring Pixar Studios and entering the animated film field was Guess Pictures' plan and layout, and also a means to counter the suppression of the Big Seven studios, and he would not easily give up.

But this matter was not beyond discussion.

As long as Disney agreed to abandon its collusion with the Big Six studios to suppress Guess Pictures.

At the same time, if the two sides established a close cooperative relationship, Guess Pictures could invest in animated films produced by Disney, and Disney could also invest in Guess Pictures films, and everyone could make money together.

With this guarantee, Guess Pictures could consider temporarily suspending the acquisition of Pixar.

Hearing Link's "rogue-like" proposal, Michael Eisner felt both angry and helpless.

Animated films were Disney's core business and the foundation of its foothold in Hollywood, so how could it share them with other companies?

Moreover, suppressing Guess Pictures was a joint decision of the Big Seven studios' board of directors, aimed at maintaining the Big Seven studios' dominance in the film industry.

As a member of the Big Seven studios, Disney had to maintain consistency with the other six major studios.

Eisner decisively rejected Link's proposal and also paid attention to the dynamics of Guess Pictures' acquisition of Pixar.

Now, hearing the news of Link and Jobs's meeting, he had to take measures to deal with the impending crisis.

"Michael, isn't Link a Disney shareholder? Why is he doing this?"

Michael Ovitz asked in confusion.

"Hmph! I suspect that his purpose in investing in Disney was to use the board of directors to sabotage our decisions."

Eisner said coldly, his tone tinged with resentment.

"If Guess Pictures successfully acquires Pixar, how big will the impact be?"

"Very big."

Eisner said in a deep voice, "Guess Pictures' ability in film promotion and distribution is already comparable to that of the Big Seven studios. The only shortcomings are production capacity and technology.

If it acquires Pixar, Guess Pictures will gain the technical support of Pixar Studios to produce animated films.

In this way, their production capacity will be greatly improved, the number of films released will also increase, and the market share of the box office will be further expanded.

Over time, the advantages of the Big Seven studios will be weakened, while Guess Pictures will become stronger and stronger, eventually becoming the true hegemon of the film industry."

"Link, that damn guy, is really a scourge."

Michael Ovitz couldn't help but sigh.

Eisner nodded in agreement.

Before Link appeared, the executives of the Big Seven studios lived a leisurely life, drinking coffee, playing golf, and occasionally sleeping with a few male and female celebrities.

Since Link founded Guess Pictures, their workload has increased dramatically, working overtime has become commonplace, and the work pressure has increased more than tenfold compared to before.

Link is indeed a scourge.

After venting his dissatisfaction with Link, Eisner called Barry Diller, president of Fox Pictures, Ron Meyer, president of Universal Pictures, and Miggs Koslowski, president of Warner Bros., to ask for their views on the matter.

Disney is not the only company in Hollywood that produces animated films. The other six major studios also release animated works every year.

If Guess Pictures enters the animated film field, it will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the entire industry.

Barry Diller and Ron Meyer's views were surprisingly consistent: there was no need to worry too much.

Their reasoning was simple—Link didn't understand animation at all and had no experience in animated film production. Could he succeed by rashly entering the animation field after seeing "The Lion King" become a hit?

The answer was no!

Even for companies like Disney and Warner, which have countless animation talents and mature distribution channels, the animated films they produce inevitably lose money, let alone the newcomer Guess Pictures.

They believed that while Link's idea of trying to produce animated films through Pixar was good, it was extremely unrealistic and had a failure rate of over 90%.

In addition, although the cost of producing computer-animated films is lower than that of hand-drawn animation, it is still a significant investment.

If Guess Pictures invests heavily in animated films, it will inevitably affect the production of other films.

From this perspective, the Big Seven studios not only don't need to stop Link from acquiring Pixar, but should instead fuel the flames and let Guess Pictures enter the bottomless pit of animation as soon as possible.

Eisner thought about it carefully and felt that their views were not unreasonable.

Disney was founded in the 1920s and has participated in the production of hundreds of animated films and television series, creating countless classic animated characters.

After decades of development, Disney has achieved its current scale and global market share.

Link is a newcomer, so what makes him think he can succeed?

If he fails, it will be a heavy blow to the development of Guess Pictures.

"But what if Link succeeds?"

After hanging up the phone, Eisner pondered for a while, feeling that he couldn't take this matter lightly.

The reason why Barry Diller and others didn't care about this matter was that the mainstream products of several companies were not animated films. Even if Guess Pictures successfully entered the field of animated films, it would not have much impact on them, unlike Disney.

Eisner arranged for people to continue to pay attention to the progress of Guess Pictures' acquisition of Pixar Animation, and try to disrupt their cooperation if possible.

If it really can't be stopped, then they can only gamble on luck, betting that Link, a newcomer, will not be successful in the field of animated films.

—

Inside the Italian Coffee Shop, Link and Jobs chatted for more than an hour. As the sun began to set, the two shook hands and parted in front of the coffee shop.

"Director Link, I saw you chatting with Mr. Jobs for more than an hour. May I ask what you were talking about?"

As Link was about to get into the car, a middle-aged man with a camera shouted.

Link stopped and smiled, "I wanted to buy a new laptop and asked Steve for a recommendation. He recommended the 1."

"Is that all? It is said that Guess Pictures is preparing to acquire Pixar Animation Studios. Did you talk about this during your chat?"

The middle-aged man shouted.

"Yes, Director Link, please talk about this issue."

The latest and fastest novels are first published at...

Several reporters shouted.

"This is a trade secret."

Link smiled slightly, waved his hand, and got into the business car.

He called Monica and asked if they had gone home.

Monica said they hadn't and were still out shopping and getting beauty treatments.

Link praised them for being amazing, not getting tired after shopping for two hours straight.

Unlike when they were sleeping, they would shout that they were going to die after sleeping for just over ten minutes.

Monica scolded him in embarrassment for being a bad egg.

The car restarted and came to Rodeo Drive to pick up the tired women and take them home.

"Link, how did your chat with Mr. Jobs go?"

Sophia, wearing a knee-length skirt, put her legs on his lap and said her legs hurt and asked him to massage them.

"Not bad, Jobs agrees with my views."

Link kneaded Sophia's smooth calf.

Originally, he wanted to use 'helping Jobs return to Apple' as a condition to facilitate this acquisition.

It's just that Jobs didn't take the bait and hoped to discuss the two things separately.

Link didn't force it and talked about Guess Pictures' development plan and layout in the field of animation, which was basically similar to the future DreamWorks Studios' development plan for animated films.

Jobs was quite satisfied after listening and also offered some supplementary opinions to make Guess Pictures' layout in animated films more complete.

Hearing Jobs soften, he re-proposed the plan to acquire Pixar Animation Studios, with a price of $500 million + 5% of Guess Pictures' shares, or $300 million + 10% of Guess Pictures' shares.

The former is worth 610 million, and the latter is worth 520 million.

But now Guess Pictures is developing rapidly, and the shares are becoming more and more valuable, making the latter have greater potential than the former.

At the same time, he invited Jobs to serve as the chairman of Guess Pictures, managing all company affairs, while Link only served as the chairman of the board.

After considering it, Jobs basically agreed to the transaction, but the specific transaction method still needs to be discussed with Pixar's small shareholders and studio creators.

He will give him an answer in two days.

Link expressed his anticipation.

Jobs is Pixar's largest shareholder, owning 75% of the shares, and also has the decision-making power of the studio. No one else can influence his decision.

Now that Jobs has agreed to the acquisition, there should be no problems with this transaction.

"Link, Guess Pictures has no experience in producing animated films. Now that you are spending so much money to acquire Pixar and investing in the production of animated films, what if it fails?"

Michelle Pfeiffer asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, the company has a detailed development plan and will not fail."

Link said confidently.

With the original Pixar team, there is a guarantee in terms of technology.

As long as the studio produces animated films according to the original plan, and there is Link, a top screenwriter, director, and producer, supervising and guiding, the quality of the produced works will not be bad.

Link can also use these animations to gain directing experience and physical enhancement.

In addition, it doesn't matter even if the film production fails.

Without animated films jointly produced with Pixar Studios, Walt Disney Company's competitiveness in the box office market is greatly weakened.

The overall strength of the Big Seven studios is also weakened, which is a beneficial thing for Guess Pictures.

Third, by acquiring Pixar Animation, it can also strengthen cooperation with Jobs and prepare for further investment in Apple.

Therefore, regardless of whether Guess Pictures' animated film plan can succeed, this investment is profitable for Link.

"Wow, so comfortable, Link, you are really good at massage."

Sophia moved her calf with an expression of enjoyment.

"Really? I want to try too."

"Link, me too, my legs hurt too."

Monica Bellucci, Michelle Pfeiffer, Renée Zellweger, Brooke Shields, and Catherine Zeta-Jones also raised their long legs and asked him to massage them a few times.

Link looked at their outstretched legs and sighed inwardly at his hard fate. There were so many long legs that he could never massage them all in his lifetime.

But as a considerate good man, he would not let go if his women needed him.

He told everyone to line up and come one by one.

On the way back, Monica and Michelle Pfeiffer and the others made a request, wanting to ask Shining Gold Investment Company to help manage the funds under their names, not to spend all the money earned on shopping, but to make long-term plans.

Link massaged Mila's calf, surprised by their proposal.

Although they are his girlfriends, belonging to him.

But they are relatively economically independent, earning their own money and spending it themselves, but now they are taking the initiative to ask him to hand over the money to his investment company for management.

This is equivalent to handing over their economic lifeline to him and deeply binding them to him.

This is a sign of great trust in him.

Link sighed inwardly that he was doing a good job as a husband.