Chapter 654 Do you have to work overtime on weekends?
The premiere of "Pulp Fiction" did not attract many stars to attend. However, the movie itself originally invited many stars to join in the performance...
For example, Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, etc...
Coupled with Demi Moore and Kelly Preston, who have become a celebrity couple, the premiere was still a bit starry.
Ronald didn't go to the premiere of Miramax, Harvey didn't come because he knew he couldn't afford the invitation, and Ronald didn't want to lower his status and go by himself.
He watched the dressing up of two celebrity couples on TV. The two celebrity wives chose black dresses at the same time. Demi Moore wore a low-cut dress, and Kelly Preston may not have as much money as the former, so she chose see-through.
They are equally eye-catching, and the live broadcast cameras always turn to them.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
Dai An, who was beside Leng Buding, said something.
"Ah? Yeah, it's pretty good-looking. Which one of them do you think looks like Bichi from 'Mr. Sweetheart'?"
Diane was still waiting for Tom Cruise's schedule recently and was a little depressed. Ronald asked her to comment on which female star was suitable to play the role of Tom Cruise. Jerry Maguire heard that he resigned and left.
His fiancée who will break up with him in the future...
"Well, it seems that she still looks a bit like Kelly Preston..."
Sure enough, Diane's attention was diverted... Kelly Preston married John Travolta in 1991, and their wedding caused a big incident.
These two couples are a bit similar to Tom Cruise and his ex-wife Mimi Rogers. They are both believers in Scientology. To be precise, Kelly Preston dragged John Travolta into the water and believed in this strange religion together.
religion.
The two of them took a Concorde and went to Paris to have a wedding together. This was almost the old-fashioned way for Hollywood stars to get married. However, the senior officials of Scientology were very dissatisfied because both of them were believers and it was best to hold the ceremony at their club.
once.
The two actually went to Daytona Beach, Florida, to have another Scientology wedding six months later, Scientology's second center outside of Los Angeles - where there are many wealthy seniors.
Because factors related to their careers, such as romance, popularity, and media coverage, were put ahead of Scientology's interests, Ronald understood that the two men's beliefs were not as pious as they appeared.
"What do you think?" Diane looked at the two of them repeatedly.
"Yes, Kelly Preston is more of a Hollywood-style good wife and mother than Demi, so later revealing her true nature will make it more interesting for the audience..."
"Well, that makes sense. I'll have someone contact her agent..." Diane's mind could easily be directed to the movie she had been looking forward to for a long time.
"Ring ring ring ring..."
Ronald's work line phone rang again, and he answered it impatiently while holding Diane in his arms while talking.
"Hello?"
"It's me, Ed..."
It's Ed Bastian, CEO of DDH Media. He usually doesn't call Ronald on weekend evenings. Maybe there is something particularly urgent today?
"What's up?"
"Big news, big thing, Katzenberg resigned..."
"What big news is this, can't you handle it? I gave you such a high salary..." Ronald joked. He is interested in business, and he will personally study some big decisions before making a decision.
But in essence, Ronald's work spirit is still dedicated only to artistic creation. If you ask him to sacrifice some family life for the movie, he can still persist for a while. If you ask him to give up time with his family for the sake of business, then
No interest anymore.
Anyway, he has a very professional team running DDH Media, and his personal assets are mainly in a few stocks with high return rates, so he doesn't need to spend too much energy.
"Didn't you hear what I said clearly? It was Disney's Katzenberg who resigned... Don't you really want someone who can take charge of production?"
"Oh, God, I didn't hear that clearly. How could he resign?"
"I don't know. He just announced his resignation. Rumor has it that he was dissatisfied with Eisner's refusal to take any position to replace Frank Wells, who died in a helicopter accident..."
"Then he should be dissatisfied..." Ronald felt that this was the right thing.
Before and after the Oscars, he saw Katzenberg, Spielberg, and David Geffen chatting about something together. Looking at it now, could it be because he has dominated all of Disney's blockbuster movies in the past few years?
Regardless of whether it was live action or animation, Katzenberg could not get promoted for a long time, so Katzenberg had second thoughts.
Then a sudden helicopter accident caused the sudden death of Frank Wells, Disney's second-in-command. This gave Katzenberg a position where he could be promoted. In this way, he may be psychologically biased towards Disney, after all, he had already established himself there.
Very good foundation.
But no one knew that Eisner actually refused to give the vacancy left by Frank Wells to Katzenberg, the uncontroversial candidate of course, and skipped his promotion.
Ronald and Ed Bastian both sighed, and they both thought at the same time that Eisner had the same experience back then, when everyone thought he was the critical moment for Paramount to be promoted to the position of general manager.
, Eisner himself was ignored, the parent company above just wanted someone toe-to-toe, not a capable manager like him who was responsible for more than half of Paramount's biggest hits in the past decade.
And today, Eisner himself has become the person who does not trust his most capable general...
"You have to hurry up. Katzenberg must be pursued by many people now. There are not many talents in Hollywood who can succeed in both animation and live-action movies..." Ed Bastian is luckier than Katzenberg.
The format is much better.
Ronald is the first generation founder of the company and controls most of the shares. Such a boss is not afraid of the talents of his subordinates. Eisner is a nominal chairman, and he owns Disney shares.
, are not the most numerous within the company, let alone Disney’s many external investors.
So for him, the most important thing is absolute control of the company. If Katzenberg is promoted to a position reporting directly to the board of directors (like Frank Wells, who unfortunately passed away), then his position at Disney
The internal opposition will definitely support Katzenberg as an important force to contain Eisner.
After Welles' death, Eisner, who finally obtained the greatest power not involved in Disney, could not watch Katzenberg grow into another Welles.
But from Katzenberg's point of view, it is impossible for him to continue to stand still after working hard for the company for ten years. In addition to career progress and greater power, he can get more after promotion.
The Disney options are also expected to greatly improve Katzenberg's financial situation.
Being rejected this natural position, as a good subordinate and disciple of Eisner, he could not stay in his original position. Eisner did not stay at Paramount back then, but ran away.
Created his own world.
"Ed, can't you go for me? I'll just call Katzenberg. Today is the weekend, and I promised Diane and my son Roger that I would stay with him at home."
"Ronald, I rarely bother you when you are enjoying your family life, unless it is really necessary...and today is the time when it is really necessary."
Ed Bastian is very familiar with Katzenberg's abilities. This man's ability to judge film projects is also well-known within Hollywood.
As a medium-sized company among the seven major companies, Disney cannot have too many stars to shoot the highest-level Hollywood productions. But he can understand that those movies have good box office potential, which directors should be matched, and which ones should be matched.
Actors, and who are the people behind the scenes to tell this story well.
The Katzenberg Report issued by Katzenberg within Disney also elaborated on his ideas and code of conduct for producing projects at Disney. He pointed out that the most important thing for a film to be successful is to present a good story.
Ed Bastian himself has read it many times and recommended it to many people within the company. If Katzenberg can really be hired, it will be a very important supplement to DDH. Disney's situation at that time was...
It is similar to the current DDH.
When shooting big stars, large-scale production capabilities are not enough. The production of small and medium-sized films depends entirely on the chairman. Without him, there will be no talent that can continue to produce profitable film projects.
If Katzenberg comes, he can establish another profitable production line besides Ronald. This is exactly the kind of talent DDH needs most during its rapid development period.
It would not be a problem for such a person to condescend to DDH and give him a title with the highest administrative level, with the first letter being C and the last letter being O.
"Ed, you are also a man who loves his family and his wife. Although work takes up most of your time, you have enough reasons to sacrifice your family. I have never asked you to give up just to attend a film festival.
Time with your wife and kids, right?
Those boring film festivals to you are what this job makes me feel like. I am willing to be separated from my family for a short period of time to shoot a movie and visit an important film production team, but for a business interview, let me leave
My favorite time on the weekends is with my family, and I don’t want to do that.”
Ronald saw Katzenberg's previous discussions with Spielberg, David Geffen and others. He had no evidence and it was inconvenient to share these speculations with Ed Bastian.
But he knew in his heart that people like Katzenberg, who came out of Disney, must have been prepared for it. Talking to him now is nothing more than giving others a second-rate choice so that they can talk to the other two partners.
Just talking about conditions.
Wouldn't it be better to let Bastian do this kind of thing?
"Ronald, go ahead. What Ed said is very important. He is also a family-loving person. Such a person will not bother you without reason. Don't let Ed down... Ronnie.
"
Diane listened for a long time. She didn't understand the specific matters, but she was very moved by Ronald's words.
After Brother Ronnie got married to himself, apart from other things, he really spent a lot of time on his family. Some movies would rather be shot in Los Angeles, which is much more expensive, and he would reunite with himself every day.
Nowadays, DDH's industry still needs capable people like Ed to help him manage it. People have finally asked you to work overtime for the future of the company. If you refuse like this, others will feel very disappointed.
After all, DDH Media makes money and it’s not our family that pays the most dividends.
"Ed, how did you spread the company's corporate culture education to my home? Diane is also persuading me to accept your assignment and work overtime. Okay, okay, I'll go to Cassenberg right now
Please call."
…
"Jeffrey... you are really hard to date now..."
"Hahaha, it's a special situation. I usually make time for you as soon as you call me, Ronald."
Over the past decade, the positions of Ronald and Katzenberg have changed several times. At the beginning, Ronald was just a young director waiting for him to give the green light to the project. Then he became the one who had to interview and fight for it.
Hardcore director.
After DDH went public, it became my potential future employer.
Today, Ronald personally called for an appointment. Katzenberg still turned down many offers and made a special trip to wait for Ronald to come.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Not to mention that, I heard about Michael (Eisner)'s decision and came to you as soon as possible. I sincerely make an offer to you to serve as
The COO of DDH is responsible for the production of the entire group's film and television projects.
In addition, your reporting line can also find me directly. Although I believe that after you come, we and Ed will have to have many meetings together. Ed sent your message to every executive in the company in person.
That memo to the film industry, and discussing with me many times your philosophy on choosing film projects.
I can guarantee that you will feel as comfortable here as you did at Disney Studios. Our philosophies are exactly the same. And you have to bear greater responsibility..."
"I never imagined that these words would come out of your mouth, but I have to admit that this is a competitive invitation..."
Ronald's smiling face dropped slightly. The adjective "competitive" showed that his guess was correct. Katzenberg must have thought of a plan.
"DDH is not a big studio, but I can guarantee that as long as you come here and have hundreds of millions of funds every year, which can be used for film production, you don't have to worry about not being able to make big stars and big productions like at Disney."
Ronald also wanted to give it a try, and also tried to make some insinuations about what conditions Katzenberg had obtained.
Although the three of them are all celebrities in the industry, they are unlikely to risk their wealth, right? DDH's financing capabilities on Wall Street are pretty good, and there are many funds willing to invest in Ronald's promising movie projects.
As long as Katzenberg is included, it won't be a problem to get enough budget to shoot two or three major productions every year. Such a commitment is not easy to get from other major production companies.
"Like I said, very attractive..."
Ronald and Katzenberg chatted for a few more rounds, and he stood up decisively to say goodbye. He felt more and more that Katzenberg not only had a way out, but also got a lot of money, so that his own conditions could not exceed that.
Plant big money.
"By the way, Ronald, I have another question. If I work for your company, will I be sent out to work overtime and go to an interesting person for an interview like today?"
Katzenberg stood up to see Ronald off, and suddenly asked again when he reached the door.
"I don't think there will be many. It's because of you that I gave up time with my family today. But as a COO who manages the operations of a listed company, I don't think I can predict that he won't have something like today.
In such a situation, however, I can guarantee that if there is such a time, it must be very necessary."
"Thank you, I will consider it carefully and get back to you then..."
Ronald had the feeling of being politely rejected by the director after auditioning for an actor. On the way back, he kept thinking, where did Katzenberg get so much starting money?
"I still have to work overtime..." After Ronald left, Katzenberg drank some good brandy. He picked up the phone and called his assistant, "Make an appointment with Steven and Da