Rebirth In Hollywood

"Pixar is regarded as the most successful animation studio in the world today, both artistically and commercially."

Glancing at Ryan who was teasing her daughter, Nicole leaned on the sofa and asked, "Are you sure you want to listen?"

"continue."

Ryan tucked his fingers into Sandy's small hands and let her tick it lightly. The voice of Nicole read the newspaper from behind, "Because of the crowd of talents, the competition within the Pixar studio is very fierce, and the management often Make some inhumane personnel adjustments, such as allowing only a limited number of people in the core group to serve as film directors, and never give young people a chance."

"It's better to buy a lottery ticket to become a director of an animated feature film at Pixar, so those geniuses who have a hard time getting a shot choose to flee from Pixar."

Nicole looked at Ryan, who was having fun with her daughter, and laughed, but she didn't stop, "These outstanding graduates of the 'Animation West Point Military Academy' are full of talent and pride, maybe they {no + Tomorrow's John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton."

"Mr Jenkins."

The nurse came over and grabbed the handle of the stroller. "It's time for Sandy to go to bed."

"Okay, dear." Ryan stood up and waved to the little guy in the car, "Goodbye."

After the nurse pushed her daughter away, Ryan walked over to the couch, sat beside Nicole, took the newspaper in her hand, and saw a particularly terrifying headline on the entertainment page - "Escape from Pixar".

"These tabloids." Ryan couldn't help shaking his head. "In order to attract attention, he did not hesitate to exaggerate things a hundred times."

"It really won't matter?" Nicole asked with a frown.

"It's just a few middle-level employees whose contracts have expired..." Ryan made a reassuring gesture to her, "It's just a normal resignation, and it won't have much impact on Pixar at all."

The matter is actually not complicated. Several mid-level employees of Pixar Studio, who are somewhat well-known in the industry, have officially expired their contracts with Pixar after "Cars". I did not choose to renew the contract, but went to other companies for development, which is a very normal flow of personnel.

It's just that these few self-confessed talented people, when interviewed by reporters, thought they couldn't get the chance to become directors at Pixar Studios, and they couldn't help but complain a few words.

One of the interviews was published in detail by the tabloids.

"Since the age of ten,

I dreamed of being a film director. "

The person interviewed was called Jimmy Hayward. "More than a decade ago, an opportunity presented itself to me. I joined the Pixar animation studio, which is now sweeping the global animation market."

"From the "Toy Story" series to "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc." to "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles," I have contributed wisdom and labor that exceeds my salary several times. However, this I've been working on this job for a long time, and I've come to understand a hard truth - if I want to be a director, I have to leave Pixar."

"It was a tough choice, one that the vast majority of Pixar employees would never consider, but I didn't do it on impulse."

Several other people left at the same time. Ryan has the deepest impression on Jimmy Hayward, mainly because of his previous life, after he left the Pixar studio, although he became a director, he did not achieve the success he had imagined. In addition to "Houghton and Anonymous" is not bad, the other two "Turkey" and "Jonah? Hux" have made 20th Century Fox a huge loss.

In addition, Ash Brannon, another person who left at the same time, was also somewhat impressed, and vaguely remembered that this person later went to Sony Entertainment. The animated feature film directed also made the investors extremely miserable.

Your own talent is important, but so is a platform where you can show your talent.

Ryan didn't care much about the departure of these people at all. This will not diminish the creativity and execution of the Pixar studio, and all of Hollywood is acknowledging the fact that every time someone quits and walks out of the studio, Pixar's human resources department receives hundreds, if not thousands, of letters. A reliable cover letter.

Besides, the normal flow of people is also a good thing for keeping the Pixar studio alive.

Pixar Studios implements a boutique strategy, and can generally launch an animated feature film every year, and even shave their heads in some years, and the directors of these films all come from the core layer of the studio.

John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton and Peter Docter, these four are well-deserved Pixar All-Stars, their past success has proven their ability, and these people are both Disney The shareholders of Pixar have also made great efforts in the process of Ryan swallowing up Disney. As long as they can create value, the rights to animation feature films produced by Pixar will definitely not fall into the hands of others.

A company that has gained an advantage in external competition will inevitably have fierce internal competition. A commercial company such as Pixar Studio, which has achieved great success, will definitely gather a large number of industry elites, but like other companies, its internal "food chain" ”, there must be a handful of employees at the top of the chain.

You must know that the density of talented people in Pixar's technical department is very high, such as gold medal animation editor Lee Unkrich, sound designer Gary Rydstrom who directed the super cool short "Kidnapping Lesson", and There is Brad Chapman, the screenwriter of "Cars". These professionals already have the qualifications and abilities to direct feature films, but so far, they have not yet released a major work.

As for the departed Jimmy Hayward and Ash Brannon, no matter their talent or ability, they are far behind these people.

Of course, Ryan also knows the importance of talents. For these real core employees, he, Ed Kammer and John Lasseter attach great importance to them, and promise them a bright future. .

In the future production plan of Pixar Studio, the director position has been booked by these professional madmen, and Lee Unkrich has confirmed that he will direct Pixar's major drama "Toy Story 3".

As for the other two, they also have projects in the pipeline, such as Brad Chapman is working on an adaptation of a Scottish folklore.

"No other studio has produced so much creative talent and produced so many great artists and animators other than Pixar."

This comment that once appeared on the cover of "Vanity Fair" may be a bit exaggerated, but it always shows the power of Pixar Studios today and its prominent position in the industry.

Perhaps in the future Pixar Studio will encounter the bottleneck of creative exhaustion, but in Ryan's view, the current talent gathering and how to use it is the most difficult problem for Pixar Studio to solve.

In recent years, Ryan has successively made some adjustments between the Pixar studio and the Disney animation department. More than 300 people have been transferred from the Pixar studio to the Disney animation department, and those who really have super ability People have also stepped into a higher and more important position.

However, both the Disney animation department and the Pixar studio are implementing high-quality strategies. In the future plan, most of the animated feature films released each year will be maintained at an average frequency of one a year or even less than this number. Many people's positions are inevitably There will be some gaps in their own abilities.

How to solve it? Now only a few middle-level employees who are not the core are switching jobs, but what about in the future? You must know that these people who have switched jobs will inevitably become the most direct competitors of Pixar Studio.

Although Pixar needs external competitors, too many competitors are also not a good thing.

With the departure of Jimmy Hayward and Ash Brannon, Ryan also began to think about this issue. Even a group of idealists will have ambitions and ambitions in order to achieve their ideals, not to mention Pixar Studios Still a real business company.

Changing the boutique strategy of Disney Animation or Pixar Studios?

Ryan would rather have more people switch jobs than make such an unwise choice. It took both animation studios more than ten years to form their own ideas and cultures. Death will inevitably lead to great upheaval.

At a time when Pixar Studios is growing fast and Disney Animation is on the right track, the turmoil is sure to cause unimaginable losses.

The best way is to have a high-production animation work department, so that more people have the opportunity and hope to go to a higher position. Does Hollywood have such an animation studio?

The answer is yes--DreamWorks Animation Studios run by Jerefer Katzenberg.

The former president of Disney's animation division once claimed that DreamWorks Animation Studios has the ability to produce three to four animated feature films or series a year.

Although these words are a bit exaggerated, Ryan knows that what DreamWorks Animation Studios is really implementing is the Katana tactic.

It appears that the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation Studios is imperative.

At present, the annual output of DreamWorks Animation Studio is generally about two. Ryan remembers that it will increase to three in a few years. This process can be slightly advanced to create more jobs and opportunities.

Of course, in his opinion, in the next ten years, DreamWorks Animation Studio will be enough to maintain the production of about three movies a year, after all, the digestibility of the market must be considered.

After Ryan talked to Robert Iger last time, Walt Disney took part in the shares of DreamWorks Animation Studios, but it remained below 5%. This year, the animation studios of Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures will be Launching its own CG animated feature film, Pixar's external competitive environment will not be as easy as last year, and acquisitions can be gradually accelerated.

The five largest shareholders of DreamWorks Animation Studio are himself, Jerefer Katzenberg, David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft. Shares in the hands of Wall Street, as long as the price is right, there are basically not too many problems.

Thinking of this, Ryan called Robert Iger and Dick Cook respectively. The acquisition will definitely not be completed in the short term, but preparations must be made in advance. (To be continued...) ()