DreamWorks Animation.
"Welcome! Welcome! Welcome, my dearest friend, Kyle Page!"
That day, Kyle was invited to DreamWorks Animation, and upon his arrival, he was warmly received by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the president of DreamWorks Animation.
"Hmph, the grandeur is alright, but we're old friends, so a little less of the superficial stuff is fine." Kyle looked at the DreamWorks Animation staff, all welcoming him, and immediately felt a surge of excitement.
"How can you call it superficial?"
Jeffrey Katzenberg chuckled, "This is everyone's intention. We all welcome your arrival!"
Kyle waved his hand.
Kyle didn't believe a word of Katzenberg's statement.
Not long after.
Kyle followed Katzenberg and toured DreamWorks Animation together.
It must be said that while DreamWorks Animation's technical standards currently can't compare to Steve Jobs' Pixar Animation, their spirit of aggressive advancement is definitely high.
"You're right. Our current technical standards can't match Pixar Animation, but our technology isn't bad either. We have over 90 people dedicated to new technology research and development alone, which is absolutely on par with Pixar Animation," Jeffrey Katzenberg said proudly.
Kyle nodded in agreement.
New technology R&D personnel are absolutely the core existence of an animation company.
This is a trade secret, and even more, it is the confidence that an animation company can go further!
"Water ripples, hair, light and shadow, character expression capture... We've done all of these quite well, absolutely top-tier in the industry!" Katzenberg introduced again.
Kyle couldn't help but show a look of envy.
Legacy!
Kyle's Waterworld Animation Studio was founded later than Steve Jobs' Pixar Animation and also later than Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation. In terms of talent reserves and cultivation, there is indeed a significant gap between them.
"Jeffrey, to be honest, if my Waterworld Animation hadn't signed an agreement with Jobs, well, a technical assistance agreement, Waterworld Animation's technical level would definitely be a generation behind yours," Kyle sighed.
Katzenberg: "..."
Well, at this moment, Katzenberg was a little jealous!
Before "Finding Nemo" was released, and before Waterworld Animation signed a technical assistance agreement with Pixar, Waterworld Animation was several streets behind DreamWorks Animation!
Hmm, even though Waterworld Animation had two trump card animation series, "Peppa Pig" and "SpongeBob SquarePants."
But what about now?
Waterworld Animation has caught up!
Not only that, Waterworld Animation also successfully listed on the US stock market, with a market value exceeding 1.2 billion US dollars, which made Katzenberg envious, jealous, and hateful on countless nights!
"Kyle, you're truly a lucky fellow~"
Katzenberg couldn't help but sigh.
After all, Waterworld Animation's current strength has surpassed DreamWorks Animation. In the field of computer animation, whether in terms of scale, box office, or influence, Kyle's Waterworld Animation ranks second in the US, second only to Steve Jobs' Pixar Animation.
He was envious!
"Haha!"
Kyle laughed, "You're less envious. The strength of your DreamWorks Animation is obvious to all. What you lack is just an opportunity. Hmm, I believe that day is not far off."
Not far?
How far is that!
Just a few months ago, DreamWorks Animation's "The Road to El Dorado" was successfully released in North America.
It was an ambitious work from DreamWorks Animation!
The production cost alone was as high as 78 million US dollars, and more than 350 employees participated in this animated film, which took over 2 years to meticulously create.
"'The Road to El Dorado' will surpass Pixar's 'Toy Story 2' and Waterworld Animation's 'Finding Nemo.' I firmly believe that our DreamWorks Animation is the number one animation company in the United States."
"Yes, I firmly believe... we are the first!"
This was Katzenberg's declaration to a group of media reporters at the premiere of "The Road to El Dorado."
At that time, Katzenberg was so full of vigor and ambition~
However... "The Road to El Dorado" was a box office disaster!
Its opening weekend box office for three days was only 12.5 million US dollars;
As of now, the animated film has been released for a cumulative 2 months, and in the North American market, it has only garnered less than 50 million US dollars in box office revenue. Hmm, its final box office will at most just barely reach 50 million US dollars.
In the overseas market, it was even more ignored.
"Box office failure, it doesn't matter, we still have merchandise licensing, and the offline DVD and video cassette market."
What was the result?
It was even worse than the box office!
The popularity of "The Road to El Dorado" merchandise was even inferior to that of "Toy Story 1," which was released several years ago. Buddy, you should know that "Toy Story 1" was a movie from years ago.
DreamWorks Animation, shattered dreams!
Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was full of vigor and ambition a few months ago, has now become a laughingstock in the industry. Media reporters and film critics have not held back their sarcasm and ridicule during this period.
The biggest highlight, however, was Michael Eisner, the Disney chairman and the culprit who drove Jeffrey out of Disney.
Haha, the two are old rivals!
Michael Eisner openly stated, "Jeffrey Katzenberg is an incompetent loser! His departure from Disney was not because I drove him away, but because his talent was completely mismatched with the great Disney~"
When Katzenberg saw this news, he almost got so angry he went berserk on the spot... Katzenberg looked at Kyle and said in a deep voice, "My dearest friend, the disastrous failure of 'The Road to El Dorado' is not just a problem with the animation itself, but also stems from the strangulation by other companies!"
"The Hollywood Six," Kyle softly uttered.
"Exactly!"
Katzenberg nodded heavily, "Before 'The Road to El Dorado' was released, we had already signed a theater contract with Regal Entertainment, but... three days before the release, Regal Entertainment breached the contract."
Upon hearing this, Kyle exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't your distribution always handled by Paramount? How dare Regal Entertainment unilaterally breach the contract?!"
Kyle couldn't help but be puzzled.
DreamWorks Animation's distribution business was always handled by Paramount, one of the Hollywood Six!
In the current situation where the theater market is fragmented, the theaters are in a weak position and would absolutely not dare to offend the Hollywood Six.
Katzenberg chuckled, "We didn't entrust the distribution of 'The Road to El Dorado' to Paramount; instead, our DreamWorks Group handled it ourselves."
Upon hearing this, Kyle immediately rolled his eyes.
Oh, come on~
This must have been targeted!
"You messed with Paramount, Paramount got angry, and then they had the theaters mess with you. Isn't that perfectly normal?" Kyle pouted.
With things explained to this extent, Kyle finally understood Katzenberg's purpose in inviting him to DreamWorks.
He was asking Kyle for help!