Greetings from Philadelphia!
Chuck Oberleitner, Jeff Lange, Nancy and I are here in “The City of Brotherly Love” to cover the next two days worth of carnage. To bring you a blow-by-blow of what happens when Roy and Stanley meet up with Disneyana fans, as well as what happens when Michael Eisner finally faces down all those disgruntled shareholders.
But — before we do all that — let’s take a quick look back at the news of the last day or so. First up, it’s a question about the Academy Awards. As Terry L. said in her e-mail yesterday morning:
Jim –
What do you make of the Oscars last night? There were an awful lot of Eisner slams, don’t you think?
Terry L.
Terry L.
Those Eisner jokes that Billy Crystal and Robin Williams told fro the Kodak Theater’s stage this past Sunday night were the most obvious indication that the entertainment community now knows that Uncle Michael is in very serious trouble. I’m told that — at several of the Oscar after-parties — Eisner’s fate was one of the main topics of discussion.
According to one JHM reader (who actually walked the red carpet Sunday night):
“Everyone was talking about how ironic it was that that Mike Ovitz letter got released last week. Given that what happened to Ovitz can pretty much be seen as a coming attraction for what’s about to happen to Michael Eisner.
Over the years, Michael’s made an awful lot of enemies in this town, Jim. Which is why people are actually enjoying watching this guy swirl around the bowl.
But what happened to Ovitz — the entire industry turning its back on him, people taking great glee in reporting back on each and every one of Mike’s stumbles — that’s about to start happening to Eisner.
And it ain’t gonna be pretty, Hill.”
Speaking of things that were said from the stage at the Kodak Theater: Many entertainment industry watchers were really intrigued by what “Finding Nemo” director / screenwriter Andrew Stanton had to say. Particularly when it came to Chairman of Walt Disney Studios *** Cook.
Said one animation insider (in an e-mail to me yesterday):
“That’s the second time in a couple of weeks that someone very high up in the Pixar organization has gone out of their way to praise *** Cook publicly. First Steve Jobs — during his February 4th quarterly earnings conference call — said that “We will truly miss working with *** Cook and his terrific marketing and distribution teams.” And then Andrew Stanton actually takes time out during his Academy Award acceptance speech to say nice things about Cook.
Now you may think that I’m a conspiracy theorist, Jim. But — given these two very public compliments were addressed directly at *** — I can only think of two possible explanations:
A) Pixar wants *** Cook to jump ship. To leave the Mouse House and come on over to run the business side of their studio.
OR
B) Pixar doesn’t really want to leave Disney. And — by publicly praising senior people at the studio like *** Cook — it’s actually leaving the door for reconciliation ajar. So that — should Eisner get heaved out on his ass — Pixar would then be able to quickly re-open a line of direct communication between the two companies. Reaching out to someone like *** Cook, with the hope that Pixar would now be able to get the sort of deal that Eisner rejected.
That’s how I’m interpreting these events, Jim. What do you think?”
Well, I have to admit that that’s an interesting theory. But I have to admit that I’m somewhat puzzled that Pixar would be singling out *** Cook for praise. Particularly given that — less than two weeks ago — Cook was down in Orlando, telling investment analysts (at Disney’s ill-fated quarterly earnings conference) that Disney Studios WOULD be moving forward with its plan to produce its own sequels to “Toy Story” and “Monsters, Inc.” An idea that Pixar CEO Steve Jobs is said to absolutely hate.
So it’ll be interesting to see what ultimately happens between Pixar and *** Cook, particularly if Mr. Eisner finds himself out of a job after he meets with shareholders tomorrow at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
Speaking of meetings … Some folks were intrigued to see the folks at Shamrock had made a somewhat subtle change to their schedule of events today. It used to be that Roy and Stanley only had one event scheduled for Tuesday, March 2nd. Which was the “Save Disney” reception and briefing at the Loews Hotel. This meeting — which is slated to run from 4-6 p.m. — was supposed to be the one chance that Disney and Gold would have to meet with the Disney faithful as well as with the press
Well — late last week — Shamrock suddenly decided that it had to separate these two groups. Which is why Roy and Stanley will now be meeting with reporters at a press conference that’s due to begin today at 11 a.m. And then — later on in the day — Disney and Gold will be meet with their supporters at “Save Disney” ‘s reception and briefing.
Why the sudden change to the “Save Disney” schedule? Well, I’ve actually heard a couple of things:
1) Roy and Stanley’s people are said to be somewhat concerned about the Disney faithful. Some senior staffers are reportedly worried that these Disneyana fans may not be all that photogenic and/or will sound somewhat crazed should they encounter a camera. So — in effort to keep their “Save Disney” effort on message — the folks from Shamrock supposedly decided to deliberately steer the camera crews away from the Disney faithful.
2) Roy and Stanley’s people want their presence in Philadelphia to get as much press coverage as possible. So — in order for a “Save Disney” story to be included as a segment in the noon TV news broadcasts in Philly — they had to stage their press conference earlier in the morning.
3) The word on the street is that Comcast is going to announce its next bid for the Walt Disney Company sometime later this afternoon. Given that covering a story like that would obviously take precedence over Disney and Gold’s “Save Disney” rally … er … reception and briefing, the folks at Shamrock reportedly felt that it would now be best to hold their press conference earlier in the day. To guarantee that their “Save Disney” effort wouldn’t get scooped … Should Comcast actually come forward with a new, improved bid later today.
So what’s the REAL reason that the folks at Shamrock opted to separate Roy and Stanley’s press conference from the “Save Disney” reception and briefing? Me personally? I think that it’s probably a combination of the three factors listed above. Rather than one particular reason taking precedence over the others.
Anywho … here’s hoping that that’s enough significant trivia to hold you guys ’til Chuck, Jeff, Nancy and I are able to dig up some real news here in Philadelphia.
Talk to you later, okay?
jrh