It was a middle-aged white man with a bare forehead, and at first glance, it looked a bit like Jason Statham, the beauty of the prosperous world.

Ronan went directly to him and took the initiative to greet him, "Hello, Mr. Meledandri." ”

Chris Meledandley first made a closer look, then shook Ronan's hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Anderson. ”

He had met this young man at other parties before, and he was becoming famous in Hollywood, and he was nicknamed the youngest billionaire in the circle.

But the two have not crossed paths before......

Ronan's mind flashed through the relevant materials prepared by Robert Lee before, and said: "This "Ice Age", Twentieth Century Fox has taken a key step towards the animated film market. ”

Chris Meledandley didn't know what Ronan's purpose was, so he smiled slightly and said, "The animated film market has a bright future. ”

"That's true. Ronan chimed in: "Those classic animated feature films from Disney Animation Studios can generate enviable profits every year. ”

Chris Meledandley copes: "That's the result of years of accumulation at Disney. ”

Ronan's words seem to have nothing to do with it: "Disney Animation Studios is declining rapidly, and if it weren't for the support of Pixar Studios' animated feature films, Disney Animation would only be left with those old works and signatures." ”

Chris Meledandley said: "Disney Animation Studios is too conservative and too unenterprising, focusing only on bringing in foreign films and neglecting their own development. ”

Ronan changed his words: "I heard that Twentieth Century Fox has completely acquired Blue Sky Studios?"

Chris Meledandley glanced at Ronan, the news had already spread, and he was not surprised, but the other party said this in front of him, what did he mean?

Not a matter of secrecy, Chris Meledandley casually replied: "The acquisition is done." ”

Seeing that the two people had gone somewhere else, and there was no one else around, Ronan stopped going around in circles and said directly: "Mr. Meledandley, can you take the liberty of asking? What about the Fox Animation Department that you created?"

Without waiting for Chris Meledandley to answer, Ronan added: "As far as I know, Twentieth Century Fox is preparing to dissolve the original Fox Animation after acquiring Blue Sky Studios. ”

Chris Meledandley said lightly: "This is an internal affair of Twentieth Century Fox, and Mr. Anderson doesn't have to worry about it." ”

Having said that, I was very upset in my heart, because no one knew better than Chris Meledandley that once "Ice Age" achieved the expected success, all the resources of Fox in the twentieth century to develop animated films would inevitably be transferred to Blue Sky Studios, and the Fox animation that he created and developed single-handedly had only one way to dissolve.

In fact, back when "Frozen Planet" failed last year, Chris Meledandley was mentally prepared.

"Frozen Planet" cost $75 million to produce, and the budget may not seem high, but it is the first real animated feature film of Fox Animation, and how much money and power did Twentieth Century Fox invest in Fox Animation?

In contrast, "Ice Age" received rave reviews at its initial test screening, and the company expects it to be a huge success......

The success of Blue Sky Studios has made Fox Animation even more unsuccessful.

Ronan said softly, "If Twentieth Century Fox really lays off Fox Animation, won't Mr. Meledandley think about the future for the employees of Fox Animation?"

Chris Meledandley said lightly: "I will continue to work at Fox. ”

"Fox Animation was founded by Mr. Meledandelli, and the production team was built by you. Ronan's voice was still not high: "A lot of people joined Fox Animation because of Mr. Meledandley, will Fox be responsible for their future?"

Chris Meledandri's face is still indifferent, but there is a little bad feeling in his heart, who will feel good if the team that has been formed for many years has been laid off?

But the dismissal order did not come from Twentieth Century Fox, and the Murdoch family is said to have intervened directly.

Ronan continued: "If Mr. Meledandley can stay at Fox, I am afraid that the rest of the people will not have many opportunities. He pulled out a business card and handed it to Chris Meledandley: "This is my personal contact information, you can contact me at any time." ”

Chris Meledandley said: "I'm not leaving Twentieth Century Fox. ”

But he took Ronan's business card and solemnly put it away.

Ronan smiled and nodded, then took his leave and left.

Chris Meledandley looked at Ronan's back in silence, thinking to himself if this was a way for his men who were about to be dismissed.

At the beginning, so many people accompanied him to start a business, and some even gave up better jobs and salaries, so he couldn't just watch them lose their jobs after being laid off.

It is true that he could stay at Twentieth Century Fox and continue to hold high positions, and some managers could remain at Fox, but most of them would have been fired by Fox.

With the qualifications of these people, staying in Hollywood is undoubtedly the best way out.

Ronan didn't say much, being with Chris Meledandley was just the first step in a series of actions, and Robert Lee had known this person in detail before, Chris Meledandley was a very nostalgic person and would not completely throw away the animation team that he had built single-handedly.

Since Chris Meledandley will be the next co-editor of Fox Animation, and his position is still above Chris Witch, the founder of Blue Sky Studios, Ronan did not think about being able to poach Chris Meledandley to Relativity Entertainment.

Ronan is just planning to form an animation department at Shahai Entertainment, and it's hard to attract a character like Chris Meledandli.

His real target was the professional animators who could be fired from Fox Animation, as well as other technical staff.

Compared to live-action films, animated feature films, especially computer-animated feature films, require technical accumulation, and these personnel can help Shahai Entertainment speed up this process.

Moreover, Twentieth Century Fox took the initiative to lay off employees, so naturally there were no problems such as non-compete agreements.

If most of the Fox Animation staff can be absorbed into Shahai Entertainment, maybe in a few years, Shahai Entertainment's animated feature films will come out.

There is no need to think about the technology of Pixar Studios, as long as there is the technical level of lighting entertainment in the previous life, Ronan is satisfied.

And that's just the beginning of the animation project.

The rest of the plans are still waiting for more suitable opportunities.

If you can successfully set up the animation production department of Shahai Entertainment, you may be able to find some low-difficulty cartoons and practice your skills first.

Ronan couldn't help but shake his head, thinking a little far, it was better to recruit people first and then talk about anything else.

"Let's go. Chris came over at this time: "Let's go to the theater together." ”

Ronan followed in Chris's footsteps and said, "Watching an animated feature film, the mentality can be five years younger." ”

The story of the film revolves around three prehistoric animals from the Ice Age and a human abandoned baby.

Ronan thinks the essence lies in its details, and there is a long passage in the opening where the squirrel buries the pine cone, without a single line, exaggerated but not ruined by the comedic effect, and the mouse wants to nail the pine cone into the ice and snow, causing a large avalanche that the sky will collapse......

In the previous life to the later films, the attention and popularity of Rat Quat even exceeded that of the film's real three protagonists.

And "Ice Age" has also become the only signature that Blue Sky Studio can handle.

As far as this animated feature film is concerned, the technical gap between Blue Sky Studios and Pixar and DreamWorks is very obvious, compared to "Monster Electric Company" at almost the same time, both in terms of hair processing and character action details, it seems a little stiff.

Of course, this doesn't stop Ice Age from being a very good animated feature.

After all, Pixar Studios is a bunch of hangers, and it's not fair to other animation studios to compare technology with them.

In this day and age, Pixar Studios' rival in animated feature films is actually only Pixar itself.

The opponent of the hanging is always the hanging.

Unless you force yourself to start falling.

"The all-digital animated film, which brings together many cute animals from prehistory, is a film that is suitable for all ages. Although the story is not as exciting as "Toy Story" and not as emotional as "Shrek", it is very humorous and witty, and can bring happiness to everyone. ”

The Los Angeles Times review is undoubtedly a reflection of Ice Age's word-of-mouth.

The film was well received by most people, and Twentieth Century Fox also earned more than expected box office receipts.

"Ice Age" won $46.32 million at the box office from North America in the first three days of its opening weekend, not only easily winning the top spot in the North American box office, but also in the forecast released by Cinema Score, the North American box office fell above $160 million.

There is no doubt that this animated feature film will be a great success.

Twentieth Century Fox's acquisition of Blue Sky Studios is also an absolutely correct strategic decision.

But for Fox Animation, the rest of the days weren't easy.

As soon as April began, Ronan got the exact news that Twentieth Century Fox would soon officially dismantle Fox Animation and transfer all animation resources to Blue Sky Studios.

For Twentieth Century Fox, integrating and optimizing resource allocation is a very reasonable business strategy.

Ronan has been following this and made a second contact with Chris Meledandli, who will remain at Twentieth Century Fox as chairman of animation contact and oversee Blue Sky Studios and other businesses, but most of his team will be leaving Fox.

Just as Robert Lee returned to Los Angeles to bring a licensing deal with Chris Gardner, Ronan's solicitation was in full swing.