In the reception room of the Burbank Business Club, Ronan meets Robert Iger, who has just returned to Los Angeles.

"Welcome back, Bob. Ronan shook hands with Robert Iger and asked, "You won't go back this time, will you?"

Robert Iger had already reached an agreement with the legal department of Relativity Entertainment and initialed the relevant agreement, and at this time he was very calm, with his usual smile, and said: "I don't want to go back to the island country." ”

Ronan asked Robert Iger for two cups of black tea and said, "I've been hoping you could stay in Los Angeles." He turned to the topic: "Bob, do you have any other requests?"

Robert Iger was also not polite, saying: "I need a car, I'm not good at driving myself, and I need a driver." In addition, I have already explained to the people in the legal department that I have a non-compete agreement in my work contract with Walt Disney, and if I leave Disney and work in the same industry, I will need to pay Disney a liquidated damages of up to $2 million. ”

"You don't have to worry about that. Ronan was prepared for this: "Relativity Entertainment will pay you liquidated damages. ”

If Robert Iger had been a top executive at Walt Disney, the number could have been in the tens of millions, but fortunately, Robert Iger had not yet made his mark.

This is also a key factor in Relativity Entertainment's ability to impress Robert Iger.

The CEO of a medium-sized company is more attractive than the middle management of a large company.

More importantly, the trend of civil unrest in Walt Disney is now becoming more and more obvious, so that Robert Iger, who has been affected, cannot see the future.

Ronan asked with concern, "Have you submitted your resignation report to Disney?"

Robert Iger replied: "I've called Michael Eisner to explain that the formal resignation report will be submitted tomorrow when I go to Disney headquarters, and it may take a while to go through the process." ”

Ronan still had some patience and said, "I'm waiting for you to join Relativity Entertainment." ”

Robert Iger was clearly in a very good mood and said, "I'm looking forward to starting a new career at Relativity Entertainment. ”

Ronan couldn't help laughing, the addition of Robert Iger can undoubtedly make up for the relatively weak link in the management and operation of Relativity Entertainment.

The negotiation team of the legal department had previously negotiated various conditions with Robert Iger in Tokyo, and Relativity Entertainment's payment of $2 million in liquidated damages for Robert Iger in the non-compete agreement was only one of the conditions.

The treatment was also an important factor in impressing Robert Iger.

Previously, Robert Iger's annual salary at Walt Disney was $400,000, and with various related incentives, the annual income before taxes was about $600,000.

After Robert Iger switched to Relativity Entertainment, his annual salary rose to $800,000, with other performance bonuses being counted.

In short, it's easy to double your income compared to when you were at Walt Disney.

For the time being, there will be no other involvement in this employment contract, and the relevant rewards will be completed in the form of money, and Ronan will also leave enough room for Robert Iger's salary to rise as the company grows in the future.

Smiling Mickey Mouse started his previous life with the acquisition of Pixar Studios, and he was indeed a first-class professional manager in Hollywood and even in the United States, but that was later.

There's no way Ronan can't pay Robert Iger for what he might be worth right now.

Conditions such as equity option awards, not to mention that Ronan will not agree to them for the time being, even Robert Iger is self-aware and did not mention them during the negotiations.

The conversation between the two gradually turned to relativity entertainment.

Robert Iger obviously has something to say, but unlike Michael Eisner, who promoted him, he belongs to the moderate side of the work and pays great attention to the way and the way he speaks and does things.

"Relativity Entertainment has developed very fast in the past two years, and has established a complete production and distribution channel. Robert Iger gave Ronan a first look: "In just a few years, a newly established entertainment company can be developed into what it is now." Ronan, there's no one in Hollywood who can do it better than you. ”

Ronan was not stupid either, he could hear what Robert Iger was saying, and said with a smile: "Bob, we are old friends, if we have something to say, just say it." ”

Robert Iger smiled and said, "Ronan, have you thought about the next step in Relativity Entertainment?"

Ronan sighed for a moment and said, "Integrate the company's resources and carry out internal optimization." He said unceremoniously: "This part of the work, of course, must be led by you." ”

Robert Iger nodded and said, "This aspect can only be carried out after I enter the company and have a comprehensive understanding and mastery of the company." ”

As soon as I entered a company, I didn't even understand the specific situation, so I started to make big moves, and my position was definitely unstable.

"If you have such thoughts, I am relieved. Ronan could see that a person like Robert Iger, who had risen from the bottom and had more than 20 years of practical experience, was more suitable for company management than a so-called young genius. He asked, "Bob, did you think about what you said about the next step?"

Robert Iger said directly: "I think at the current pace of development of the company, in the next year or two, we should consider expanding the film library. ”

Ronan said seriously, "We thought of it together. However, Hollywood's film rights are often impossible to buy with money. ”

"Film companies see their libraries as their most valuable assets, and they will not consider transferring the rights to their libraries unless they have to. Robert Iger has worked at Walt Disney for so long, so he naturally understands the actual situation: "The importance of the film library to the entertainment company, Ronan, you know better than me, the company can rely on the film library copyright to expand in the surrounding industry channels in multiple ways, such as Relativity Entertainment's just acquired Netflix, which is extremely dependent on the film library copyright." ”

Ronan said honestly: "I have been paying attention to the copyright of the film library for the past two years, but as early as the early to mid-90s, the film library of small and medium-sized companies with a little scale was carved up by large companies. ”

There was an opportunity to get the film company's film library before, but he took the initiative to give it up, first, there were not many films in the embassy film library, and the value was limited, and second, the funds in his hands were too small at that time.

At that time, the distribution channel must have been preferred.

"If Relativity Entertainment wants to continue to develop and expand, it is not enough to rely on new films. Robert Iger said very seriously: "Nowadays, the proportion of box office revenue in the film industry is getting lower and lower, and the surrounding industries are booming. The total annual box office in North America is less than 10 billion US dollars, but the total size of the film industry market is more than 200 billion US dollars per year, and the income of peripheral industries will directly determine the fate of film companies. ”

Ronan knew Robert Iger was telling the truth.

Robert Iger continued: "Library-based rights can provide a stable and significant amount of revenue in terms of rental, DVD, TV broadcasting, and the emerging Internet revenue, which can be relied upon to be large enough for companies to diversify and avoid the risks inherent in a single new film business. ”

He added: "Disney has not been in a good situation in recent years, but it has been able to ensure stable income every year, and the library rights have played an extremely key role. Without the diversification brought about by its vast film library, Walt Disney would have been in trouble after acquiring ABC TV. ”

Ronan nodded, but suddenly said: "The copyright of Disney's more than 20 animated feature films is eye-catching." ”

"That's Disney's biggest and last capital. Robert Iger laughed and shook his head: "Ronan, we don't have to fight those animated movie ideas, unless Disney goes bankrupt." ”

Ronan's voice changed: "I heard that Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner are getting more and more acute?"

Robert Iger understands: "This is due to the problem caused by the distribution of income between Pixar Studios and Disney Pictures, Disney Pictures is the distributor of Pixar Studios, and more than 60% of the revenue of each animated feature film of Pixar Studios fell into the hands of Disney, Pixar Studios is of course dissatisfied, Steve Jobs has negotiated with Michael Eisner several times, but all of them have been sternly rejected by Michael Eisner." ”

This is a contradiction caused by the distribution of interests, Ronan is not surprised, Pixar Studios signed a long-term distribution contract with Disney Studios back then, in order to distribute the company's strong position in Hollywood and the film industry, even Steve Jobs, there is no good way in the short term.

Robert Iger suddenly realized something, and immediately looked at Ronan, muttering to himself that his appetite was bigger than he had imagined.

That's a good thing, isn't it? He also wants the company to be bigger in the future, and there will be a bigger platform for growth.

Ronan didn't talk about Pixar Studios anymore, but instead chatted with Michael Eisner.

After saying a few words, Robert Iger suddenly had the feeling that he would soon be the CEO of an entertainment conglomerate, and it seemed very necessary to learn from Michael Eisner's lessons in the future.

There is no doubt that this old boss has played a crucial and even irreplaceable role in the development of Disney from a studio to a media and entertainment group.

Walt Disney can have today, and Michael Eisner can be called the number one hero.

But the glory belongs to the past, and now from the perspective of the onlooker, it seems that Michael Eisner is betraying his family.

The Weinstein brothers are irreconcilable with Miramax, the Disney tradition led by Roy Disney is either you die or die, and Steve Jobs, the helm of Pixar Studios, a key player in Disney's animation business, is also becoming enemies......

This gives the impression that Michael Eisner is acting as if he is making enemies of the whole world.

Thinking of this, Robert Iger's mind to leave Walt Disney is even more determined, Michael Eisner's future is worrying, he is the person promoted by Michael Eisner, and leaving now is the best choice.