In the playground-like lounge area of Pixar Studios in Emeryville, Calif., Steve Jobs, who is visibly better, is sitting at a small table with John Lasseter, flipping through a newspaper.

""Shrek 2" won the box office championship for a second time, and "Troy" did not start as expected!"

Steve Jobs pushed down his disc glasses and took a special look at the box office figures, the former at $72.3 million and the latter at only $46.85 million.

"Do you know how much Troy costs to make?" asked Steve Jobs.

John Lasseter said: "Warner Bros. released a figure of $175 million. ”

Steve Jobs continued to read the newspaper, because of the Pixar studio, he knows a little about Hollywood, in terms of input-output ratio, "Troy" seems to be less than "Van Helsing", which fired a squib on the first weekend of the summer season.

"This summer is a bit special. Jobs said slowly: "Neither of the two big-budget live-action films was a success. ”

John Lasseter smiled and said, "It would be nice if these two films could pay for themselves in two years. ”

Steve Jobs' words were very jumpy: "The distributor of "Shrek 2" is Embassy Pictures, right?"

"It's Embassy Pictures. John Lasseter reminded: "Ronan Anderson's Embassy Pictures. ”

Steve Jobs put down the newspaper: "John, tell me about the distribution of Embassy Pictures. ”

John Lasseter knew why the boss had this question, and immediately said: "Embassy Pictures' theatrical distribution capacity is very strong, at the beginning of this year, Paramount Pictures used an exclusive screening strategy to target Embassy Pictures, but the hit "The Passion of Christ" released by Embassy Pictures easily defeated Paramount. The animated feature film we care about the most, "Shrek 2" opened in North America, and Embassy Pictures won more than 4,200 theaters, and the number increased to nearly 4,400 in the second weekend, even if "Shrek 2" was handed over to the six major companies, it was nothing more than that. ”

Steve Jobs went on to ask, "What about overseas?"

"At present, there are more than 100 overseas markets that have been confirmed for release. John Lasseter was a little impressed: "The overseas channels of Embassy Pictures are very well-developed. ”

He glanced at Steve Jobs and said: "The offline channel Embassy Pictures is also doing well, it is indeed not as good as Disney, but Disney was an animation producer before, and it is normal for Embassy Pictures to be inferior to them after many years of accumulation, but compared with other companies, the offline channel results of Embassy Pictures in distributing two "Shrek" are not bad at all." ”

Steve Jobs suddenly smiled: "John, you are very optimistic about Embassy Pictures?"

Despite facing a genius with a very strange personality, the two have also been partners for more than a decade, and John Lasseter does not hide his thoughts: "The best way for us to solve the pressure from Disney and Michael Eisner is to bring in a new publishing partner. ”

"Embassy Pictures is suitable?" Steve Jobs is asking John Lasseter more like himself.

John Rust's voice lowered: "We have been in contact with other members of the Big Six, and Ed is still negotiating with Warner Bros., and the terms they offer are not much better than Disney's. In the face of a producer like Pixar Studio, which is located in the downstream of the industrial chain, the Big Six are not only arrogant, but also very greedy. ”

Steve Jobs didn't answer, instead motioning for John Lasseter to continue.

John Lasseter said: "I talked to Ronan Anderson of Embassy Pictures, Ronan Anderson is a gentle-mannered person, as evidenced by the Robert Iger he uses, and this person is known in the industry for his credibility and commitment, as long as we negotiate terms with him, we don't have to worry too much about him backing up and working with Disney instead." ”

Seeing that Steve Jobs still didn't mean to speak, John Lasseter continued: "Embassy Pictures is not a big six company, but an emerging distribution company, and if it wants to attract Pixar Studios to cooperate, it is necessary to offer far higher conditions than Disney. ”

Since talking to Ronan Anderson, John Lasseter has focused on studying Embassy Pictures and found that this may be a more suitable partner for Pixar after he gets out of Disney.

John Lasseter, fed up with Walt Disney's insatiable greed, continued: "A lot of the trouble that Embassy Pictures, as well as Ronan Anderson's Relativity Entertainment Group, has been in trouble lately with the Big Six, and they are naturally different from the Big Six, and even stand in opposition to the Big Six, which is consistent with the position of Pixar Studios. ”

Steve Jobs, however, said: "Pixar Studios has never been on the opposite side of the Big Six. He said suddenly: "When Ronan Anderson went to Apple to change the share registration, I met Ronan Anderson and had an in-depth conversation with him, and at that time Ronan Anderson vaguely expressed his intention to cooperate with Pixar Studios." ”

John Lasseter asked, "That was two years ago, right?"

Steve Jobs didn't answer, but said: "I know Embassy Pictures, and I know a little about it and Ronan Anderson, do you know why I haven't been in contact with Embassy Pictures? ”

John Lasseter was puzzled: "Why?"

Steve Jobs said slowly: "I can't easily put Pixar Studios on the opposite side of the Big Six. The development of Relativity Entertainment will inevitably attract the suppression of the six major companies, just like they did with DreamWorks, if we become partners with Relativity Entertainment, we will inevitably be implicated. ”

"You have a point, Steve. Edwin Kamut, CEO of Pixar's work, came to the vicinity of the two: "But there is one thing you overlook, Relativity Entertainment is now gaining momentum, and the trouble caused by the big six companies has not dragged them down. ”

John Rust, as the de facto head of Pixar's animation production business, really put up with Disney and said: "We watched Disney take most of the revenue from Pixar's productions, but we couldn't do anything about it, how long would we have to wait? Pixar Studios claims to be Hollywood's No. 1 animation studio, but Steve, Ed, we all know very well how fragile Pixar Studios' cash flow is!"

Edwin Camtera opened a chair and sat down: "Michael Eisner will not give Pixar a chance to turn over, Pixar is just a sweatshop for Disney. ”

The partnership agreement signed by Pixar Studios and Steve Jobs with Walt Disney in the nineties because of lack of money and resources was the root cause of all this.

Under the terms of the agreement, Walt Disney will provide a portion of the investment to Pixar Studios, which will hand over the next seven animated feature films, including sequels, to Disney Studios for distribution.

These seem normal, but what is not normal is the almost draconian sharing rules.

According to the agreement, the two parties will equally share the box office, TV rights and DVD revenue of the animated feature film, but Disney has the final rights to the film and all other offline revenues, and Disney has the final say in planning the sequel of the animated film.

The bulk of the income from animated films, Pixar Studios can only watch!

Steve Jobs thought about it for a long time, looked at John Lasseter and then at Edwin Camter, and said, "John, you keep in touch with Ronan Anderson, and I won't be in contact with him for a while." Ed, you stare at Relativity Entertainment Group and Embassy Pictures, and see how they ...... with the Big Six."

He emphasized: "Pixar Studios is our brainchild, even if I hate Michael Eisner to the extreme, I still put up with Disney's exploitation, I just don't want to waste our hard work because of rash action." I made a lot of impulsive decisions when I was younger, but with my age and physical condition, there was no time to start over. ”

Thinking of Steve Jobs' condition and physical condition, John Lasseter and Edwin Camter's expressions darkened.

"Don't worry, Steve. Edwin Camter said, "We will definitely let Pixar continue to grow and become the top in the industry!"

In Burbank, Los Angeles, Relativity Entertainment's relocation is in its final stages, and Ronan is also packing up his office, and all important documents are sealed in a safe, like a notebook for recording his thoughts, which is brought back to the Future World Manor and stored in a huge underground vault.

In this regard, Ronan is careful and must not allow accidents.

After leaving the underground vault and wiping his hands with a towel from the butler Nikia, Ronan receives a call from Pixar Studios John Lasseter.

John Lasseter said that he conveyed Ronan's greetings to Steve Jobs, who was very happy and made a point of asking him to convey his apologies for not being able to meet immediately because of his physical condition.

It's no secret that Steve Jobs has pancreatic cancer, and Ronan can only accept this apology generously.

After the formulaic chat, the two sides ended the call.

Ronan is well aware that there is still a long way to go between Relativity Entertainment and Pixar Studios.

Can't be in a hurry! Can't be anxious! Ronan is also telling himself that if he is more stable, the plan is advancing step by step.

Steve Jobs is not so easy to deal with, although Steve Jobs's net worth is not so rich compared to his great fame, but it must not be underestimated.

Putting down the phone, Ronan was just about to go upstairs, when Nikia suddenly said: "Recently, several security personnel have reacted that they have found more people near the manor through the surveillance set up in a hidden place. ”

"Huh?" Ronan was curious, although Beverly Hills was quiet, it was not lacking in popularity, and Future World Manor was close to Mulholland Drive and Beverly Park, and there were often people moving around.

Nikia added, "It's a little bit out of order. ”