What is Disney Doing!?!?

I would love to know!!

This post is about keeping up with what is going on in a macro sense in the industry. Which means, you have to pay attention to things like this. This helps to anticipate what kind of scripts will be written, and what kinds of movies will be purchased by whom. All of which should inform a producers decision's about project selection. 

This YouTube video seemed to shed some light, but the end, gets kind weird. 

https://youtu.be/GW2Zr8Q6Xqw?si=3HWjT1B19nYHdiib

In response to the above video:

1. So you say the CEI = Corporate Equality Index [How queer friendly is your company] manipulates Disney because if they don't Blackrock won't invest in Disney?

2. Because Blackrock doesn't like stable family structures, "traditional values" because those demographics don't spend as much money as "queer" people?

3. The video does a great job of establishing a time line of events. Overall was very informative.

Lots to unpack here potentially.  I am simply going to follow the money. 

The getting money from Blackrock part just isn't making any sense to me. 

[I am going to use "Blackrock" generically like the video did, as an example of a Mega-Investment company.]

Disney is publicly traded, the investors buy the stock and either hold it or sell it. That's it. If Blackrock owns a massive chuck of Disney stock then they already purchased it.  It doesn't make sense that a profitable version of Disney right up to Endgame would need to all of the sudden pivot to CEI perfect score land to get some sort of loan from Blackrock. Which would seem to be the argument at the end of the video. 

If they were so profitable at the point of Infinity War and End Game why the fuck would they pivot to CEI high score for some random amount of investment when they don't need more investment because they are already profitable? 

It doesn't make sense to have something making a massive multi-billion dollar profit to all of the sudden pivot, to make different money. If Blackrock purchased Disney stock after the Lucasfilm Acquisition and held on until the end of END Game, they would have yielded a SHITTON of profit. To suggest that after that point an intentional PIVOT to the CEI score and that then created LOSING MONEY IP is absurd. Further saying Disney is gonna keep doing that because Blackrock will only stay on as shareholders if the CEI score is high and they are losing money? What? 

Some simple easy to find facts with Google. 

2007 is when Disney first got a perfect score with CEI, Endgame happened in 2019. 

Disney has had a 100 score with CEI that whole time. John Lasseter had made his exit by this time. So by the time Endgame happened and Lasseter was gone the Disney would have been solidly in the black AND complying with the CEI score. 

Why the fuck would they need to pivot so hard? They don't need MORE money from Blackrock they are making them money hand over fist at this point.

You would think the general consensus would be "Keep doing what your doing". They had a 100 CEI score for years at this point. They don't need a loan or something, Blackrock is making money, this whole connection seems like a stretch.

@28:18 "They aren't shrinking budgets and writing better stories..." This is the biggest clue, I get how the video would get it's final premise from this but it's not solid. In fact the video goes in on how Disney has done this before. How Disney didn't look internally and try and fix what they are doing wrong, they just purchased people who are doing it right. Now they are not even doing that, Hmmm. Another clue. 

Lets look at Blackrock for real,  (now I am being specific):

Blackrock doesn't like to lose money. $10 Trillion Dollar company (2023). That said, the losses mentioned in the video are laughable. Overall with BlackRock's portfolio Disney in general would barely merit a conversation. It's like G&E owning Universal Studios  in the 90's. Something like less than 1% of GE's money came from Universal. 

 BlackRock's board is made up of 17 PPL, not very diverse. Only 2 POC and 5 Women, nobody under 50, I would guess. Not likely at a casual glance to be people motivated by social pressure. 

 https://ir.blackrock.com/governance/board-of-directors/default.aspx

Let's now look at Disney:

Disney reported 7% growth last year (2023) and $88.9 Billion in profit. So even with all the recent issues, making billions of dollars in the black. 

Now go look at Disney's board. 13 PPL, By comparison much more diverse. Young and "Progressive looking".

  https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations/#corporate-governance

Final Thoughts:

Point #1

This problem starts and ends inside of Disney, if it's even a problem at all. It's a purposeful paradigm shift that has nothing to do with outside influence or investors. It also has nothing to do with losing money, they are making it. The fact is that the business model has changed and is gonna change even more. They can do whatever they want and still turn enough of a profit.

Point #2

They don't have to care about quality story telling, they don't have to have great characters. They are becoming a Wal-Mart of sorts. Just get some kinda content out and it will make money as long as it's "_____" themed and associated with "______" IP.  

Point #3

At a baseline engaging as many different groups as possible, creating the broadest possible audience is probably more a driving factor than anything. A shotgun blast of hitting as many targets as you can at once, even if it's a lesser impact. Why use buckshot when birdshot will do, and it's cheaper. 

Point #4

It's not a grand conspiracy it's simply minimal effort for safe mid level returns. They are gonna triple down on this. Amazon has a 100 score with CEI. Guess what, they are doing the same thing. I don't think it's about being "woke = broke" I think something else is going on here. This whole thing is gonna turn out to be about money and the "how streamers actually make money" paradigm waaaaay more than anything else. 

The part that is actually important is:

$200 M into a movie that only makes $450 Million in the box office, so loses money with P&A costs. Then again does it really? How has streaming really changed this paradigm, I am gonna guess that's if you can ply subscribers with "New ________" you can sell that to advertisers and make money 2x. If they watch the whole thing, you win. Box office + AD Sales + Steaming and all of this before the other windows of exhibition. 

That's the real question, lets see if I am right next week.  

Script, Bible, Deck....the holy trinity of producing.

 

This picture is a slate from the show Shameless. It was a back up used for one of the other cameras and not one of the big digital slates/ clap boards. Someone stepped on it by accident and I grabbed it before the AC could throw it away. It's been a goal of mine to see my name on one of these on a show that I am the showrunner on. 

So how do I go from here to there? 

Script - Bible - Deck

The three most underused things in indie film. Especially in creating a TV show. I can't tell you how many pilots I have heard people pitching and they only have one of these done. It's never a show bible. It's usually a pitch deck if the person is not a writer. The deck is usually pretty bad. If it's a script and a deck that's the most common actually but even that is kind of Meh. 

Ok lets back up. What are these things?

Script: " A movie script is a written document that details all of the narrative and visual elements for a feature-length or short movie. This document includes very specific formatting, namely action paragraphs, character dialogue, and in some cases, visual and sound cues." This definition is taken from https://blog.celtx.com/what-is-a-movie-script/. That's Celtx.com which is the screenwriting software that I use. 

Show Bible: " A show bible is a document that outlines the characters, plots, settings, and themes of a television series. Writers pitch show bibles to network executives and production companies in the hopes that it will procure a production agreement. Once the show is "picked up" and turned into a series, this show bible becomes a living document. It is modified as the series goes with new characters, new information and background details, etc." This quote is from Studio Binder. 

Pitch Deck:  "A TV show pitch deck is a visual presentation that outlines your show's concept, often accompanied by a TV series bible. It's a key tool for persuading networks or producers to invest in your idea, showcasing your vision and potential." Generic definition from a Google search. 

Every idea, every script, every time. This is the habit that all of us SHOULD be cultivating. Everyone that is not in a major film market city, this is what people who ARE getting shows made are doing in LA-NY-ATL-VA are doing. Chicago likes to think of it's self as the 5th film marketplace but I don't think we are. If we learned to do this, if we actually did it and tough it to other film makers in Chicago it would change everything. We would become a pitch market. People would actually take us seriously. 

Whatever, I am doing it. I am gonna prove it, by practicing what I preach. I have an award winning script, short version, feature version, and Pilot version. No excuses, LETS GO!

Free Lance Producing here I come, again....

  Recently I left, or better yet my contract expired with a production company. I believe both parties could say that we did more good than bad and that it's an amicable parting of ways. But it is a parting of ways. Which means I am back to Freelance. 

It takes time to shake off the cob webs of the last job, which I have had. So now we are back to it. Back to looking at projects and finding work. 

This is kind of like voting, usually for a candidate that is the lesser of many perceived evils. Only to find out 2 years into the term a bunch of crud that you didn't know about in the election. Some rules of Vetting projects that I like to stick too. 

RULE 1. Show me the money.

            I want proof that there is money in a bank account that is associated with the project. 

RULE 2. Does creative have a clue? 

            The heads of creative, writer/director should have some kind of idea as to what they are doing. Even if they don't have experience if they are asking the right questions and have spent time to research what it is going to take to execute the vision then that can work.  

RULE 3. Who, What, When, Why is any talent attached, behind or in front of the camera?

             This eludes to any actors or anybody else that is attached to the film. You often find a bunch of "Unnecessary baggage" in this section. People who are attached that sell themselves as an asset that are more of a liability and can be a great reason to walk away before getting yourself into a mess. Conversely if you need the money or think it's going to be a manageable problem then your at least ready for it. The important thing is to look under this rock. You should know EVERY SINGLE PERSON or entity that has a hand in the equity pot. Family members, friends, other companies, associates, lawyers, sales agents, managers, cousins, Artists, rappers, god parents, a priest,  anybody. [ Yes this list is oddly specific on purpose and I am leaving entire categories out, trust me they show up] 

Why, you ask? Because you are in business with ALL of them. They can show up at really really bad times and have the legal backing to make your job hell. Producing is already hard, this is a thing I do to try and be able to anticipate this issue, I look. 

RULE 4. What is the business structure of the film? 

            Is it an LLC? Which is usually the case. Who actually owns the IP? Who is actually involved in that structure? I often find that people from the previous Rule 3 show up in this rule.  Chain of Title of ownership because that is who you are really working for. A lot of people do not take this seriously until distribution, I think that's a mistake. I recently, last year, had to take a very experience producer to task about this because it wasn't done and we where doing a very elaborate test shoot that would reveal key parts of our IP to a large crew. But that's not who the treat would be from, it would be from the many hands of financiers that would be coming by the shoot. Sometimes the money is not friendly. To this day that producer has no idea the some of the money people were trying to shut down his show from day one. I know that I did my job by making sure the Chain of Title and copyright were locked in before that test shoot. It's film, people steal, especially in indie world. Copyright is cheap, chain of title is cheap to establish it just takes a little time. Lots' of value for little effort, no reason to not do it early. 

RULE 5. Distribution/Exhibition What is the Plan?

            Nine times out of ten there isn't one. It's usually, "Festivals?" the team that is already in place will say that as a question with varying degrees of confidence. I have a job I am looking at right now that wants to shoot Next Month and wants an experienced producer with "ESTABLISHED DISTRIBUTION EXPERIENCE", yes they put that in bold, and yes it's in the same posting that says they are shooting next month. No budget given, no director name given, I am gonna guess they don't have a plan because of these things just from the job posting. 

            What the play should kind of look like. Both categories, keep in  mind you can do both, which  is probably the best plan. 

A. Festivals - You want the project to have targeted festivals for a reason. The film maker (Director and/or Writer) should have done some research into what festivals this film will likely do the best in. It's best if they have a route to a bigger festival that has a film market place attached to the festival. They also should understand what AFM is. If not understand have good questions in that direction. A route looks like this (Local Festival that is in Genre specifically [ Horror, Queer, Sci-Fi, Minority Specific, etc] what your looking for is an easy win. Your trying to collect "Laurels" or "Awards"), you then go for a bigger festival. Festivals happen all year all over the world. It costs money to enter and there is no guarantee you get in let alone win anything. That said EVERY WIN OF ANYKIND counts. If its selection, or consideration or anything the festival sends you that can be put on a poster or box cover. It's all positive. You want these before you submit to CANN or SXSW or LAFF etc. 

B. Distribution Film Markets - Have a Plan, it had better be in the budget. There are two options under this category. 

    One is to go to a film market yourselves as the producers/film makers and try and get meetings and sell the film

    Two is to hire a Sales Agent. They will take money up front, and incur expenses at the festival and a % of the sale. Some of these guys are literal human vampires so keep your lawyer handy. Don't sign anything you don't read, and FOR SURE don't sign anything you don't understand. 

RULE 6. Marketing What is the Plan?

            Yup, just like other rules this one is connected to, well the other rules. Marketing can play a key part in your festival run and setting up a sale at a film marketplace or in getting  you a good sales agent. You have to have a plan, you should have a movie poster, and a pitch deck, and (if it's a pilot) a series show bible. I suggest having a producer who works well with the director that will focus on this and the festivals/distribution plan. You can divide the labor up anyway you want, just keep that Marketing person in the loop. If the team your looking at joining has none of this, just like in the other steps you have to decide if it's worth your time, for the money they are offering. 

Rule 7: Know what you want. 

            This is kind of the biggest rule, but is often the hardest. We all want the show that pays us top dollar and wins an Oscar with A list talent, distribution and financing attached. In 17 years in film, that has never happened to me. I got close last year but even then it was missing pieces. My point is, your gonna have shows that pay good but are led by people without the experience or talent to do the right things for the project. Can you handle that? Do you want to? Is it worth it? Yes, we all love film and want to go the distance, but life is only so long. Saying No is literally magic. Especially if you have a clear vision of the types of films you want to make. I strongly recommend that you do not take on projects that you don't love. 3x that's all you get. You get three shows to learn on that are not something you love. After that third show, you only learn what you don't know on shows that matter to you. Yes, it will suck more if you screw but you will learn faster and your resume will be something your proud of. It matters later. This is the piece of advice that I wish I could give myself. Only work on things you love, not things that show up because you are desperate. 

With this post my procrastination comes to a close and I go back to applying these rules in real time to my own life. What do I want? To pay my bills and keep my soul. Yeah I know, I should have been a dentist.