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Originally Posted by milo bloom
:hscratch: Is this the story that ends "And that, your honor, is why there was a 16 year old girl in my hotel room!" ?
The Disney news just keeps getting better, somebody must have finally seen the writing on the wall and realized that the company needed new direction. Like, 180 degrees from "hell in a handbasket". Chris |
Musker and Clements had been developing a project titled "Fraidy Cat" since late 2004 but departed Disney when it failed to win a green light. It is not among the projects the directing team is actively developing, according to executives close to the situation. The rest of the news is great, but that bit pisses me off. |
What was Fraidy Cat about?
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060310/...edia_disney_dc
Disney-Pixar deal to close by late April, May: CFO By Gina Keating 53 minutes ago ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s planned purchase of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. likely will close in late April or May, Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said on Friday at the company's annual meeting. Disney said in January that it would acquire Pixar in a $7.4 billion transaction giving Pixar animators creative control over the world's most famous cartoon studio and making Pixar Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs Disney's largest individual shareholder. As part of the deal, Jobs joins the Disney board. Under the transaction, Disney will cede control of its animating studio to Pixar creative chiefs Ed Catmull and John Lasseter. The hands-off management arrangement is akin to the one Disney employed with the ESPN cable sports network, which Disney acquired in 1996. In his remarks at the meeting, Lasseter obliquely touched on the years of rancorous negotiations he, Pixar President Ed Catmull and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs had with former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. "When Bob Iger came to the three of us and said we are interested in acquiring you ... I was worried until I got to know Bob Iger," Lasseter said. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are led by a great man." Robert Iger is Disney's chief executive officer. Lasseter also showed the first sneak previews of the upcoming Pixar films, "Cars," set for its theatrical release in June 2006, and "Ratatouille," scheduled to be released in the summer of 2007. While not revealing any specific plans for Disney animation, Lasseter said that he believed the Imagineering department, to which he will become a creative advisor, should work more closely with animation. "I get to help design theme park rides," Lasseter said. "I never understood why you wouldn't start designing a ride when you start making a film so two months after a film comes out you have a ride. I promise you we are not only going to make great motion pictures we are going to make great rides." Disney and Pixar first became partners in 1991 under an agreement to share production costs and profits, with Disney distributing the films. The companies also negotiated a second agreement but talks on a third one broke down in 2003. Shares of Disney rose 11 cents to $28.20 on the New York Stock Exchange. Pixar shares rose 32 cents to $64.51. Imagineering is who I work for! :D Chris |
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/invest...310_909483.htm
MARCH 10, 2006 Investing By Ronald Grover The Happiest Place on Earth -- Again If new CEO Bob Iger's first annual meeting is any indication, the recent changes at Disney are all to the good There was plenty of applause to go around on Mar. 10 at Disney's (DIS ) first annual meeting under CEO Robert Iger, who replaced Michael Eisner in October. Iger got a healthy reception from the estimated 4,000 Disney faithful in Anaheim as he strolled past Mickey, Donald, and other costumed Disney characters who were parading through the arena. There was wild cheering -- and some whoops -- for former Disney board member Roy Disney, who led the shareholder revolt that eventually forced Eisner's early departure. Even Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, founder Walt's pre-Mickey Mouse creation, got a hand when his image flashed on the giant screen behind Iger. Rights to Oswald were recently reacquired from Universal Pictures (NBC ), Iger explained. "After 78 years we had a bit of fun bringing Oswald back to the place where he belongs," said Iger. "While this is a small gesture, it speaks volumes about commitment to honor, respect, and appreciate our past." But the biggest hand was reserved for a guy who wasn't even at the meeting: Steve Jobs, the mercurial Apple Computer (AAPL ) founder. Jobs is scheduled to join the Disney board in a few months, when Disney's $7.4 billion deal to buy Jobs's Pixar (PIXR ) Animation Studios becomes official. DISNEY DOWNLOADED. Indeed it appears that peace again reigns at the Magic Kingdom, which had been under seige for most of the last two years. Notably absent from the lovefest was Eisner, the company's largest shareholder with a 1.7% stake. Also missing was the kind of self-deprecating humor he often used at the annual meetings. Instead, Iger won the crowd over with his nod to Disney's past and with straight talk about its future. Iger unveiled a service on ABC.com to allow consumers to download selected shows from the Disney network, set to start in the next few months. To placate advertisers nervous about losing eyeballs to network shows that are popping up on the net, Iger said two versions will be offered: one that consumers can get for free, with ads, or ad-free ones for a fee -- likely the same $1.99 that an iPod download costs. He promised more details on the service in the next few months. While Jobs didn't make the trip to Anaheim from Northern California, the studio was represented by its top creative guru, onetime Disney animator John Lasseter, the creative force behind such Pixar hits as Toy Story and A Bug's Life. Under the terms of the Pixar deal, Lasseter is scheduled to become Disney's top creative officer, with influence both at the company's theme parks and in animation. TOTALLY ANIMATED. "To build upon the legacy of Walt Disney and achieve the full potential of the company that bears his name, we have made animation our top priority," said Iger in introducing Lasseter. The animation wiz then introduced film clips of the next two films that Pixar is making for Disney -- Cars, debuting in June, 2006, and Ratatouille, scheduled to come out in June, 2007. A good sign for Disney shareholders: The place was rolling with laughs as Lasseter played the 10 minute trailer for Cars. As he bounded onto the stage in his traditionally downscale attire -- jeans, an untucked Hawaiian shirt, and blue blazer -- he got a rock star reception. "Oh, stop it," he shouted, and then, pointing to his black sneakers, joked that he had dressed up for the occasion. But when he began talking about animated films, the mood was half comedy show, half revival meeting. "Quality is a great business plan," Lasseter said to more cheering. And the applause got louder when the former guide on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise announced that he will also be designing rides for Disney's theme parks. "I will make rides that you will want to get back on as soon as you get off, no matter how long the line," he promised. MUTUAL ADMIRATION. It was hard -- no, impossible -- to miss the upbeat feel of a company in turnaround. Iger could show off Lost, Desperate Housewives, and other hot ABC shows, pitch live-action films that will include this summer's Pirates of the Carribbean sequel, starring Johnny Depp, and talk realistically about double-digit growth into the future. But if the cheers were as loud for Jobs in absentia, it was Lasseter who gave the greatest praise. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are led by a great man," he bellowed at one point. "Bob Iger is the reason Pixar joined up with Disney." Great praise from the man some call the current Walt Disney, for the man who brought the magic back. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grover is Los Angeles bureau chief for BusinessWeek Edited by Patricia O'Connell Chris |
What was Fraidy Cat about? It was to have been Ron'n'John's first computer animated feature. A comedy thriller that affectionately paid tribute to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. And -- according to WDFA insiders -- the rough story reel version of this picture was playing as well as anything that Ron Clements & John Musker had ever produced. http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/image...ad/fc_logo.jpg (For those of you who haven't figured out who Ron'n'John are yet: Ron Clements & John Musker are the writers / directors of such Disney animated hits as "The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Hercules" and "Treasure Planet." Over the past 20 years, these gifted filmmakers are personally responsible for billions of dollars pouring into Disney's corporate coffers.) http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/image...ield_plane.jpg The new, improved version of "Fraidy Cat" was shown to Stainton last month. And -- according to someone who attended that screening -- the story reels for this picture got huge laughs. Even in this incredibly rough form, "FC" was going over as well as "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin" had at this phase in their productions. A few more stills. http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/image...ow_at_door.jpg http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/image...t_on_couch.jpg Looks like it's been scuttled once and for all, which is depressing as hell. Here's the article from Jim Hill. Note that this article is old. http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/artic...ly.php?ID=1604 |
Wow, that does look pretty neat. Surely they would only put something like this on the backburner?
Maybe once they get thru the merger they'll give it another look. |
That and Rapunzel Unbraided looked by far to be the most interesting and well conceived films under Disney in the past 10 years. But Fraidy Cat has been done in twice now, once by the ignorant suits at Disney, and now again after the merger. So I'm not sure it will survive, which is sad. Who knows if Rapunzel has been axed. Even Wilbur Robinson looked so much better than past Disney fare since The Lion King.
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Fraidy Cat does look interesting, moreso than Cars. A shame that it has been shelved. Hopefully they can get back to it.
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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...lines-business
Disney Closes Unit Devoted to Pixar Sequels With the firm's planned acquisition of Steve Jobs' studio, the division is no longer needed. Thirty-two are laid off. By Claudia Eller, Times Staff Writer March 21, 2006 The first casualty of Walt Disney Co.'s acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios came Monday when the Burbank entertainment giant shuttered a computer animation unit created to make sequels to such Pixar hits as "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo." Thirty-two employees, or nearly 20% of the 168 artists, production managers and support staff, were told they would lose their jobs effective May 26. The remaining 136 will be absorbed into Disney's feature animation division and redeployed to work on such productions as "Meet the Robinsons," "Rapunzel" and "American Dog." In a statement, Disney confirmed Monday's developments with The Times and said it would help laid-off employees find new work. At least half a dozen or more hired to work on "Toy Story 3" were foreigners working in the U.S. on visas. Workers should find themselves in demand, with computer animation enjoying a boom. Studios such as DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., 20th Century Fox and Sony Pictures are poised to release a slew of digitally animated movies this year. Dubbed "Circle 7" after the Glendale street where the unit sits, the sequels operation was quietly set up last year by former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner at a time when Disney's lucrative partnership with Pixar was strained and in danger of dissolving. Rivals derided the attempt to replicate Pixar's unique creativity, nicknaming the operation "Pixaren't." Disney had the right to make Pixar sequels under its previous distribution agreement. But its decision to move ahead irked Pixar executives, who worried that a botched effort would hurt their company's reputation. All of that changed in January, when Disney agreed to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion. Disney CEO Bob Iger and Pixar Chairman Steve Jobs pledged that any Pixar sequels would be produced at Pixar's Emeryville, Calif., headquarters using artists who worked on the originals. In addition, Disney's core animation operation will now be run by Pixar creative director John Lasseter — who directed "Toy Story" and whose next film, "Cars," is due out this summer — and Pixar President Ed Catmull. Disney declined to comment about the future status of Circle 7 chief Andrew Millstein, who announced the layoffs to his staff at a noon meeting. But it is believed that he will look for another job within Disney. Millstein, who once ran Disney's now-defunct Florida animation studio, has worked at Disney for nine years. Also unclear is what will become of the multimillion-dollar computer animation facility in Glendale, although it is likely the company would use it for future productions. Chris |
Interesting!
Wanna peek at Pixar's theme park "To Do" list? Go check out "Re-Imagineering"
Jim Hill directs you to a blog that's actually being run by some Pixar staffers who are actively soliciting opinions about what should be done to fix the Disney theme parks and Walt Disney Imagineering by Jim Hill - 02-27-06 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early yesterday morning, Ian G. sent me this e-mail: Hi Jim, Love the site, especially the "why for's" with concept art! Do you know where I could mail a letter to John Lasseter or Tony Baxter? I know the address of WDI but is there a specific department or anything? any address you know of would be great. Thanks Ian Well, as it turns out, Ian, I do actually kind of know a way to get a message to John Lasseter. By that I mean: Check out this blog, Re-Imagineering . Believe it or not, folks, this site is legit. What they say at the very top of this webpage -- I.E. That it is ... ... A forum for Pixar and Disney professionals passionate about the Disney Theme Parks to catalog past Imagineering missteps and offer up tenable practical solutions in hopes that a new wave of creative management at Imagineering can once again bring back the wonder and magic that's been missing from the parks for decades. ... is true. Some very well connected people at Pixar are reportedly directly involved with this blog. "Like who?," you ask. John Lasseter's personal assistant for starters. More importantly, Pete Docter (I.E. the co-director of " Monsters, Inc.") has supposedly given this website his blessing. "But why should I care that Pete Docter has allegedly given this 'Re-Imagineering' blog his blessing?," you continue. Well ... What if I were to tell you that Mr. Docter may soon assuming a very important role at Walt Disney Imagineering? To explain: As Executive Vice President, Creative, at Pixar Animation Studios AND as the newly installed Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Feature Animation AND as the newly appointed Chief Creative Adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering ... John Lasseter's plate is just too full right now. Even with a proposed work week that would have John down in Burbank & Glendale on Tuesdays, Wednesday & Thursdays and back up in Emeryville on Mondays & Fridays (So that Lasseter can then spend his weekends at home with his family), he's still going to need a hell of a lot of help in order to pull off everything that John now wants to accomplish. Which is why Lasseter is reportedly moving some loyal lieutenants and/or old friends into key positions at both Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Feature Animation. EX: When John's away from Emeryville, "Finding Nemo" director Andrew Stanton will supposedly oversee day-to-day operations at Pixar. And when Lasseter's no longer on site in Burbank, newly appointed interim head of WDFA Don Hahn will allegedly oversee what's going on at the Mouse Factory. "But when John's not watching the store in Glendale, who's going to be keeping an eye on how things are going at Walt Disney Imagineering?," you query. Well, this is where Pete Docter reportedly comes in. Yes, I know. All of you Disney fanboys out there had been assuming that -- given John Lasseter's on-going friendship with Tony Baxter (More importantly, given that John made such a big show of going up to Tony and publicly shaking his hand during Lasseter's first official visit to WDI) -- that Tony would be soon calling the shots at Walt Disney Imagineering. Well, over the past few weeks, Lasseter has learned quite a bit about WDI's toxic atmosphere. How the past two decades of corporate infighting & political gamesmanship have made it rather difficult to know who exactly to trust in 1401 Flower Street. So -- rather than going with Baxter (WDI's senior VP of design) or Tom Fitzgerald (Imagineering's executive vice president) or even Don Goodman (WDI's current president) -- the current rumor has it that John now wants to bring in someone from the outside. Someone that he can trust implicitly. Someone who's new to Imagineering's corporate culture but also loyal to Lasseter. Who -- after observing operations for a while -- can then tell John where changes really need to be made. This is the role that Pete Docter has allegedly been asked to fill. The guy who's first got to determine what is actually wrong with Walt Disney Imagineering and the Disney theme parks, then tell Lasseter what he thinks should be done to fix both WDI and the theme parks. "So where does that 'Re-Imagineering' website fit into all this?," you ask. Well ... Think of this blog as a preliminary fact-finding mission. Something that a few folks at Pixar are now doing in order to gather info for Pete. So that Docter can then have some sense of what he's actually getting himself into. Just so you know, folks: When they say " ... Pixar and Disney professionals" at the "Re-Imagineering" website, they really mean professionals. Only those who have actually worked for Pixar Animations Studios, the Walt Disney Company and/or in the themed entertainment industry will be allowed to post on this particular blog. So sorry, but no Imagineer wannabees need apply. Also ... Once word actually gets out about this "Re-Imagineering" website ... Well, I'm not entirely sure how long this blog will remain up & accessible to the public. Those guys up in Emeryville ... They really like keeping their secrets. Which is why I don't think that they'll be all that pleased to learn that their Disney theme park "To Do" list is now out there for the whole world to see. But -- that said -- I have to admit that I'm rather pleased to see the folks at Pixar doing this. Actually out there actively seeking opinions from entertainment industry & animation professionals about what needs to be done in order to fix WDI and the Disney theme parks. And even if -- in the end -- this just turns out to be some sort of PR ploy ... It's still a pretty brilliant PR ploy. Putting the message out on the Web that "We know that something's wrong with the Disney theme parks & Walt Disney Imagineering. Which is why we're actively soliciting opinions about what must be done to fix WDI and the parks" ... That's a great way to start John Lasseter's tenure as Imagineering's new Chief Creative Adviser. To signal that the company wants its theme parks to seem special again. More to the point, it puts those who are currently in charge of WDI on notice that -- once Pete Docter finally arrives in Glendale to assume his yet-unnamed position -- that he's going to bringing a list with him. And that those execs had better be ready to defend some of the decisions that they've made over the past 10 years. Otherwise, they may soon find themselves pruned from the Flower Street facilities. So what do you folks think? Is this "Re-Imagineering" blog and/or Pete Docter supposedly coming on board to help John Lasseter fix Walt Disney Imagineering & the Disney theme parks just what the doctor ordered for Disney's theme parks and resorts? Your thoughts? So it should be interesting to see what changes happen over here in the next year! Chris |
I met Tony Baxter years ago, at the Good Guys in Orange, CA and he was one of the nicest people I ever met. Invited us (me and a friend) up to Burbank to take a tour. I didn't end up going, but my friend did, and I occasionally saw him at Ken Cranes (Laserdisc store) and was wondering reading this thread if he was still there. Cool to hear he is. (but too bad on the passover for the head job)
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http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060412/media...iger.html?.v=1
Reuters Pixar, Disney integration "terrific": Disney exec Wednesday April 12, 7:41 am ET By Gina Keating LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The integration of Pixar Animation Studios Inc (NasdaqNM:PIXR - News) into Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS - News) "is happening better than we had ever dreamed it would," Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook said. Disney, which is in the process of acquiring Pixar in an all-stock deal worth $7.4 billion when it was announced in January, plans to make two animated films per year after the merger is completed late this month or in May, Cook told an A.G. Edwards conference on Tuesday. "That's where we would like to be," Cook said. "Some years we won't make that (number); some years we'll probably have one; some years we may have three; but we will hopefully ... have two new original (films) -- one coming from Pixar and one coming from Feature Animation." Integration has been "terrific" he said. Cook also said he expected the glut of animated films released this year -- about one each month -- to ease in the next year or two. "There will be a shakeout process ... we will probably hit the high-water mark .... then I'm sure there will be a reduction," he said. He said the current slate of films, which is heavy with sequels to popular franchises and animated films, should show whether box office attendance dropped 9 percent worldwide in 2005 on the quality of films "or if ... people are obtaining their entertainment in some other way." Cook said that the DVD market, which also saw a slowdown last year in sales, has been relatively firm in the last few months. Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger on Tuesday told the same conference that he expects the company to use the Internet and other nontraditional platforms to distribute its media products. "I remain rather sobered by the experience that the music industry had," Iger said. "The bottom line is that they were not in tune with that their customers wanted and what the world was demanding of them. And I think it hurt them significantly." Iger said it was not clear yet when Internet initiatives, such as the company's offering of ABC television shows on Apple Computer Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News) iTunes Web site and abc.com, would generate enough revenue to affect earnings. Chris |
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060505/...ar_merger_dc_1
Pixar shareholder approve Disney takeover 7 minutes ago SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shareholders of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. on Friday approved a takeover of the company by the Walt Disney Co. in an all-stock deal valued at more than $7.4 billion. The vote was taken at a special meeting of shareholders in San Francisco presided over by Pixar Chief Financial Officer Simon Bax. Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs did not attend. I'm not sure how many more steps are needed before the deal is finalized. Chris |
I guess this answers my question!
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060505/walt_...tion.html?.v=1
AP Walt Disney Completes Pixar Purchase Friday May 5, 5:56 pm ET Walt Disney Finishes $7.4 Billion Pixar Buy, Making Steve Jobs Biggest Disney Shareholder BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- Walt Disney Co. said Friday it completed its all-stock acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios Inc., the studio that created movies including Little Nemo, The Incredibles and Toy Story. The deal, valued at $7.4 billion, was announced in January. Disney issued 2.3 shares for each Pixar share. Pixar will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney. The deal makes Steve Jobs -- chief executive of Pixar and also of Apple Computer Inc. -- Disney's single largest shareholder, with a 7 percent stake in the company. Jobs also will join Disney's board of directors as a non-independent member. Former Pixar President Ed Catmull will serve as president of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios. Former Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter will serve as chief creative officer of the animation studios and principal creative adviser at Walt Disney Imagineering. Shares of Walt Disney climbed 69 cents, or 2.4 percent, to close at $29.09 on the New York Stock Exchange. In after-hours trading, Walt Disney shares climbed 8 cents to $29.17. Walt Disney shares have traded between $22.89 and $28.85 over the past 52 weeks. Chris |
The remaining 136 will be absorbed into Disney's feature animation division and redeployed to work on such productions as "Meet the Robinsons," "Rapunzel" and "American Dog." |
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060510/earns_disney.html?.v=12
AP Walt Disney Shares Advance on 2Q Results Wednesday May 10, 4:52 pm ET By Gary Gentile, AP Business Writer Walt Disney Second-Quarter Earnings Rise 12 Percent to $733 Million; Shares Jump 1.8 Percent LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Strong television ratings and increased theme park attendance helped profit at The Walt Disney Co. rise 12 percent in the second quarter, although the media conglomerate did report a drop in earnings at its film studio. Disney's stock rose 53 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $30.11 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. The Burbank-based company reported late Tuesday net income of $733 million, or 37 cents per share, for the three months that ended April 1, compared with income of $657 million, or 31 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue grew to $8 billion from $7.8 billion in the same period last year. The results beat estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial who had been expecting earnings of 31 cents per share. Operating income fell 39 percent at Disney's film studio while revenue decreased 22 percent to $1.8 billion. This year's DVD releases have not sold as well as the DVD of the Pixar Animation Studios hit "The Incredibles" in the same period last year. Studio performance should pick up in the second half of the year with the release of the latest Pixar film, "Cars" next month and the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean" in July, the company said. Home video revenue from the DVD release of "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" will also be seen in the third quarter. The company's media networks division, which includes ABC and cable channels such as ESPN, delivered the best performance with a 20 percent jump in operating income and an 18 percent rise in revenue to $3.6 billion. Results were helped by higher subscriber fees at ESPN and rising advertising revenue at ABC, which continues its ratings comeback. That trend should continue as the network gets ready to negotiate new deals with advertisers for the fall schedule. ABC will present its lineup next week and expects strong increases in ad rates over last year, the company said. Attendance at Disneyland in California grew 15 percent in the quarter as the theme park's 50th anniversary celebration winds down. Attendance at Walt Disney World in Florida rose a more modest 3 percent, Disney said. The company said it does not expect rising gas prices to lower attendance at its domestic parks. "Over the years, fuel costs have not had a demonstrable effect on our attendance," Disney Chief Financial Officer Thomas Staggs said during a conference call with analysts. Staggs said gas prices are a small percentage of a family vacation budget. A $1 increase in the cost of a gallon of gas would mean a hike of about $40 for the entire trip. "Unless the increase in oil prices meaningfully impacts consumer confidence and spending, we would not expect to see gas prices have a large effect on our theme parks this summer," Staggs said. Attendance at Disney's latest park in Hong Kong has been lower than anticipated, but company executives said they still expect to hit their one-year goal of 5.6 million visitors. "We clearly have a lot to learn about the market," Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said. "Overall, I don't think our marketing efforts have been as effective as they could be. But we're going to figure this out." Looking ahead, Staggs said the acquisition of Pixar Animation Studios Inc., which closed last week, will reduce earnings per share for the year by 10 cents, spread evenly over the next two quarters. Disney issued new shares to pay for the purchase. Iger confirmed that work on a sequel to Pixar's "Toy Story" franchise has begun, although no release date has been set. Iger also said he was pleased with the response to the free, advertising-supported streaming of TV shows on ABC.com. He said that option, which is in addition to the sale of ABC shows on Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes store, will continue past the original trial date of June 30. Disney may also join Warner Bros. in distributing its shows via a peer-to-peer computer network, Iger said. This week, Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., said it will distribute films and TV shows using technology developed by BitTorrent Inc. Disney is considering using similar technology to offset the cost of buying more high speed Internet bandwidth, or the capacity to transmit large files, Iger said. "While I'm not necessarily advocating using BitTorrent, the whole notion of using peer to peer sharing mechanism to move content is one we have been very interested in and actually have been working on ourselves," Iger said. For the six months that ended April 1, Disney reported net income of $1.5 billion, or 74 cents per share, compared with $1.3 billion in the same period last year. Revenue increased to $16.9 billion from $16.5 billion in the first six months of 2005. Chris |
So they scrapped the work done on Toy Story 3, only to start it back up again?
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Originally Posted by SeekOnce
So they scrapped the work done on Toy Story 3, only to start it back up again?
Chris |
And now possible trouble in paradise!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...-home-business
Others' options may have paid off for Jobs If backdating inflated Pixar's profit, Disney might have overpaid in its $7.4-billion purchase of the studio, benefiting its biggest shareholder. By Joseph Menn, Times Staff Writer February 10, 2007 Could Steve Jobs have benefited from backdating of stock options without actually receiving the securities in question? Legal and business experts say he might have done just that in the $7.4-billion sale last year of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. to the Walt Disney Co. Jobs, who was Pixar's chairman and chief executive, owned half of its shares and therefore reaped a big reward from the sale of the animation studio. But Disney shareholders might have overpaid for the animation studio behind such hits as "Cars" and "Toy Story." That could have happened if Pixar's earnings were inflated by an understatement of compensation costs related to option grants years before the Disney deal, according to these experts. The case is forcing Disney to decide whether Jobs enriched himself at the expense of its shareholders. Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc., is Disney's biggest shareholder as a result of the Pixar sale, as well as a Disney director and key advisor on technology to Chief Executive Bob Iger. In addition to Jobs' role in granting options at Pixar, federal authorities are probing option practices at Apple, which has acknowledged making two grants to him that were improperly dated. Disney disclosed in November that it had received inquiries from federal regulators about possible option backdating at Pixar. The Burbank-based entertainment giant has launched its own probe of the issue. A Disney spokesman didn't respond to questions Friday about the investigation. Apple declined to comment. More than 180 companies are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for questionable option backdating practices. More than a dozen CEOs have lost their jobs, including Bruce Karatz, former head of Los Angeles-based builder KB Home. A couple of executives have been hit with criminal charges related to the scandal. Options are rights to buy stock at a set price within a certain time period. The price of stock to be bought using an option is generally the stock's market price on the day the option is granted by the company's board. In their probes, regulators want to know whether option grant dates were changed after the fact to make them coincide with a stock's lowest price in a particular period. Doing so could give executives instant paper gains on their options. It could also inflate a company's earnings by understating employee compensation costs. Backdating isn't necessarily illegal, but failing to disclose the practice in a timely manner is. Pixar is an unusual case because the company no longer exists. That would make government or private lawsuits more complicated. No such claims appear to have been filed. Any cases would be weakened by a jump in Disney shares since the Pixar deal, in part because of Disney's aggressive Internet strategy. That would make it difficult for Pixar shareholders who held on to their Disney stock to prove they had been damaged by an overstatement of earnings. Another complication is the widely held belief that Disney overpaid for Pixar to shore up its own weak animation unit and that the price was not actually based on Pixar's reported earnings. Pixar expressly asserted in its sale documents to Disney that the option dates were accurate. As of late last month, Disney's investigators hadn't questioned several of the Pixar directors who voted to approve the option grants, according to people familiar with the inquiry and who asked not to be named because of the confidential nature of the probe. If they did talk to the former Pixar directors, they might not have learned much. The board didn't discuss the dates of the options and took minutes to approve the grants, according to two people knowledgeable of the board discussions. Instead, the directors relied on dates that appear to have been picked by Pixar's management. Top executives such as Jobs might have relied on financial and legal executives to choose those dates. The bottom line at Pixar, said attorney Claudia Allen, who advises corporate boards on options matters, is that "the income was overstated," through such option grants to the likes of Ed Catmull, the former Pixar chief technology officer and now president of feature animation at Disney, and John Lasseter, Pixar vice president for creative development, who is chief creative officer at Disney's film animation and theme-park design units. Lasseter's good timing with options dates to 1997. On Feb. 21 of that year, he was granted 125,000 at that day's price of $7.06, adjusted for a later split. That was close to the yearly low. Just three days later, Pixar announced a new distribution deal with Disney that drove shares up sharply. A bigger payday came in 2000. Lasseter got options on 2-million split-adjusted shares, and Catmull got 1 million options, both with a strike price of $13.25. The options were officially priced Dec. 6, 2000, the stock's lowest point for a year. In its next proxy statement, Pixar said Lasseter's options were given "in connection with" an employment contract signed March 21, 2001. Between Dec. 6 and March 21, Pixar's stock rose 17%, making Lasseter's options worth about $4.6 million by the time his employment contract took effect. As a result, Pixar's fiscal 2000 profit of $78.4 million should have been reduced by roughly that amount, or 5%, ignoring taxes, to account for Lasseter's increased compensation, according to New York University business professor David Yermack, an option expert who first wrote about suspicious timing of option grants in 1997. Merrill Lynch analyst Richard Farmer, who combed through Pixar's SEC filings and stock history, said the likelihood that so many grants were made at or near so many monthly and yearly lows was one in many millions. * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [email protected] Chris |
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