Hollywood Art: System of sunnys

January 9.

The best way to limit a company's success or fame is to end up in the hallway. The awards Lux Animation should have won would be consumed by the hallways of different companies that advanced without fear of consuming any success. Despite this, the company ended up being nominated for two categories: Best Comedy or Musical Film, with Babe, Get Shorty, Sabrina, The American President, and Ice Age as the main contenders, and Best Original Song.

Billy based his company on the impressive use of doing nothing—zero money for these investments. His awards year was set for 1997; next year, they would fight for awards with all their might, in a way no one else would, even reluctantly playing politics, preparing the ammunition, and finding every possible way to credit his business’s success. It was the best way to move forward.

-Nominees. It’s the moment! – Anne Hall murmured. She didn’t expect the two nominations, but it was undoubtedly a hard blow for the companies. Being 1 of 5 and not liking that feeling of failure, it was refreshing to see the success of their effort, promoting Autodesk and Pixar. The time was now.

Anne Hall lifted the newspaper from her lap and crossed her office quickly, not giving herself more time to wait. Although they did not compete for advertising or simpler methods, it was a getting some extra campaignsod option to get sn Globe would likely lead to an Oscar, and so on. They had five nominations in their books and still held them. They might fail a few more times, but that wouldn’t stop Lux Animation.

-Rachel dear, I’m sorry to bother you, but I need to discuss something with you. – Anne said from the door as Rachel looked up and nodded. Rachel, the Director of Operations, was in charge of all animated series and children’s channel content. She worked on promoting Ice Age to boost the animated channel, which is why Anne had a premonition about needing her thoughts on what to do and not do for this campaign. It wasn’t about seeking an Oscar; it was about selling more.

-Is something important happening? – Rachel asked, unaware of the news.

-Nothing surprising… We have a Golden Globe nomination, so we’ll have coverage. If we can make better advertising deals and further exploit the Ice Age franchise, I think it would be good for you to discuss it with me. – Anne replied.

Rachel was still in the dark… but Anne was playing with Billy’s words about marketing and the supply and demand of people.

-What do you think we should do? – Rachel asked.

-We need accounts, an idea about distribution, and perhaps a relevant action plan to promote our new stories. 'The Musician' is one of our films, and we used a difficult and complex process to exploit it. Like Mulan, which is our release for this year. – Anne explained.

Mulan was scheduled for August, The Musician for March. They were films generating significant critical interest, but perhaps it was the fact that they were still expanding their film production team to a third team and a group of five for children’s programming, meaning they would hire 40 new employees. The risk was still high, but Billy’s confidence in his success overshadowed Anne’s doubt about another success as significant as this year.

-I’m sorry, President, but I still don’t understand what we need to do. I have in mind that we have a policy of not spending money in these cases. Is there something I need to know that has generated some interest? – Rachel said.

-Well, few know this, but Billy wants to run a marketing campaign for brand recognition. However, we will approach it from another perspective—advertising, toys, and, of course, other things I’m not certain about. – Anne said. It was a lie; Autodesk was going public in January 1997.

-We have in mind a promotional campaign with McDonald’s and a delayed deal with Hasbro, but we can improve the advertising. They can help us with the costs of some Ice Age shorts while we make our interests valuable. And, of course, if Billy as a public figure speaks, people come like moths to a flame. – Rachel commented doubtfully.

***

For many, 1995 was a year of great surprises in the animation world, but for Billy, it was just another step—a step closer to what he desired to achieve: a culture of many characters, opening up a new world.

Alex Hunter, one of the new members of the film production team, along with four other team members, was sitting in Billy's Los Angeles mansion. They were to undertake one of the most ambitious projects ever conceived. The mere licensing of Narnia cost $3 million, with the promise of 1% of the box office profits, along with another set of licenses costing an additional $6 million. This gave Billy the confidence that his approach was on the right path. The next step was to create a series of seven animated films.

In addition to this, two screenwriters made a significant contribution by drafting seven scripts of 200 pages each, with help from their children, recreating the world of Narnia in the best way they could. This, along with the promise of comic series, was just the beginning. Billy aimed to continue creating stories and films, ushering in an American era of animation that would surely explode in three years and fifteen years.

-Thank you all for coming. – Billy said, dressed in a white suit, pants, and shirt, and with freshly showered hair. This meeting was meant to test a team that could potentially change the history of animation.

-As you may know, I have created a storyboard for how I want the Narnia series of seven films to be made over the next seven years or more. I want to combine many animation styles. So far, we only have three styles, but this time, I want to bring England to the big screen. – Billy said, handing them the storyboard with some ideas about the color palette.

To the five main animators chosen for the third team:

-We have ideas, and sketches, and have worked on all the characters you’ve given us, but what is being asked is simply very ambitious. Even with the programs and staff, it’s not possible to release the film this year. It will take at least two years. – Carl Ogran said, surprised by the scene drawings—a 300-page notebook seemed like a Herculean task, but this was Billy Carson, the man with a thousand ideas.

-Then do it. One year and six months. I want the finished product. The color palette will change for each film. The techniques are advanced, and the style is perfect in every frame. – Billy said, wanting to create for these films an American version of Studio Ghibli, infused with Disney magic, Pixar technology, and CGI. He reviewed the script with others and considered it magnificent.

-So the meeting... – Joe Brie.

-The meeting is for you to dare, to do your best work. I believe you have a goal in mind—to achieve success in your work. You will work on Narnia for years, but during that time, I will help you grow as a professionals. It’s a promise. Push these films to the limit. With connections to some people, you’ll have support from various experts. – Billy said.

And he wasn’t lying. For four months, some of Jeffrey Katzenberg's team members would serve as mentors.

-We will do what we can. However, if we fail, the film will be canceled. – Carl Ogran asked.

I would never let that happen!

-That is the least of your worries. I’m looking for art, the best product. I want each film not to be a continuation of the previous one. It must have pure and unadulterated magic. We have the first and second films in storyboard, but even if we don’t change things, we must be creative. For example, some scenes will have a color palette of green, wine red, and gray. We’ve hired a philharmonic orchestra to perform a 5-minute musical score. – Billy said, thinking slowly. - What more can you add? Be creative, even if it means breaking the above rules. It’s a strict request that you must fulfill.

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