Billy lived in an apartment in downtown San Jose… he was only about six minutes from his pce, close enough to be there with just a phone call. He anized his clothes; for now, he was handling some quick sponsorship deals, waiting for his busio grow. He needed previous sponsorships, so he settled for Audi and eli, which had been in pce for a year and a half, and he wanted a perfume brand.
-I didn’t expect you to lead such a quiet life here in San Jose, - Moniented, wearing a light bightgown with a round robe.
-Even though the paparazzi show up occasionally and I have some followers, they lose i when they see my daily routine. Well, I guess they’ll have a dinner date to be curious about nht Monica?-
-It’s a bit silly that yoing to work today of all days, - Monica said from the kit area.
-Good luck at work, - Monica added as she finally left, not giving herself more time to sit on Billy’s p, giving him a deep kiss with all the affe she could muster.
-If you need anything, call me. The card is ory table, you use it for shopping, and also, the English tutor will arrive before noon. I’ll pick you up afterward, and we go for a walk together, - Billy said, giving a farewell to the bck-haired woman who nodded.
Monica sighed; it was all for her future. She was already thirty and couldn’t waste time. She o improve her fluency, enhance her runway skills, and of course, secure ag roles.
***
The atmosphere at Warner pressive; the ret work of Universal and Lux Animation was a clear sign that the panies were now f a rapid-advang alliance.
-It 't be that the guy now has the power to cut all ties with Disney,- Bob Baily, co-president of Warner, remarked. They were now in a head-to-head battle with Lux Animation, which was surging ahead. As much as he wao deny it, the reality was they couldn't ignore Disney's importahe support from Disney was a terbance, but with their i in moving away from animated series and fog on live-a series, sits, and minimal-budget produs, it left a bad taste. And that bitter taste was now the loss in market share; they didn't have enough ratings, justified by a not-so-good merdising campaign.
-I think they've put us in a bad position,- Terry Semel ented. For now, Warner was growing. Warner, Universal, and Disney could be sidered the panies of the moment, followed by Fox, Paramount, Sony, and stly, MGM, which had been in trouble for a long time.
-If only we could acquire it, this problem wouldn't be giving us so many headaches. -
-I think for now, we should tih our strategy of finding a great series that pete with Disney. We need a children’s series that hasn’t been exploited yet, but for now, we o address the issues with … Time Warner. It's a bit disappointing that they’re talking about a ck of revenue when HBO is one of the most popur els on television,- Bob Daily said.
Billy adjusted his suit as he ehe sed floor of the animation offices. For now, it was just a unified group with a clear direany of them w on series. The test release, a 12-episode miniseries called Hardman Ssh, premiered a month ago and received good feedback. Jazz Sto’s fear of releasing a series of such quality was tered by Billy, who supported taking ohings and styles. Many were in love with the Lux Animation fever, which led to the green light for another 12 episodes. Billy assured them that if they could do 15 or 18, it didn’t matter.
Simirly, Anna published her 6-episode series with colored details, a new facet, and she was also enced to create more series.
***
-Boss!- some animators murmured.
-Good m, everyone. Some of you have the spirit to keep creating different things,- Billy said, addressing everyone.
Two months ago, he delivered the series The Angry Beavers, Franklin, and the beginning of the new Speed Rabsp;advehe animators' produ pace had improved a hundredfold, thanks to the multiple tools developed by Autodesk, Pixar, and id Software. The work was easier, allowing these teams of around 25 people each to haheir tasks. Now, there were 300 animators in the pany, 7 groups in total, with two groups of 70 people eaovie produ. This setup allowed fress over the years, even though Billy handed most tasks to them.
-We have new projects,- Jazz Stoentioned.
-Great. By the way, you o pick up your bonus. The statistical indexes should arrive, and if you don’t collect them, they’ll be charged to your year’s sary bonus,- Billy said.
Greeting Jazz Stoany people approached to see all the work being done by the different groups. One by one, seven people left their manuscripts, all diverse, with their storyboards. Billy was impressed by the new scripts, which had improved signifitly and had a certain power and vigor.
The first script was about a world of robots oh, where humans had goind robots created a great civilization, transding odels and starting to py gods. Their goal, after tireless years, was to create life, but their code prevehem from having human-like emotions such as joy or sadness. They lived with a series of objectives. The nine-episode cept explored the loneliness of robots questioning their creation after a new robot with a faulty matrix challehe logid rationality of their existence. With rich Asimov tent, the finale revealed that humans hadn’t died out but had left Earth, activating an AI to create a unique world.
The sed script was about Rome, the story of Caesar, filled with spiracies and battles. It narrated the tale of o, a general who served Caesar but was betrayed by him and then incited his son to kill Caesar. This 24-episode series was high-quality, with intricate details requiriensive work. Joy Brie, ahusiastian, watched her boss nervously, having worked on the script for six months. The first episode had beeed with numerous notes and insistencies regarding style.
-It’s amazing, the story is simply captivating. Approved. Talk torman and hand him the manuscript approved by me. Tell him we wo historians. Then go up to the fifth floor and tell Jim that this series roved by me. If he likes it, we might sider it for live-a,- Billy said. -But… for now, it’s better to make ics like David Jill.-
Joy eechless.
Billy read the other two scripts and approved the fifth one, sending the rest for revision. The reading took six hours. The fifth script was about Narnia and proposed making seven animated movies. He sidered live-a, but for now, he had ao create Narnia firls. He he Lewis family for this, and the proposed style by the animator was like “Train Souls” to give a magical realism effect.
Three scripts were acceptable but needed work, along with the request to hire two historians, a spagineer, a philosopher, and a scriptwriter.
Billy crossed the room to check the data on Lilo & Stitch, created by the first team. The sed team would release Mun in June 1996, followed by the first team’s release of The Musi, a story about a violinist hiding from the USSR but tinuing to py and teach despite the prohibition. The film would use different colors to create impa ses. Billy would pay 2 million for the musi various pianists and violinists.
There n to expand to a third team, but it was very risky. If they failed, it would be a colpsing pyramid. Each film cost between 20 to 30 million with reduced budgets. A failure could damage the enviro of the films, as the operation allowed for some failures but primarily relied on the animators and produ expenses.
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