Weekend, 8-9 January 2000

2. Michael Eisner got no bonus this year, as Disney had a rough financial go of it, and now he's ticked. So, out comes the 4-point plan for recovery. 1. Whore the entire Disney catalog on VHS and DVD, with the exception of 10 animated titles, for every short-term dime they are worth. 2. Cut costs everywhere. 3. Improve growth at existing companies in the family...as easy as A-B-C and 4. Develop new products. So, the company is going to take back control of many of its licenses and smartly rebuild the value that may have been diminished by Mickey Silicone Gel or whatever. ABC has to find leadership with vision and, since I have been out of the TV game for a while, I have no insight there. And in new product development, I see irony. Even though it is a financial drain that Wall Street loves, is Disney's zeal for Go.com. I love the web. I make my living here by choice. The future is here. But a company like Disney will only reap the rewards of that a decade from now and except for success with brands they already have, are quite unlikely to make any money from the web in the next decade. Why Wall Street thinks that's a good investment, not just for Disney, but across the board, stifles me. A brand like roughcut.com has been built for pennies to Disney's dollars and I expect us to be pushing Mr. Showbiz's numbers before the year is over. Oh well.

But what I really do understand is the movie business and that's got me shaking my head a little too. The company claims to have slashed $400 million from its live-action production budget this last year (that would be one Armageddon, one more mid-range movie and the marketing costs of The Third Warrior, Mumford and The Straight Story) and says it will slash another $100 million this year. If that's the case, someone is going to go hungry. With the new Bay/Bruckheimer greenlit at $145 million, which makes it inevitable that with marketing, the cost will come in around $200 million, will wonderful investments in quality like The Straight Story and Cradle Will Rock pay the price? Will movies like The Insider ever be made at Disney again? Joe Roth seemed to have more room to work this year, even with budget cuts, delivering some really smart movies. But will that go away? I hope not.

1. Blame Canada: Okay, now they've pissed me off! You know, being the believer in individual freedom and responsibility that I am, I was not going to go over the deep end about runaway production. I don't think that Hollywood is entitled to be the motion picture production capital of the world just because we have been forever. Just because Canada has improved the level of financial enticement for producers above and beyond what North Carolina did when it was the threat and over what Central Florida has done, etc, etc, I wouldn't attack Canada. If Hollywood wants to keep production here, it has to earn the right. Okay, so I'll get angry letters from those
of you who are enraged by runaway production. So be it. But now, the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission has come up with a new licensing condition to be imposed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation...no Hollywood movies in primetime. None. Even though the CBC generates much of its revenue from running Hollywood movies in primetime. That is restraint of trade and something for the U.S. government to go to legislative war over. That is a real reason to put tariffs on films financed by Americans and made in Canada. Hell, even the CBC president, Robert Rabinovich, calls the ruling "fiscally irresponsible." That's not whining over losing a fight because the other side happened to be willing to pay the price to recruit a ringer. (Which is how I see the runaway production issue.)

And for all of you snobs who like to bitch that American is inferior, take this (as I took it from Variety) from the CBC Prez, "The American films help us produce Canadian programming. We need those American films to generate funds. It gives us the funds to invest in programming. It’s a net cash flow to us. That’s what is insidious about the decision. It doesn’t look at the whole."

Indeed. That's an argument that can be made across the globe.

It comes down to this...they want our production dollars, but now, they've made a decision as a nation to restrict us from their home entertainment. Well, why watch the cow when you already are getting the milk? It's true, the number of CBC dollars involved is not nearly as large as the number of dollars involved in runaway production. But this fight needed a symbol. And this one turned my head. Imagine the speeches that this could be built into in Congress. Take this slap in the face and use it for all it's worth. You're not likely to get a better reason to... well, blame Canada.

READER OF THE DAY: Thom From Canada wrote: Is it really necessary for you to dump repeatedly on Scott Hicks' haunting Snow Falling on Cedars? I am not alone when I say I was enthralled by the depth of feeling Hicks succeeded in evoking through his skillful combination of sound and image. Granted, the film has a deliberate, meditative pace, but only a philistine would perceive this as a flaw—rather, the pacing is a reflection of the decision to use flashbacks to evoke dreamlike states of mind (in particular a sense of loss), and I, for one, found it compelling. The overall tone of the film is melancholy, but what's wrong with that? Cinematically, Hicks'
film is unconventional, and even experimental at times. You may not have found the results satisfactory (as I did), but surely, at the very least, the man deserves credit for trying something different.

DAVID RESPONDS It's funny. I picked this letter for ROTD before I saw the CBC thing. But here was my response...Canadians and snow, snow and Canadians! I kid the Canadians. But seriously folks! I guess every movie should be in a category that is followed by "though some of you will love it." Snow Falls was kind of like the reverse Green Mile... critics who I know hated it soft peddled because it was a Scott Hicks underdog. But hey, if you love it, you love it. And this philistine didn't think the choice to make a slow movie was a flaw, only its execution. There is reflective and there is boring. Often the movies I like are considered boring by others. And yes, THOSE people are philistines. (ha ha) Chocolate & Vanilla.

E ME: Are you ticked at the Canadian government too? Should we ban Canadian-made movies from HBO? And will you tune into Robin on the web?