Spielberg and Jackson: Off on another adventure (?)

In a film review of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Jordan Mintzer writes of Steven Spielberg’s next endeavor to be available to the public.  It is very interesting that Peter Jackson has teamed up with Spielberg on this trilogy, as he is not even directing this film, but is waiting for the second installment before helming the production.  Another familiar name, and even more familiar soundtrack wizard, John Williams is also on-board for this adventure.  But among the most interesting things about this next film series is that most Americans have almost no knowledge about the leading character, even though he’s been world-famous for decades.  Another interesting point is the style being used to tell this story: motion-capture animation.

First off, Tintin is a Belge comic book character that was published in Europe from the 1930s through 1976.  Having lived in Europe for a few years, I am familiar with Tintin.  But mention that name in the States, and most people think of another star, namely a four-legged hairy one, Rin Tin Tin.  So even though Tintin is like the Superman of Europe, he is not well known here – and perhaps that is why: he’s native language is French and he does not herald from America.  That fact that Spielberg had taken enough of an interest in this character says a lot: many things Spielberg touches have an instant “value” added to them; even though not all of his works are blockbusters, there is a great amount of worth added to anything that has that name associated with it.  The reviewer of this motion picture states that this comic book character is actually a throw-back to Spielberg’s best known work: Indiana Jones.  And Mintzer writes that this story is no exception: it is full of adventure and humor; the types of things movie goers love to consume together.

To the other interesting point of this being told using motion capture, I have my concerns about this method.  Not that it can’t be a great storytelling medium – it can be.  Even though some of it is a little odd, The Polar Express has become somewhat of a favorite in my household.  But then there is Disney’s Mars Needs Moms and A Christmas Carol, both motion capture films.  While A Christmas Carol reaped approximately $325.5 million worldwide (McClintock), which is considered a “so-so” earnings, Mars Needs Moms only garnered $6.9 million on opening weekend – but it cost probably more than $200 million to produce and market.  Disney was so concerned with the viability of “mo-cap” as it is known, that they closed down the production arm that makes these types of movies.  This medium has truly been embraced with open arms, and as McClintock mentions, the public tends to enjoy mo-cap better when it doesn’t feature humans.  Thus, I’m puzzled with Spielberg’s decision in its use for this new movie.  But, maybe it will be the one that wins over the public and we will then start to see an upswing in mo-cap movies, just like the huge influx of CGI movies that were green lit by everybody after Toy Story was such a success.

I believe the name Spielberg is the clincher here, though.  That alone will get audiences to take a look.  So it will be interesting to see what happens after this release – which is apparently in this December; I’ve not heard a thing about this movie’s release until researching for this blog posting.  I hope it does well, but I do have my reservations.  As I said, maybe Spielberg will be the magic that is needed to make this character a truly world-wide name and will renew interest in motion capture animation.  Now we must simply wait and see.

Interview with a Deal Maker

I recently spoke with a colleague, Josh, who is in the advertising sales business, selling available commercial time on a cable television network.  I asked a few questions about his negotiating practices, and his answers are featured below:  

I first asked Josh about the challenge of separating people from the problems in negotiating, and he responded, “When in negotiations with clients, who in a majority of the time are friends, I have to separate the friendship from the business relationship.  A lot of buyers like to use the friendship as leverage to get a better deal; however, I just always put the business objectives of the network ahead of any friendship.”

Then I followed up with a question of dealing with the negative emotions that often arise in negotiating.  To this, Josh said, “In direct response [advertising], we deal with a lot of negative emotion, especially when a client is bumped or just not clearing.  We deal with this by offering the client an alternate option or options, and they’re usually satisfied.”

When I asked about using leverage and power, he answered that during “the past two years, the sales teams certainly had the leverage with all the money coming in; we were picking and choosing what business to take.  However, everything is cyclical, and I never abuse any power I may have at the time.”

I then questioned Josh about how he deals with shady tactics or tricky deals, to which he simply answered, “I personally only experienced one shady tactic, and my way of dealing with it was to go to management, make them aware of the situation, and then just handle it the way our company policy tells us to.”

Josh continued, explaining about his take on mutual benefit negotiations.  “I don’t really like to do any mutually beneficial deals.  In my negotiations, I have seen it backfire badly.  I sell what we have at the rates needed to achieve [our] goal.  I will, however, always try to help clients in any way possible to make their deals work.  I never make any promises or guarantees, but I usually am able to get them some sort of deal, if need be.”