YouSaid · the spoken record

Bob Iger

lines on the record: 128
first: 2023-01-06
most recent: 2023-01-06
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“And I described Disney obviously as just that high quality brand entertainment, but we had to invest even more of our money, our time, resources in that. Because again, it would stand the test of time. And interestingly enough, Walt Disney proved that in ways that were so obvious to us. He makes Snow White in 1937. And in 2005, it's still being consumed by kids around the world in the form of at that point, I think it was just DVDs, really. I guess Blu-ray was just coming into play at that point. And you think about that, you think, wow, that was only movie theater distributed in 1937. It went through an era of TV in the 50s and the 60s. And then it ends up in a home video form. That's kind of telling. It doesn't matter what the technology is that's going to get that product to people. It's about the product itself.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The content side. Well, at that point, what I declared, because there had been a debate at Disney for the decade prior, should we own distribution? Should we invest our capital in that direction? I shut that argument down right away and said, no, it's all about one thing, high quality branded entertainment.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Concern will find their way to brilliance That's interesting. So another strategy would have been to sort of run around trying to own these different new forms of distribution. You said no. I mean, obviously you'd do some of that, but your priority would be the content side.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They'll find their way to the consumer, and the consumer will find their way to brilliance no matter what. And we were way too paranoid about the forces of distribution basically ruining our business. And remember, cable and satellite was still growing like crazy. And then, of course, there was a concern that the web browser would ultimately become another form of consumption and distribution.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, what I was actually declaring was that there's an ebb and flow in terms of the debate, but there really shouldn't be a debate, that the content side would always win out.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Always think of it, tell me from this is naive, but I think of it as there's an ebb and flow in the media business between relative strength of content and distribution. And so maybe one way of saying what you saw was that as the supply of distribution went up, the leverage of the distribution side would decrease relative to content.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Content would stand the test of time no matter what disruptive forces impacted the business. In other words, people would seek out best brands, best content, best experiences, no matter how they were getting them. And we should worry less about the distribution and more about what we were creating.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Correct, but the board of directors of Walt Disney Company wanted to know when they were interviewing me to become CEO what my plan was, what would my priorities be, what would I do? And what I articulated was that I saw a world where technology was going to create a proliferation of distribution and really of consumer opportunity to access, consume by media and entertainment. at a world where there was so much more distribution, I also saw a world where there'd be a lot more production or creativity and a lot more consumption. I thought, okay, well, if the world is going to expand or even explode like that, how does a company like Disney play or really thrive in that world? And what hit me was that great content, high quality creativity and branded.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, exactly. And people, just use of new technologies, even though it really was not the era of mobile technology yet, but use of new technologies was growing like crazy. And people were spending time and money on those technologies.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Sure, it's really interesting looking back because 2005 there were forces of disruption that were already impacting the business, but they were still relatively superficial. Web 1.0 and the internet growth that we were seeing by then was starting to have impact on a variety of different things, including consumer behavior. But not nearly as much, obviously, as we've seen. But it was clear that the promise of the internet was vast. And I think that there was anxiety that was just starting to build in the industry. And people running traditional media companies were being asked to be visionaries. And how were they going to, one, contend with that disruption, and two, really, how would they thrive at a newly disrupted world?”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And take the blankets off the design tables and under the blankets for the new products. And at one point, I think I might have described this in the book, but if I didn't, I've described it other times. He made me put my ear down to where the power cord touches the laptop. And it was then they were using the MAG connector. And you could hear the click of that magnet and the click. And he admitted about 10 times our rears, both our rears.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But it's interesting though, conversely, having worked with Steve much as I did, he did believe that details mattered. Yeah.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which I thought was a really compelling thing. Sometimes the petty stuff never. There were times when I had a list that was three pages long, small stuff that I just can.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I must say, I don't remember the timing, but what I do remember is in thinking about the changes that could be made to turn this into a true, not only hit, but phenomenal film, it was going to cost money. And we were clear with him right away to spend what you need to make this better the rest of his history on that one.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It changed a lot. Interestingly enough, it was clear that the changes that we felt that could be made were going to cost money. There had already been a big debate about the budget of the film, I think $175 million, and people saying that an all black cast would never resonate in certain parts of the world, like China, and therefore 175 million on this film is a huge risk. Well, we're not going to give the black director a smaller budget to make this film. I felt very strongly about that, but I also knew that this was a great story, you could tell in the script, and it deserved the budget to become a great film.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And that gave me license then to say some things he's still a euphoric. And it wasn't manipulative. I truly meant it, but I knew that if I didn't put him at ease first, everything I said was going to bother. That was an interesting.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He's obviously intimidated because of my title. I could tell he was nervous. And I had to say something first. And the first thing I said to him is, Ryan, I've got some things I want to tell you about the movie that I just detected or felt, but I got to say one thing. You made a great film here. And it's just like, oh my goodness, you could just see the anxiety just”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then often sometimes it's hard. You try to lead with something positive. If you could see the worst cut of the worst film and you don't know what to do, the lights would come up in the screening room at Disney. And then invariably, I'd have to say the first thing. I think, oh my goodness, how am I going to deal with this? But I tried really hard to say something nice first, even if it was transparent that I was doing that because it just puts people at ease. In some cases, it was great. Like when I watched Black Panther for the first time, Ryan Kugler, who was not even 33, directed two other films, Fruit Fail Station and Creed, comes in and he's made this big film, first big film he ever made. He barely knew me.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The other thing you have to realize is know when to stop when the creator has absorbed enough, has heard enough, they don't really want any of that, some of them. Some of them invite it. Some of them don't really want it. But stop. And often I try to read the body language. And when I did stop, I'd say, you know, I have a couple of other thoughts. I'll send you an email. Have Alan Horn do it.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Let me articulate it. It's that simple, or the pacing is off for me. It feels a little slow. It dragged in spots. They may ask, well, was there a spot in particular that you felt that you have to back it up. This particular act, it's not getting too granular, but it's saying this is where I thought it slowed down. And often the creator will say, oh, that's interesting. I'm going to take a look at that again.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Listen, I do believe that managing creativity responsibly for your shareholders is really important. You can't allow just want and spending or allow creators to take how much time they want. Some do, by the way, some have earned the right to do that. Jim Cameron's a good example of that. I respect Jim immensely. His next avatar movie is coming out under the 21st century studios banner, but owned by Disney because of the deal that was made in 2019. Jim Cameron makes movies on his own timetable. You cannot impose your”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oftentimes executives try to exert their authority or show who's boss. You don't do that either. It's not about that. It's not about coming in and having the big title. It's about trying to establish in the most sincere, genuine way a partnership. I come in peace. I just want to help. I'd like to give you my perspective, not tell you what to do. I'd just like to give you some thoughts that I have about what you just showed me. Some of it sounds like common sense, but there's always ego on the line. Is it ego?”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“See, the first thing you have to do when you manage creatives is to put yourself in the shoes of the person who's the creator and realize the idea typically has come from within them. It's part of almost their fabric. It's who they are in a way. Not only they have a sense of ownership, but is very much tied to their self-esteem, how they feel about themselves. And you can't dismiss that. You have to really understand that.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Which is you figure out how to insert yourself into a process in a benign way where you're looking over people's shoulder but you're not making them feel paranoid, you're giving them advice on what to consider, but you're not ordering them to change things. You're being patient and you're also understanding the anxiety that they feel and you're not trying to build onto it or to exacerbate it. It's fascinating. I engaged a lot in the big movies. I read scripts. I looked at early rough cuts a couple of times I went into edit rooms, but very rarely, very rarely, because it just wasn't my role. But where you look at something and you have to give critical feedback to someone is a way to do that.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I think that probably plays into it a bit. But there's a whole other side, too, and that is the management of the creatives. I hired Alan Horne in 2012. I remember the day he came in, June of 2012, and I said, I've got a really big secret to share with you. He thought he's coming to Disney to manage Marvel and Pixar and Disney. And I said, we're on the eve of announcing the acquisition of Lucasfilm. He said, You're kidding. I said, No. He said, That's the greatest thing I've ever heard. Alan Horn was the kind of studio executive that knew how to manage creative talent. And not just creative talent, but the talent that manages creative talent.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Also, like a lot of these execs isn't like the average relatively short, they're under pressure from Wall Street and the board, and they may not be able to even, if they want to, even manage to a long-term.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“before they are fully baked. Basically, it's a lack of commitment to excellence. And I'm a big believer in the relentless pursuit of perfection. Steve Jobs, a great role model there, and realized no one's ever going to criticize a movie that's great for coming out late that certainly will criticize a movie if it's bad and comes out on time. And what happens with these companies often is they think about a movie's going to come out in a quarter and we have to make our quarter and we got to get the box office. And that's the tail wagon the dog.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When I ran Disney, I always found that focusing too much on the competition was not healthy, but always created anxiety for me. First of all, it's people. You have to choose the right people. And I'm not just talking about a director. That's obviously important because you don't get a good movie without a good director. But it's management to supervise. It's people who understand, just to give you an idea, a lot of cases in movies, a movie studio will. Make a decision that they're making a film and actually slot it onto a calendar, into a schedule, and say, well, this is going to come out in July of 2023. And off they go. It's very rare that a studio will say in the middle of a production process, this movie is not as good as we need it to be. We're going to wait. So they force things into the marketplace.”
2023-01-06 · a16z Podcast · Creators, Creativity, and Technology with Bob Iger · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source