Chapter 625: Natural Habits

[Chapter 625: Natural Habits]

At six-thirty in the evening, Eric finally walked out of the studio where the Victoria's Secret fashion show was taking place. He had a lot on his plate, and if it weren't for the dinner he had scheduled with Warren Buffett and others, he might have worked overtime until eight.

His driver and new assistant, Kelly Haynes, were already waiting outside. Eric and Kelly got into the car, and the driver started the engine, taking them to the restaurant.

"Mr. Williams, here are the documents you needed. I've made four copies," Kelly handed the morning document back to Eric.

Eric thanked her and began to focus on reviewing the folder.

Though Kelly had been Eric's assistant for several weeks, this was her first time in the car with him. After a few minutes, she finally relaxed. She stole a glance at her young boss, suddenly feeling a bit mesmerized.

After the box office for The Lion King was released, like many others, Kelly thought that Eric must have lost his mind when she heard he was about to shut down Disney's hand-drawn animation division.

However, over the past few days, as she organized the document Eric needed with her team, she started to feel that if she were in his shoes, she would definitely close Disney's hand-drawn animation division as well. The document was so persuasive that she couldn't find a reason to argue against it.

At the same time, Kelly was astounded by her boss's sharp insight. The data in the document seemed unrelated at first glance, but when combined, they formed a powerful chain of evidence.

She couldn't help but think that perhaps it was this keen insight that allowed him to produce one blockbuster hit after another.

As Eric read through the document, he caught a whiff of Chanel No. 5 perfume and sensed that his attractive assistant had been staring at him for more than a minute, which made him feel a bit uneasy. Eric wasn't narcissistic enough to think he possessed the kind of charm that made a mature woman swoon.

Moreover, the questions in Kelly's mind didn't concern Eric much. If he hadn't been reborn, he too would have struggled to see the decline of 2D animation. However, armed with memories from his past life and performing reverse deductions based on outcomes, he was able to identify a series of reasons leading to the inevitable decline of 2D animated films.

Having read most of the organized document, Eric finally couldn't withstand the woman's gaze any longer. He shifted slightly, turning to glance at Kelly's left hand and noting the absence of a wedding ring.

Eric's sudden movement startled Kelly back to reality. She quickly averted her eyes, realizing she had been staring, feeling inexplicably flustered.

Noticing her discomfort, Eric tried to ease the awkwardness. He casually said, "Kelly, may I ask a rather blunt question? Are you married?"

Kelly felt her cheeks flush. She instinctively wanted to retort, "You know this is rather blunt," but the response that came out was different. "I was married once, but I'm divorced now. I live with my daughter. Her name is Nina, and she's seven years old."

"I apologize for interrupting your dinner plans with your daughter," Eric said, feeling genuinely remorseful.

Kelly shook her head and smiled. "It's okay; Nina is very understanding, and she has a babysitter with her."

The easy conversation helped ease the slight awkwardness between them. Eric noticed Kelly's uneasiness and, wanting to avoid more silence in the car, he proactively asked, "Do you really like Chanel No. 5?"

Kelly was taken aback that Eric could identify her fragrance. Remembering her subconscious motivations for choosing it, her expression became slightly uncomfortable again. "A good friend recommended it to me, and I just started trying it out. I think it's... okay?"

Kelly did her best to keep her tone casual, and Eric didn't pick up on any oddity. "Chanel No. 5 suits your temperament well, but it's more suitable for parties. During daily work, a lighter perfume would be more appropriate."

"I will consider your advice, Mr. Williams," Kelly replied softly, feeling a mix of shy and anxious. Since Eric seemed so knowledgeable about the fragrance, he surely knew some of its unique effects, like... its romantic connotations.

Eric's gaze remained on the document in his hands, treating their conversation as casual chat, thus failing to notice the brief flicker of emotion on Kelly's face. Assuming her lowered voice meant she disagreed with his suggestion, he looked up at her and said, "I'm sorry if I was being too forward. You don't have to take it to heart; just use it if you like it."

"Of course not," Kelly shook her head. "I also think it's a bit too bold; I plan to switch it out soon."

Eric closed the last page of the document and smiled. "Oh, that's fine. Honestly, I prefer a woman's natural scent; that's the innate charm of femininity. Like you -- I think you'd be even more...." Eric inadvertently trailed off as he finally caught sight of Kelly's noticeably reddened cheeks and quickly changed the topic. "I'm really sorry; I wasn't trying to come on to you, just...."

Kelly saw Eric's slightly embarrassed expression and suddenly became bold. She teased, "... just the natural habit of a playboy charming women?"

Eric chuckled and nodded, realizing something. "I guess I've been talking about an unflattering topic."

Kelly laughed, "Finally, you've realized! I thought that was a common emotional flaw among geniuses."

"I'm not a genius," Eric shook his head. Just as he was about to say more, the car stopped in front of a modest Italian restaurant. Eric looked out at the restaurant and asked, "Is this the place?"

Kelly checked her notes and confirmed, "Yep, that's it." Noticing the puzzled look on Eric's face, she explained, "This should be Warren Buffett's choice; he's always been... frugal."

Eric knew that the word she wanted was 'stingy,' as the world was well aware of Buffett's notorious frugality.

After they stepped out of the car holding the document, Eric turned back to Kelly, who was still in the vehicle, and suddenly asked, "Why don't you join me? Unless you're in a hurry to get home to your daughter?"

Kelly felt a little tempted but looked at her serious professional attire and shook her head. "I'd rather not. My outfit isn't suitable for a dinner."

Eric pointed to the casual Italian restaurant behind him and laughed, "Do you think someone who would choose a restaurant like this would care about what guests are wearing?"

Kelly laughed and got out of the car confidently.

...

As they entered the restaurant, Eric surveyed the room and was relieved not to see Buffett and his colleagues in the lobby. It was currently mealtime, and given the confidentiality required for the topics they were about to discuss, Eric believed they would be swarmed by reporters if they ate in the lobby.

After exchanging a few words with the incoming waiter, they were led to a private dining room.

Warren Buffett, Tom Murphy, and David West paused their conversation and stood up when they saw Eric enter.

Eric shook hands with each of them. "I sincerely apologize, everyone. I've been so busy with work lately that I couldn't personally pick you up from the airport."

"That's alright; work is the priority," Buffett said with a warm smile, with Murphy and West nodding in agreement.

Eric briefly introduced Kelly to the group, and they all took their seats.

The waiter initially didn't recognize Buffett and his two accomplices and assumed they were just regular customers. However, Eric was someone he absolutely recognized. Upon recalling Buffett's identity, the waiter felt a thrill, and simultaneously started calculating the possible tip he'd receive, eagerly asking, "Gentlemen, may I take your orders now?"

None of the three spoke, all turned to look at Eric.

Eric smiled at the waiter and said, "Sorry, could we hold off on ordering for another fifteen minutes? We have a few things to discuss first?"

"Of course, no problem at all, Mr. Williams. Whenever you're ready," the waiter, somewhat flustered by Eric's casual tone, nodded idiotically and stepped out of the room.

After the waiter left, Eric took out the documents he had brought with him, and Kelly happily moved the cutlery on the table aside before quietly sitting next to Eric.

"We'll go over these documents first so we can enjoy our dinner a bit more," Eric said with a smile as he handed out copies to the three men.

Among them, fifty-five-year-old David West was the youngest and most sociable. He chuckled at Eric's joke, while the other two older gentlemen impatiently began perusing the documents. Tom Murphy even put on reading glasses.

Eric noticed Buffett flipping through the first page at lightning speed. "I believe once you review this material and data, you'll understand certain matters. But I'll explain it personally for clarity."

Buffett possessed exceptional speed reading and data calculation abilities. Yet, after quickly flipping through the first piece titled The Comprehensive Distribution Trends of Hollywood Films, Buffett didn't find any connections to Eric's imminent closure of Disney's hand-drawn animation division. Upon hearing Eric's comments, Buffett decisively stopped turning the pages and focused intently on Eric, with the other two following suit.

Eric gathered his thoughts and began, "First, I want to clarify that The Lion King is an event movie, similar to Star Wars, E.T., and Home Alone."

Noticing the puzzled expressions when he mentioned 'event movie,' Eric felt he needed to elaborate further. "An event movie is a film whose box office far exceeds the studio's initial forecasts. The emergence of such films is filled with randomness, and you might only encounter one every ten to twenty years. To be strict, even last year's Jurassic Park can't really be classified as an event movie; its success is more a reflection of the expanding global box office market and a natural development trend favoring large-scale CG effects films. In the coming years, more CG effects films will emerge that gross over a billion dollars."

David West asked, "Eric, since you say Jurassic Park is a necessary market trend, why can't The Lion King be counted as a normal expression of the market's demand for animated films?"

"Because even before Jurassic Park, we had already seen hints in the box office responses to effects films like Terminator 2 and Twister. Terminator 2 grossed $500 million globally, and Twister's total should be close to $700 million, right?" Eric turned towards Kelly for confirmation.

Kelly, who had been somewhat lost in thought while watching Eric speak, was snapped back to reality when he looked at her. Remembering Eric's earlier comment about liking women who were sensitive to numbers, her heart raced a little, but she didn't hesitate to respond with the figure, "According to the final statistics, Twister's global box office was $688 million, just $12 million shy of $700 million."

Eric nodded. He turned back to the three men. "Terminator 2 grossed $500 million globally, Twister $700 million, and then Jurassic Park made $1 billion. These numbers should indicate a market development trend. However, in terms of 2D animated films, I see no such trend. This document includes the corresponding analysis, which you will soon see."

Though he was somewhat reluctant, David West found it hard to argue, while Warren Buffett slightly nodded, signaling to Eric to continue.

"Next, let's confirm that The Lion King is an irreplicable event movie by first examining a significant change in the distribution model of Hollywood films over the recent years."

Eric said, flipping through his document and revealing, "After Jaws introduced the saturation release model in 1975, this approach was recognized in Hollywood for twenty years. However, before the 1990s, the synergy between saturation and long-line distribution models still coexisted in commercial cinema, which you can see in the data tables of the document."

Giving them some time to peruse the data, Eric continued, "However, with the arrival of the 1990s, an upgraded saturation release strategy quickly emerged. Recently, a proprietary term --comprehensive release -- has arisen.

This model is even more aggressive than the traditional saturation release. Film companies invest heavily in extensive advertising upfront, then quickly expand to two thousand to three thousand theaters, generally capturing about 80% to 90% of total box office in an eight-week showing period.

This contrasts sharply with ten years ago; in the case of Universal's Back to the Future, the eight-week earnings only captured 57% of its total box office. Even with the accumulation of good reviews from the first installment, the sequel, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, used a similar comprehensive release model and secured 77% of its total box office within the same eight weeks. Notably, Back to the Future screened for a total of 37 weeks while Indiana Jones lasted only 20 weeks.

We can also observe in the documents that in recent years, films employing a comprehensive release have noticeably decreased their screening durations compared to the 1980s. Such a significant reduction in screening time allows theaters to allocate more time and screens for other films. The rapid rise of box office revenues in Hollywood over the past few years is closely tied to the prevalence of this model. Therefore, comprehensive release is bound to be the future trend in Hollywood's film distribution."

*****

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