PIXAR SIGNS DEAL WITH WEINSTEINS’ NEW COMPANY
“Up yours, Eisner,” Jobs says of poor business decision
Hollywood — In a move that CEO Steve Jobs called “detrimental to our stock price but personally very pleasing,” Pixar has signed a distribution deal with the new media company being started by former Miramax chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein. The decision to leave Disney for a brand new company caused Pixar stock to fall 74% and Jobs to lose $2.8 billion of personal wealth. “It was totally worth it just to see the look on Eisner’s face,” Jobs said.
The deal is the first the Weinsteins have made since reaching a deal to separate from the Walt Disney Company last week. It also resolves the question of which studio Pixar will pick to distribute its films after its deal with Disney ends next year.
“As soon as I heard the Weinsteins were breaking up with Disney, I knew we had enough in common to forge a great relationship,” Jobs recalled. “We both have a passion for pissing off Michael Eisner and all those pricks who work for him.”
To make the partnership work, the Weinsteins will have to rapidly build up their company, including the ability to market family movies and establish a homevideo operation, where Pixar’s animated films make most of their money.
“We certainly anticipated that our first deals would be with filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez,” Harvey Weinstein said of the partnership. “But either we make a lot of money, or we can’t do it and get the pleasure of knowing our failure is infuriating every single Disney shareholder, especially Eisner and [new CEO Robert] Iger.
“It’s really a win-win scenario,” Weinstein added.
Last modified: April 4, 2005