On the second day after the all-night meeting, Euro Disneyland, which had just opened for less than ten days, suddenly announced its temporary closure. The news shocked the whole of Europe as soon as it came out, and quickly spread throughout the world.
It took seven years to build Euro Disneyland, with an investment of 5.5 billion US dollars. This figure was even worth the fiscal revenue of some small European countries for several years. It was definitely a world-class project in the 1980s when the US dollar was strong.
On the day when the incident happened, Disney published a statement of clarification and apology on the front pages of well-known French newspapers such as Le Monde, Times of Europe, and Le Figaro, among the top French circulation newspapers, expressing that because of After discovering a series of problems after the opening of Euro Disneyland, out of the concept of being responsible to tourists, the management decided to temporarily close Disneyland and rectify related problems after careful consideration.
However, few people believe this statement that completely follows the facts. Most of the media and the public are more inclined to believe that there has been a major change in Euro Disneyland. The news of dozens of casualties, and this completely fabricated news has been recognized by many people, and some newspapers that don't know the truth have even reprinted it.
In just one day after the news came out~∠, after repeatedly confirming that it was not a prank, reporters from countless TV media and newspapers and magazines from all over the world boarded the flight to Paris in an attempt to seek the truth.
The French government also expressed strong concern over the matter through a press conference on the day when the incident occurred. Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris, even met with Eric Williams, chairman of Firefly Films, for the first time. Smith and Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Ask yourself why Disneyland is closing.
Come out of the mayor's office. Eric and Katzenberg got into a black sedan together. Busy two days in a row. Even Katzenberg, who has always been known for his energy, can clearly see a feeling of exhaustion, and Eric even leaned on the seat and narrowed his eyes.
Suddenly there was a sound of a soda can being opened beside him. Eric barely opened his eyes and took a look. He saw Katzenberg just opened a can of refreshing canned coffee, and remembered a certain story about Katzenberg. It was a joke, the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly.
"Eric, do you want it?" Katzenberg asked in a low voice.
Eric shook his head, now is to give him a can of stimulants. He couldn't cheer up either. From the night before to now, neither of them had a good rest. Eric felt that his biological clock had completely collapsed. He even envied Katzenberg's energy. Drinking a bottle of refreshing drink can basically "resurrect with full blood", which is more effective than the red and blue medicines in the game.
The decision to temporarily close Euro Disneyland is also the result of careful discussions between the two. The problems of Euro Disneyland are already very serious, and it is difficult to predict the effect of conservative operation and rectification. The cycle will also be extended a lot accordingly. In this case, it is better to have a big action like cooking oil with a fire. Even if the problem cannot be completely solved, the attention that this series of actions has attracted can generate a world-class publicity and marketing, and it does not cost money. The re-opening of Euro Disney some time later is sure to draw attention on a much larger scale than it did the first time around.
Katzenberg quickly finished his coffee and said, "Eric, if you can't hold on, just wait until the negotiation with the French investor and I will come by myself. You can go back and rest first."
Eric nodded in a daze and agreed.
According to questionnaire surveys and the first week’s revenue statistics, even after the rectification, it is very difficult for Euro Disneyland to achieve the original profit in the short term. Most of the construction funds of 5.5 billion US dollars belong to bank loans. It must be repaid through the operation of Euro Disney, and the average annual repayment of principal and interest is as high as 200 million US dollars.
At the same time, the severe budget out of control in the early stage and the construction of a large number of redundant projects also made the operation and maintenance costs of Euro Disneyland much higher than that of Tokyo Disneyland. It is not difficult to find this point only from the scale of the two parks. The total area of Euro Disneyland is nearly 2,000 hectares, while Tokyo Disneyland is only 204 hectares, which is only one-tenth of Euro Disneyland.
Under such circumstances, Disney can only renegotiate with the French investor to discuss issues such as profit redistribution. Judging from the current situation, Eric basically does not expect Euro Disneyland to bring profits to the headquarters. He I just hope that this overseas paradise can achieve a balance of payments and not become a drag on the head office.
Reassuringly handing over the matter to Katzenberg, Eric returned to the hotel, didn't even bother to take a shower, and threw himself directly on the big bed, waking up from a boundless black dream, and the window was once again plunged into darkness.
After washing up, he picked up the phone in the room and made some calls before Eric came to the restaurant downstairs, ordered a few words to the waiter, and found a booth to order dinner for himself.
Before the dinner was finished, Katzenberg had already walked over under the guidance of the waiter.
"According to my dinner, give Jeffrey one too," Eric casually ordered to the waiter when Katzenberg sat down opposite him. Katzenberg obviously didn't eat dinner either, and didn't object, but asked the waiter to refill a glass of milk for himself.
"How's it going?" Eric asked, wiping his mouth with a tissue.
Katzenberg took out a folder from his briefcase and handed it over: "After reading the information, Luis Bartlow has no objection to the temporary closure of Euro Disneyland for rectification, but they hope that the management of the park will The right to take it back, I refused."
If you give up control of Euro Disneyland, the project will be completely out of control, and Eric has no confidence in the French's ability to manage it.
Eric nodded in agreement with Katzenberg's decision, then opened the folder and read a draft contract inside. The content of this contract was roughly the same as the bottom line of the negotiation he and Katzenberg had discussed. Not much difference. Disney waived licensing fees for the first five years of Euro Disneyland. After five years, the patent licensing fee is halved. And in exchange. The French investor needs to invest another 300 million US dollars for this project as the operating capital of Euro Disney.
Abandoned patent licensing fees. Although Disney’s initial investment will not be recovered for a long time in the future, in fact, Disney has not suffered a loss, because if Euro Disneyland loses money, it will only be the repayment of billions of dollars in loans. The pressure may lead to the bankruptcy of Euroland. At that time, Disney had no choice but to voluntarily waive the patent licensing fees. Because Disney was too strong in the early negotiations, it only took less than 15% of the total investment to obtain 49% of the shares of the joint venture company, and most of the money came from a loan specially approved by the French government. It also means that once Euro Disneyland fails to achieve the expected profit, Disney's strong position will be reversed directly. At that time, the French investors will not only no longer pay, but even need Disney's headquarter to feed back funds. Now, by giving up The seemingly generous condition of patent licensing fees. Once again obtaining 300 million US dollars in operating funds from French investors, Disney can be said to have made a lot of money.
Hastily read the new contract. Eric continued to eat his own dinner, and the waiter also brought Katzenberg's dinner.
After dinner, the two of them did not leave. The waiter took the initiative to remove the tableware and served coffee again. Eric said to Katzenberg: "Although the management rights of the park cannot be handed over to them, this operation adjustment It’s still about getting them involved as much as possible, and you can see from the report that the manager gave me, a lot of issues that should have been obvious, but our team obviously missed it.”
"I know that," Katzenberg watched as the waiter poured himself a cup of coffee, but he just pushed the coffee aside casually, without any intention of drinking any more. It was obvious that he had been hurt by drinking for the past two days: "Eric , I will personally stay here and take the helm until the park reopens and is on the right track. The movies for the end of the year in the United States have all been confirmed. Although Frank is a bit conservative, nothing will go wrong. He is temporarily in charge of the Disney headquarters. There is no major problem with our business.”
"Well, I wanted to tell you about this yesterday, but I was so busy that I forgot, it is just right for you to stay here. However, I have been thinking about a problem these two days, the problem of changing the name of the park .”
Katzenberg looked at Eric suspiciously, and made a rare joke: "You don't really imagine what those newspapers said, changing Disneyland to Firefly Paradise?"
"Of course not," Eric shook his head and smiled, "Disney is already a very mature cultural symbol. I would not do such a stupid thing as changing Disneyland into Firefly Land. What I want to say is that Euro Disneyland Renamed Disneyland Paris."
Katzenberg shook his head slightly: "I don't understand, Eric, is this necessary?"
"I think it is very necessary. From the questionnaire, we can see that the French who come to Disney still account for a very large part. Moreover, the so-called 300 million potential tourists in the radiating range of the two-hour plane flight now seem to be too It’s not realistic. These 300 million people are obviously not as eager as we imagined for Disneyland. In the first week, except for the French, most of the tourists from the countries closest to France are tourists. In this case, we might as well First focus on managing the French local tourists with the most consumption potential. Since the French are so proud, we will do what we want. The name change is just a little bit, and we have already negotiated and decided to make the French think they are the best. Other languages include French as the first language of the park, and English as an alternative. In addition, the projects and activities of the park should also focus on the integration with French culture, just like the Mickey Mouse photo I showed you the day before yesterday."
Katzenberg was somewhat persuaded by Eric, but he still asked: "Will it be too abrupt and the purpose too obvious if you change the name rashly?"
Eric said with a smile: "It depends on the media public relations methods of the operation department."
"Then I'll ask them to come up with a plan as soon as possible," Katzenberg nodded, "What about you, Eric, when are you going to go back? "Jurassic Park" is still in the final stage, so you can't leave Is it too long?"
"I'll stay for a few more days. Stan is in charge of the post-production work. He has participated in most of the film's production process. He already knows exactly what effect I want, and there will be no problems. If he can let go In terms of management in the digital field, I even plan to hand over the sequel to him to direct."
Knowing that Firefly is expected to shoot three Jurassic Park films, Katzenberg was surprised to hear this: "Aren't you going to direct the sequel yourself?"
Eric shrugged: "It depends, I'm not sure myself."
The two were chatting casually, and there was a rush of footsteps from far to near not far away. As soon as Eric turned his head, Alan had already come to him.
Allen hurriedly nodded to Katzenberg before saying to Eric: "Mr. Williams, call, the call from New York, it's urgent."
"Jeffrey, wait a minute, let's continue talking after I answer the phone," Eric said to Katzenberg, got up and left with Allen.
Although Katzenberg was curious about what kind of urgent matter there would be for Eric in New York, he didn't ask, but nodded in understanding.
More than ten minutes later, Eric didn't show up, but Alan walked over in a hurry: "Sorry, Mr. Katzenberg, Mr. Williams has already gone to the airport. He is flying to New York tonight. Let me Come and talk to you."
"What happened?" Katzenberg stood up with a solemn expression.
Allen shook his head, thought for a while and said, "I'm not sure, but it has nothing to do with the company, it's... it's Mr. Williams' private matter."
Katzenberg could see that Allen was hesitating to speak, but since it was Eric's private matter, he relaxed a little and didn't continue to ask: "Aren't you going back with Eric?"
Allen replied: "Mr. Williams asked me to stay here temporarily and communicate with him about the rectification work here at any time."
Katzenberg nodded: "In this case, you should stay with me recently. By the way, do you have anything else to say about Eric?"
"No more," Allen opened his mouth and didn't say anything more. Eric left in a hurry after answering the call just now, and didn't have time to explain anything. (To be continued..)