Case Study – Steve Jobs, Movie Mogul

Case Study – Steve Jobs, Movie Mogul

In order to fully understand and understand and appreciate the story of Picture Studios, and its Chairman and CEO, Steve Jobs, one must revisit Picture’s humble beginnings. In 1975, at a vocational school in Old Westbury, New York, called New York Institute of Technology, Edwin Catmull, a straitlaced Mormon from Salt Lake City who loved animation but could not draw, teamed up with the people who would later form the core of Pixar (Pearce & Robinson, 2001).

In 1979, Catmull and his team grew disillusioned with New York Tech and went to work at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic in San Rafael, California. Catmull decided to leave after seven years when it became apparent Lucas only wanted computer animation for special effects, not feature-length films (Pearce & Robinson, 2001).

Enter Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, Inc. In 1985, less than a year after being ousted from Apple, Jobs bought what then became known as Pixar from Lucas for just $10 million – one-third of Lucas’ asking price. Still, it was hardly a bargain. As losses mounted over the next five years, Jobs invested an additional $50 million – more than 25% of his total wealth at the time (Pearce & Robinson, 2001).

In spite of the early setbacks, Catmull’s team of technologists were making major breakthroughs, and in 1991, Disney gave Pixar a three-film contract that included Toy Story.

“As the film neared completion in early 1995, Jobs decided to take a bold step. Since it was clear Pixar couldn’t prosper selling its technology to others, it was time to recast the company as a moviemaker” (Pearce & Robinson, 2001).

Following the success of Toy Story, Jobs returned to strike a new deal with Disney. In March, 1996, at a lunch with Walt Disney Company chief Michael D. Eisner, Jobs made his demands: an equal share of the profits, equal billing on merchandise and on-screen credits, and guarantees that Disney would market Pixar films as they did...