Cre8 Day 3: Michael Eisner, the Master Digital Story-Teller

Yesterday the Cre8 Conference kicked off with keynote speaker Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney. He is a consummate story teller and master business man. Here are some of the creative ideas he shared.

Think inside the box.
Make sure the box is the right size.
Micromanage it.

Eisner is a notorious micro manager. Often this is a negative connotation, but for him it worked. He even called the front desk of our resort this week to complain about the shampoo and conditioner. Where were the easily-readable designs he instituted during his all-seeing reign?

He had great stories of his film-world adventures. There were the flops like 1980's "Raise the Titanic". Producer Lord Lew Grade once said of the over-budget fiasco, "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."

There were the hits like "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Apparently that scene where Indiana Jones shoots the sword fighter came about because Harrison Ford had digestive problems as they were getting ready to shoot the final fight scene. Spielberg finally said, "Oh, just shoot him and you can go home." And thus was born a classic comedic scene where once was a planned battle scene.

He's doing some exciting things now-a-days. His new company Tornante is making short-form entertainment for digital distribution on mobile and Internet platforms. His son makes advertisements and is spending $1.3 million for 30 seconds. Eisner and his new stripped-down crew are spending $1,200 for 30 seconds. He called the Internet "creative experimentation." He's making "story-driven Internet video." Tornante is creating series like "Prom Queen" thru his company Vuguru.

He's a major stake-holder in Veoh, one of the top 30 sites in the US and the video site with the longest "engagement metrics" (people watching videos for more minutes than other sites). He also recently bought Tops, and is re-vamping the 50 year old brand best known for baseball cards and Bazooka Joe.

He talked about consistency and managing every little detail. Find out what the brand stands for and what it doesn't stand for. How big is the box? When he joined Disney, the international division was translating/dubbing the films with startling inconsistency. Huey, Dewey and Lewie were often being voiced by the same actor. Mickey had a different voice (and thus personality) in every country. By the time he left, you could barely tell the international versions of the films apart except that the characters were speaking in different languages.

He quoted famous industrialist Thomas J. Watson who once said "If you want to succeed, double your failure rate." Eisner also said that "to punish failure is a good way to encourage mediocrity. Fearful people will settle for mediocrity."

He sounds like he is having fun. He says he's making it up as he goes along. The Internet is a story-driven medium. He is a self-described Internet addict. He's helping to create a new form of distribution and learning how to generate programming for the Internet. His vision for the next 20 years is that digital is the place to be, the Internet will overtake all mediums as the distribution platform for modern story-tellers.