Finally, Disney completes $71bn 21st Century Fox deal

Good News to Movies and TV series fans but not for Netflix

Picture source: https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/disney-fox/64117/disney-fox-merger-finally-complete

The Walt Disney Company has closed its $71bn (£54bn) acquisition of Rupert Murdoch’s entertainment business 21st Century Fox as it looks to take on streaming giant Netflix.

As part of the deal, Disney will absorb the Fox film and TV studios, the FX networks, National Geographic and Indian TV network Star India. It will also bring together franchises such as The Simpsons, X-Men, Star Wars and Marvel under the same roof for the first time, supercharging its content and creating a media company of unprecedented scale.

The business will launch its Disney Plus streaming service later this year, which given its souped-up content offer puts it in a better position to rival Netflix and Amazon Prime.

In a statement, Robert Iger, chairman, and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, describes the deal as an “extraordinary and historic moment”.

“Combining Disney’s and 21st Century Fox’s wealth of creative content and proven talent creates the preeminent global entertainment company, well positioned to lead in an incredibly dynamic and transformative era.”

However, the merger is likely to result in job cuts, with experts predicting as many as 4,000 positions could be on the line.

Source: www.marketingweek.com 

More on: Disney seals $71bn deal for 21st Century Fox as it prepares to take on Netflix

Checking for Errors - Why Bother?

Is checking for errors important? Why bother for the process and normally, takes longer time to execute a task? There must be a reason and this is why.

At a glance, this promotional panel at GSC Pavilion KL for the upcoming Life (2017) movie looks great with good printing resolution.

However, when I take a closer look, I got confused with who is Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson. They designer got mixed up with the two main stars in the movie.

Errors like this do happen and it is very common but the implication of some errors can be fatal!

Is this the designer fault to allow such error to occurs? Maybe but they cannot be blamed for everything. Sometime it could be due to the constraint of time to push things out for production and there is no checking in the entire process - from the person who provides the information, the designer who didn't check or ignorance, the superior who need to approve the artwork (if any), the printer, production, and lastly the personnel at the cinema.

Anyway, we all make mistakes. If only there is compliance to a proper control process, personnel who are more alert or maybe more time were given to designer (whom might be too exhausted with too many deadlines to fulfill until their quality is being compromised), the error could have been corrected before it goes public.

Somehow, I belief in this: "Fast, Good and Cheap - we can only pick TWO". What say you?

Reflection from Watching Passengers (2016)

This is not a spoiler as I do not want to tell the story of the movie Passengers (2016) directed by Mortem Tyldum. I just want to say something about this movie, more like a reflection.

#1: Why do people want to look for a new colony?
In the movie, it is all about space traveling where a human can be transported to a new colony planet. People are willing to pay and travel hundreds over the years to start a new life. It doesn't matter if space traveling is possible in the future, we are already seeing thousands of people leaving their home every year to look for a new life, or merely just to survive. When we have to leave our home and take the risk to find a new place to survive, it is not a good sign at all.

#2: Can automation replace ALL humans?
Automation is going to be how we live in the future. Basically, jobs can be replaced by robots, in this movie, it's the Android. From bartender, chef, waiter, cleaner to pilot, almost all jobs can be replaced by robots. So, what are the jobs left for human beings? The designer and programmer of robots? As much as automation and Artificial Intelligence (A.I) been used in the movie to show how advanced our future can be, the main problem of the spaceship due to an accident cannot be solved without humans. However, only a few people needed to solve a problem because of the availability of A.I. There go our jobs in the future.

#3: Is the right decision always right?
People make a decision every day and we always want to make the right decision. Is the right decision always right? Somehow, we do not bother what is right or wrong when we come to a stage where we just want to get things done for the good of oneself. In the movie, Jim went through a typical process of decision making to wake Aurora from hibernation. Did he make the right decision? The movie shows some plots where it supports the decision made by Jim, but it was a criminal decision, a decision that is like killing someone. Yet, Jim is the hero in the movie, saving thousands of lives. I say it is complicated when it comes to what is the right thing to do.

#4: Are we differentiated by our wealth?
Another highlight in this movie is on the services available for a different classification of a passenger. The gold class passenger can access to more choices of meals and a much better room but no the economic class. Is this something new? Not at all because we experience this in our everyday life. This is just a norm, a widely accepted practice around the world now and...maybe forever. We are living in a world of differentiation, perhaps the word discrimination can describe this better. Like it or not, this classification of passengers will stay. So if you want the gold class services, maybe you can learn from Jim.

#5: Don't tell Android everything.
Lastly, don't let your android have access to all your data. The android can be a good companion to you but it is just a system designed to serve the user. It doesn't have judgmental decision when it comes to emotional related matters. The morale of the story, be careful with your privacy on Android, it don't mean harm but it can be dangerous.

Talent Management Lesson learned in Star Wars Movies - Talent Acquisition and Retention

I like to get new inspiration from blockbuster film and comic and apply it to my teaching. One of my favourites is Star Wars. There are various management lessons that can be taught based on this film. Today, we shall explore Talent Management! - This is the story of how a Jedi, Anakin Skywalker joined the Dark Side and turned into Darth Vader.

Anakin Skywalker (Before he became Darth Vader) was deemed too young to lead an army or to voice his opinions, hence he was sidelined by the more elderly Jedi Council (Like a council of elders). However, Emperor Palpatine is the only leader who would listen to his views and gave him respect.

The Emperor then gave Anakin a lot of promises where if he had switched to the Dark Side of the Force, he would be granted the Empire's fleets to command, thus seeing empowerment and expectancy as drivers to motivate Anakin. The Emperor educated him in the Dark Ways of the Force, listened to him and had promised him that he would be made the 'Supreme Commander' of the Empire. Most importantly, The Emperor kept his promise.

As a result, Anakin became Darth Vader. A talented young Jedi Knight who failed to be recognized and retained by the Jedi Council.

If applied to a business organisation today, we should learn how to identify the talents, recognize and groom them - talent development. Perhaps a simple model like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs could explain the basis of motivation in attracting and retain good talents. However, in reality, how many organisation (the management) is able to recognize and retain talents? what have they done? Even the great Jedi Master failed to retain Anakin, a young talented apprentice because of fear over prophecy.

To all the Managers out there, manage your talent well before they leave you and join your competitors - From A New Hope to The Empire Strike Back! Do not fear the talents as they will help you and your business to grow. To some extent, at least the bad guys are more open to talents with skills that are lacking in themselves. I am not saying that joining the dark side or becoming bad guys are better but they are really good at giving opportunities to talents, fast track training and development, empowerment, and motivation. Just like in Star Wars, their talent management initiatives are very well executed.

What say you?

Product Placement 2: Kingsmen The Secret Service (2015)

It is getting more popular for major brands to use movies as their channel of advertisement. The strategy is very simple - it uses product placement which immerse in the story, character lifestyle and the functionality of their products so that the audiences learn and accept the brands and products subconsciously. The intention is the reach the mass market through subliminal perception and create a general positive predisposition of like towards the brands and the products. In the past, product placement has been use as the background of selective perception but the recent movies has seen the brands and company taking a more proactive approach of getting into the 'figure' of the scene.

Here is another example of some Product Placement used in the movie - Kingsmen The Secret Service (2015):

#1: Adidas

#2: McDonald's - Happy Meal and Big Mac being mentioned in the conversation too!

#3: Bremont - a British watch maker developed three "limited edition models" for this movie.

#4: Lenovo - laptop

So, when you are watching a movie, you are also being exposed to "Subliminal Perception" too. Enjoy!

Previous Post on Product Placement: Transformers, Age of Extinction

Product Placement: Taking Advantage of Consumer's Subliminal Perception

More brands are taking advantage of movies or TV series to advertise their products. They are taking advantage of consumer's subliminal perception to recognise their existence. With their brands and products being exposed in a movie or a show that you like, we will not reject it. The consumer perceptual process will automatically capture the entire image or the scene in the movie as the figure and background. This will then be interpret into meanings, consciously or subconsciously.

In a recent movie, Transformers, Age of Extinction, the integration of brands and products as figure and background were significant, ranging from Yili Milk to Nutrilife . Did you spotted any of the below examples of product/brands placement  (there are many more but I just couldn't share all of it...):

Is this the best way to promote your brands and products? Nothing is without limitations. There are perils of backfire on the brands too if the companies are not careful in the selection of product placement. You don't want your products to be seen inferior or carries some negative attitudes identify while associating with the bad guys!

What say you?




Note: Photos were taken using a smartphone while watching the Original DVD of the movie.

E.T. Is My Love From The Star

I wonder if anyone (Gen-Y) can understand a scene in the latest popular Korean drama, My Love From The Star (来自星星的你). In episode 18, Do Min-joon (an alien who has landed on Earth 400 years ago during Josean Dynasty) was asked by Cheon Yoon-jae to connect their friendship by touching their fingers together. There is this special background music too.

This is the famous act adopted from the movie E.T. In 1982. The background music played was the original main theme soundtrack of E.T. which I think many of the Gen-Y have not heard before. It is good to bring back such memories as E.T. was known as the earlier icon of Alien explorer to planet Earth and expose the younger generations to some good old movies.

Earlier I have problems to illustrate my example using E.T. friendship with human because all my students don't what is E.T.. Well, I hope after this, some of my students can understand my examples using E.T. and its adventure on Earth.

The Wolverine 2013

It is weekend and this is the best time for me to do some catch up with the recent movie, The Wolverine. Most of you might have watched it by now and that is the purpose of this blog; so you know what am I referring to in the movie. Normally, I will use the implied story of a movie as part of my discussion in the class: my philosophy of learning = E+E (Education + Entertainment).

Well, at least they managed to promote Audi's brand in the world of Marvel Comics!

The Wolverine 2013 is a movie that continue to tell the story of an X-Men, Logan the Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman) under the Marvel Comics franchise. Directed by James Mangold, this movie is about an old acquaintance of Logan, Yashida trying to gain immortality by attempting to transfer Logan's Mutated DNA to his weak and dying body. Very obvious, Yashida is the bad guy in this movie. Wolverine is not fighting his all-time enemy Sabretooth this time, but a lethal silver samurai steel.

The plot of this movie doesn't not relate to X-Men but more focusing on Wolverine as a single superhero, with his sidekick Yukio (played by Rila Fukushima): another mutant who can see 'some' future. So, I don't really feel like I am watching a Marvel superheroes movie. On top of the self-healing and classic blades from fist, Logan seems to be very human in this movie (especially when he was infected by a bio-robotic don't know what machine by the Viper).

Just because of that, I find the story-line a bit boring and predictable. It is mixing the plot on family business, politics, romantics, personal psychology and action. It portraits a typical 3 generations Japanese (Asian) family owned business in Tokyo, Japan which trying to create political ties, strengthening the corporation, and fighting for power and money; and not to forget, Ninja and Samurai and World War II. On the other hand, the stories tries to explain Logan's inner psychology and promoting his romantic love story with the pretty Japanese model Tao Okamoto, who played Mariko, the grandchild of Yashida. Meanwhile, the movie attempts to reflect the selfishness of human who wanted the immortality, even by sacrificing the family and friends. Meanwhile, the director is trying to bring out the charisma of Wolverine by making Yukio to admire him.

Sounds like a lot? Yes, it is really too many messages that the movie is trying to package it in. Well, that's quite worth it if you are paying for a piece of entertainment, but you may easily forget about this movie. To me, nothing seems to connect, sorry...even though I am a fan of X-Men and to Marvel's superheroes.

I would rate this movie 5 out of 10. They have good cast but the story-line was like for the sake of making another Wolverine movie.