Eisner Explores Creativity in MIPCOM Keynote

CANNES, October 15: Former Disney chief Michael
Eisner, who today runs The Tornante Company, discussed creativity in his MIPCOM
keynote yesterday, which was followed by a Q&A with Anna Carugati, the
group editorial director of World Screen.

Speaking to attendees in a crowded Grand Auditorium, Eisner
noted that everyone in the media industry shares one thing in common: “We worship
at the altar of creativity.” With the theme of “Creativity in a Box,” Eisner
discussed the ways in which media executives can increase their chances of
producing a hit. “Early in the process, you determine the size of the financial
box…. For the Internet, the financial box can be very, very small. What does go
in the box? The vital element is creativity. Creativity can flourish within
sensible financial limitations.” Micromanagement, Eisner added, is key to a
popular and commercially viable product.

Eisner went on to note that the “world has been
dimensionally shrinking… We’re all standing on the point of a needle.” With the
Internet, Eisner said, we all “metaphysically occupy the same time and space.”

He then updated attendees on his various activities at
Tornante, which is an investor in the Internet video site Veoh and the owner of
Vuguru, the producer of the online shows Prom Queen, The All-For-Nots and Foreign Body. Tornante’s investments also include The Topps
Company, a sports cards and confectionary brand. Eisner noted that he is
looking to reinvent the company’s image with Back on Topps, an Internet series. Eisner is also producing for
linear TV with Glenn Martin, DDS,
a stop-motion comedy for Nick at Nite. Referring to the oft-quoted Marshall
McLuhan, Eisner quipped: “The message trumps the medium.”

Whatever your medium of choice, Eisner stated, “the way to
optimize that medium is by thinking inside the box. Make sure the box is the
right size, micromanage it and stuff it with all the creativity you can get.”

Eisner went on to explain that marketers will soon become
increasingly enamored with online video advertising. In a decade’s time, he
noted, “Appointment television will be sports and live events…[dramas and
sitcoms] eventually will have a large portion of advertisers and viewers on
demand.”

He reiterated that content remains king, and stated that he
is “bullish” on traditional media companies. New-media companies that don’t
venture into content creation and remain solely distribution platforms will
have a tougher time, he said. “Those distribution platforms will be
cannibalized by someone else” if they don’t have distinctive, exclusive
content.

Amid these tough economic times, the path to survival, and
success, hinges on a company’s ability to deliver the next hit, he said. “The
way you dig out of problems in the entertainment business is with hits,”
especially now, when audiences need entertaining distractions to get their
minds off their financial problems.

When asked why he had opted to start a new business after
his many years at Disney, Eisner quipped: “There’s golf, there’s working and
there’s death: I chose the best.”

—By Mansha Daswani