He had three ideas about how to make enough money for the upcoming year, but all of them truly unsettled her. His plan—as he always called his thoughts—was simple: become a brand from head to toe, promote his trademarks as much as he liked, and do what he did best—use his system alongside strategies for promotion, extension, and design improvements to the point where there would be a lot of work to do.
He needed to do something bold and sharp, full of pure adrenaline, something worthy of the Academy as well as the audiovisual world. And only the Oscars could achieve that.
But Billy and George were out on a terrace talking about business, philosophy, and other matters, even ignoring his wife's calls, which stopped after the second attempt.
–Then you need a constant cash flow if you want to formalize your plan ahead of schedule,– George commented.
–Maybe I'll make another billion at the box office and just sit back and watch the money roll in,– Billy said, shrugging. But by June, he had a film lined up that would give him 4% of the box office earnings, and if he managed to promote a book alongside it, he wouldn't need to mess around with Autodesk.
–Sounds impossible. But then again, everything's possible in America,– Lucas chimed in.
–The real impossibility is not modernizing our industry. It's been nearly 200 years, and some sectors haven't updated their production processes. We need to use that to allow daily stability to generate a much higher commercial value than in other states, – said Billy.
–But the workers…–
–Well, that can be managed in other ways. You'll always need human capital, just in smaller amounts this time. And when those amounts are right, competition will move into other sectors… But yes, if we sponsor education, healthcare, and recreation, we'll have salaried workers in those areas, – said Billy, who fully understood the implications of machinery, artificial intelligence, industrial production, and software programs. They just needed to combine the three—something that had already begun to happen through his connections across the industries.
–A world run by robots… That would definitely make a good Star Wars story, – Lucas responded.
–I don't think the machines ever took over the world; it was the Sith or the Jedi. But we could create a "Robot World," a planet where robots are the main attraction,– said Billy.
–An interesting idea. Let's plan the expansion. We could even add a Sith embedded within a robot's body. The humanization of men through robotization is already something we've touched on—thousands of people living with robots in ways that seem fascinating, – said Lucas, noticing the symbiotic unity between them, and how their strength gave them room to toy with so many universes that now seemed like a safe bet.
–Then it's settled. The Robot Planet is in our hands, – Billy declared, already thinking of adding a storyline about a massive robot carrying out the adaptation process.
–I see where you're going with this. It'd be interesting to try. Robots' precision in building machinery is exact and demonstrably efficient, – said Lucas, finishing his beer and reflecting on what the next few years might bring for the video game, film, and television sectors, which seemed to be evolving at breakneck speed.
–I hope this isn't another one of your ideas to use robots in factories, – Lucas added, well aware of the issues that arose in the '70s and '80s in countries like Germany and Switzerland regarding those technologies.
–I've got a few ideas, but none of them involve robots in factories. I haven't had the time. Hopefully, in the next few years, we'll be able to create our own companies specializing in Cobots. But for now, I just want to improve the software and develop applications, – said Billy.
…
–Hey John, you're exactly the person I need right now, – said Billy.
John Lasseter frowned slightly, but his diplomacy always held steady. Like a good seller of ideas, he simply softened his voice.
–Well, I hope I am. That way, maybe in the next few months people will finally treat me the way I deserve, – John Lasseter replied.
–I want you to make a statement, but I'd rather tell you in public. I've got some ideas swirling in my head, and maybe, just maybe, strengthening our brand could earn us a few more bucks in the coming days, – Billy said, picturing John Lasseter feigning surprise when receiving the award for Best Picture, saying, "I was hoping it would be great to win, but I really thought we'd win next year. I mean, the best movie I've produced to date is Shrek."
–We've got time tomorrow… and about what you mentioned earlier today—that the Clone series doesn't meet your expectations. Is that true?– asked John Lasseter, something that stirred shock in the Pixar halls. To dare say that one of the best animated series, with visuals polished enough to rival any Pixar film, spread across thirty 27-minute episodes, was underwhelming was, frankly, outrageous.
–They've got tons of resources. I want perfection. I don't want something that can be compared to previous works. I want each series to surpass the last in quality—at least in terms of visuals, – Billy replied.
–I see… I'll make the announcement, so the next episodes will use our new software, and post-production can clean things up a bit, – said John Lasseter, taking a deep breath. –But it'll raise costs by at least 20%. It's not easy to adapt to these programs, especially when Ed Catmull seems endless when it comes to development. –
–You're right. Lately, the people paying for our subscriptions are construction companies, using our AutoCAD formats. Combined with our automation systems, we've made a lot of money, – Billy said.
–Well, now I just hope the new software training gets approved, – said John Lasseter. At the company, the policy was to finish a project and then focus on training for the new software. But now, with Billy's insights, everything seemed to be moving so fast it felt like time itself was shifting.
–They can do it, but I expect to see a material change throughout the entire production, – said Billy.
Billy sighed just in time to step into his San Jose home after a long day filled with fresh ideas. The world was beginning to spin toward what he called the Computer Revolution, and phones were becoming an indispensable element for the years to come.
–Darling, – said Monica, wearing a green face mask while her hair was wrapped in a towel. She claimed the true schedule was the Italian one and preferred to sleep in the afternoon or early at night, but she was always up in the early morning hours. It was curious to see her awake.
...