Michael Ovitz

And there's not one thing in my day today that I'm doing different than I did in 1974. There's not one thing different. It's just the numbers are a little different. But it's the same blocking and tackling, same fundamentals. At the end of the day, for me, I have a very cultural bias on how I invest. I invest very different than everyone else.

It's the same fundamentals, but I invest in human beings. I may not like their idea, but if I like them, I want to be around them. And I've put my money into companies that have gone through the roof, and I've put my money into companies that have failed. But the founders have never failed me. They've always come back.

It's the same fundamentals, but I invest in human beings. I may not like their idea, but if I like them, I want to be around them. And I've put my money into companies that have gone through the roof, and I've put my money into companies that have failed. But the founders have never failed me. They've always come back.

40, 50.

40, 50.

Great. So today, you got full motion video with emotional looks on the game characters. That was unheard of in those days, right? You're going to get the same thing with AI. There's no emotion now. Will they get there? Maybe. It's still a handmade craft. I don't think content's the issue. I think the issue's ideas where we've kind of run the gambit on it.

Great. So today, you got full motion video with emotional looks on the game characters. That was unheard of in those days, right? You're going to get the same thing with AI. There's no emotion now. Will they get there? Maybe. It's still a handmade craft. I don't think content's the issue. I think the issue's ideas where we've kind of run the gambit on it.

Everything's a sequel. When I started as an agent, I bought a 20-volume set of the synopses of the greatest literature in the world. And I would go through it to see if I could find ideas for movies. And some of my favorite authors of all time, like Alexander Dumas, how many times can you make The Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo, right? The French just made it for the fifth time.

Everything's a sequel. When I started as an agent, I bought a 20-volume set of the synopses of the greatest literature in the world. And I would go through it to see if I could find ideas for movies. And some of my favorite authors of all time, like Alexander Dumas, how many times can you make The Three Musketeers or Count of Monte Cristo, right? The French just made it for the fifth time.

we've kind of bled the well dry on source material. And then the fiction that's coming out, not at the rate it used to, because we don't encourage young people. We've got a humongous problem in the arts, not in the fine arts, oddly, but in the media arts of teaching people and giving them an opportunity to

we've kind of bled the well dry on source material. And then the fiction that's coming out, not at the rate it used to, because we don't encourage young people. We've got a humongous problem in the arts, not in the fine arts, oddly, but in the media arts of teaching people and giving them an opportunity to

When I signed Tom Cruise when he was 19, I gave him a list of 10 directors that he needed to work with to build his career. And all 10 were clients, and he worked with all 10 over 10 years. That's a career builder. Couldn't do that today. Someone said, could you start CA today? I said, no. There's no marketplace for it.

When I signed Tom Cruise when he was 19, I gave him a list of 10 directors that he needed to work with to build his career. And all 10 were clients, and he worked with all 10 over 10 years. That's a career builder. Couldn't do that today. Someone said, could you start CA today? I said, no. There's no marketplace for it.

If someone said to me that Netflix or a company out of San Francisco that mailed DVDs was going to change worldwide viewing patterns, worldwide viewing patterns, and that everything would be put up, accessible in multiple places on the internet, in perfect quality when you want it. Who would have thought you were smoking crack? They changed the viewing patterns.

If someone said to me that Netflix or a company out of San Francisco that mailed DVDs was going to change worldwide viewing patterns, worldwide viewing patterns, and that everything would be put up, accessible in multiple places on the internet, in perfect quality when you want it. Who would have thought you were smoking crack? They changed the viewing patterns.

No one watches TV the same way anymore. In the, I remember in the 80s and 90s, you watched Thursday night on NBC because you wanted to see Seinfeld and you wanted to see Kelsey Grammer, you wanted to see all these shows. And on Tuesday nights in the 70s, you watched Mod Squad and then Marcus Welby MD and the Tuesday night movie. It was just, that's the way it is.

No one watches TV the same way anymore. In the, I remember in the 80s and 90s, you watched Thursday night on NBC because you wanted to see Seinfeld and you wanted to see Kelsey Grammer, you wanted to see all these shows. And on Tuesday nights in the 70s, you watched Mod Squad and then Marcus Welby MD and the Tuesday night movie. It was just, that's the way it is.

And you'd talk about it the next day at the office. Well, first of all, no one's going to the office. And second of all, there's nothing that's ever at the same moment. So no one's talking about anything. It's very hard to build word of mouth. And it cracks me up when these releases are made that such and such streaming show had 3.4 million viewers. And I crack up because in my day,

And you'd talk about it the next day at the office. Well, first of all, no one's going to the office. And second of all, there's nothing that's ever at the same moment. So no one's talking about anything. It's very hard to build word of mouth. And it cracks me up when these releases are made that such and such streaming show had 3.4 million viewers. And I crack up because in my day,

Late night, which was the lowest viewing center on television, but very profitable, Letterman drew 5 million viewers every night. The day it's over, and the theaters are tough to go to, and until someone puts capital into the theaters, people don't want to go. You can now get a 100-inch flat screen for around $2,500 max.