Chapter 649

"Welcome to Pixar Studios, Eide." As soon as Adriaan arrived at Pixar, Jobs came out to greet him, along with two other people. One was fat and rich, and the other was thin and bearded. The interesting thing was that all three wore glasses, and they were about the same height, which made them look very interesting.

After Jobs introduced them, Adriaan learned that the fat man in the checkered shirt and baggy shorts was John Last, Pixar's chief creative officer, and the slovenly middle-aged man in a monochromatic shirt and trousers with sandals was Eide Kamel, Pixar's technical director.

"Nice to meet you." Adriaan smiled and shook hands with them one by one. These two guys, who would be known as the "heart and soul of Pixar," looked relatively young.

"Let's talk as we walk." Jobs sat down and gestured for them to enter. The four men and one woman walked inside.

The current Pixar Studios was still very basic. It looked decent, but in some ways, it might not even be as good as some smaller studios. Every workshop was messy, with items — private and public — strewn all over the place. The only commendable thing was that it maintained at least a basic level of cleanliness.

The employees were always talking at once, constantly arguing, and no one could convince anyone. Also, sometimes two people were using one computer. For God's sake, Jobs was in the personal computer business. Apart from that, there were also things that could not be seen in other companies or studios, such as —

"Hey, the people in front, please make way!" A voice shouted from behind. Adriaan looked back, then pulled Charlize to the wall. Jobs and the other two did the same.

"Thank you." A young man on a skateboard zoomed down the aisle, smiling as he passed in front of Adriaan and the others.

"Here, everyone is more casual. We don't want to restrict everyone with too many rules," Kamel explained.

"I can see that." Adriaan nodded noncommittally.

At that moment, another round-faced employee waved a sketch and ran up to Rust. "John, what's the matter with you?!"

"What's the matter, Ann Drew?" Rust took the sketch, puzzled.

"That's not what I told you. Here, here, and here don't match the original settings." Ann Drew looked a little annoyed. "What the hell are you doing, John? If that's the case, why don't you let me design all the animations! "

"Okay, okay. Can I apologize?" Rust said good-naturedly, noticing the problem.

"This is Ann Drew Stanton, an excellent animator and programmer." Kamel took the opportunity to introduce him.

Only then did the young man named Andrew realize that there was still a guest. He immediately extended his hand to greet Camore as he introduced Adrian. However, his attention was clearly on the animation. After saying a few words to express his welcome, he looked back at Rust.

Rust finally said. "Of course, if there are any similar mistakes, you can change them according to your wishes." "Thank you. That's all for now," Ann Drew said and left without looking back.

"Of course, if there are any similar mistakes here, we can change them according to your wishes," Kamel continued to explain.

"Thank you. That's all for now," Ann Drew said and left without looking back.

"We don't have a hierarchy here. This can actually increase the efficiency of work," Kamel continued to explain.

After visiting the studio, the few of them went to the meeting room. Kamel and Rust took turns to introduce Pixar's history and the situation over the past few years. They also played a few short animations, such as Little Tin Soldier and Hopping Lights. Adriaan also took the opportunity to make a few jokes to get closer.

For example, after Hopping Lights finished playing, he purposely revealed a look of deep thought. He pointed at the screen and asked Rust seriously, "John, can you tell me, is that lamp in the movie Daddy or Mommy?"

Rust was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and replied, "Neither, it's just a child."

Then Jobs and Kamel both laughed. There was a story here. After Pixar's first short film, Hopping Lights, was screened, a well-known professor in the field of computer graphics knew that John Rust wanted to ask him a question. At that time, although Rust had accumulated a lot of production experience, it was his first time directing an animated film, and an animated film at that. So, he was extremely nervous. In his opinion, there were too many technical mistakes and shortcomings in the short film. If the other party asked him technical questions, such as which data was calculated incorrectly, he really didn't know how to answer. But to his utter surprise, the computer expert asked him with a serious face, "Is that lamp in your movie Daddy or Mommy?"

Yes, it was the question Adriaan had just asked. So they all laughed, and the atmosphere became more harmonious. Adriaan also took the opportunity to subtly tell Rust that he already had a good understanding of Pixar.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I have to admit that it was a very rewarding experience." Adrian said to the three VIPs as they left, then winked at Jobs, who was escorted to the car by one of the people who knew what to do.

"I have some ideas, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible." Adriaan said to him, his face calm and expressionless. He shook hands with him, said goodbye, and got into the car.

Although it was not perfect, this was indeed the Pixar that he wanted. However, Rust and Kamal seemed to be enthusiastic, but they did not seem too happy to change bosses. They hid their emotions very well, but Adrian could still see it.

Come to think of it, Jobs had supported them in their most difficult time, and he still supported them. He understood computers, technology, and their dreams. If it had been someone else, God knows what would have happened to Pixar. Of course, Adriaan's noncommittal attitude was also one of the reasons, but he had to. He did not want Jobs to see anything from his expression and raise the price.

It's okay, I'll find a chance to talk to them in the future. Anyway, I won't interfere with them, as long as Rust and Kamel are there … Oh, and Ann Drew Stanton. Adriaan glanced at Charlize, who was sitting quietly next to him, and suddenly asked, "Charley, what do you think of Pixar?"

"Me?" Charlize raised her eyebrows in surprise. Since arriving at Pixar, she had been keeping a low profile, and like all assistants, she made herself transparent when discussing matters with the boss.

"Yes, tell me what you think. I believe you have observed more carefully." Adriaan smiled.

Charlize did not stand on ceremony. She took a few seconds to organize her thoughts and then said, "Because I don't know a lot of things, and the time you gave me to collect information is too short, I can only talk about my feelings superficially. Their technical strength should be good, otherwise they would not have been praised by so many people and won so many awards, so what they need now is a feature-length animation that can fully showcase their strength. "

"Very good." Adriaan clapped his hands gently. He had to admit that Charlize was indeed very smart, or else she would not have achieved such achievements in his memory. In that case, it seemed like it was not bad to arrange a different life for her?

"Have you ever thought about acting in a movie, Charley?" Adriaan suddenly asked.

"Acting in a movie?" Charlize looked at Adriaan inexplicably. She did not understand why the topic suddenly jumped from Pixar to acting in a movie.

"Yes, you are so beautiful and so smart. As long as I'm here, you can definitely become a big star." Adriaan said with a smile, his tone full of temptation. "It won't be difficult to get an Oscar for Best Actress."

Charlize was a little tempted at first, but after Adriaan said the latter part of the sentence, her expression immediately became vigilant. She leaned back slightly, as if asking what he was plotting.

"I'm serious, Charley. You have all the conditions to become a big star." Adriaan reached out and put his hand on her cheek, ignoring Glover who was still driving in the front.

"Thank you, but I'll pass." Charlize refused with a fake smile. Her gray-green eyes flashed, clearly telling Adriaan: Don't try to control me!

Adriaan immediately put on a "sad" expression. "Oh, you know, Charley …"

"I have a question about Steve Jobs." Without waiting for him to continue, Charlize changed the subject. "Although the information shows that he has invested a lot in Pixar, compared to the investment in NeXT Computer Company, it is far from enough. Does this mean that he does not value Pixar highly? If you want to acquire it, maybe you can work on this."

"I want to say one more thing. Charley, you are very outstanding." After a few seconds of silence, Adriaan said so. Although he also knew this, that was because he had the advantage of "foresight," while Charlize made such an inference based on the information in her hands. Although there may be other factors, it was enough to show how smart she was.

Then, Adriaan fell into deep thought. He was not thinking about how to lower the price. He was thinking about the difficult decision that he had thought about before because of Charlize's words: How to acquire Pixar?

It should be a very simple matter. Buy it from Jobs for tens of millions. He also said that as long as the price was right, it would be fine. But Adriaan had another plan in mind, which was to inject 10 million and split Pixar's shares with Jobs.

Of course, for many people, if they fancied something, and that thing was very important to their development, they would definitely want to hold it in their hands. Adriaan thought so too, but he was not sure about one thing. How much of a role did Pixar's success play in Jobs' return to Apple?!