Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner spoke at the UCLA School of Law Wednesday evening about the importance of creativity in the business industry.
Eisner has been a guest of the law school all week as a regents lecturer, and Wednesday’s speech was the only event at which he appeared that was open to the general public.
Zach Locke, a law student, said he came to hear Eisner speak because Eisner turned Disney into a highly successful corporation.
“(I want to) learn the lessons behind Eisner’s creative leadership,” Locke said.
Michael Schill, dean of the law school, introduced Eisner as “the man who has had the most impact on entertainment in my lifetime.” Schill added that his life as a young adult was enriched by movies “made with the Eisner stamp on it.”
Eisner began his speech by jokingly saying that he was fortunate to act as a regents lecturer at UCLA because he was able to obtain a parking permit.
He also introduced a humorous video clip that featured him and top Disney executives facing a riot during the unveiling of EuroDisney in Paris, but then added that the theme park went on to become enormously successful.
Eisner said his experience as CEO of Disney gave him insight into the importance of creativity in business.
“Creativity needs to have a symbiotic relationship with the physical product,” he said.
Eisner used the example of the hit movie “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which he said most studios passed over due to its high production price. But Eisner said he agreed to become involved in the movie because “greater capital cannot be substituted for creativity.”
Eisner also stressed the importance of micromanagement in large corporations and showed a complex painting of a tree with thousands of Mickey Mouse heads as the leaves.
“Each head is vital, but no single one is entirely representative of the corporation,” he said, noting the uniqueness of each component.
In order to show the importance of creativity at even the smallest level of micromanagement, Eisner discussed the size of shampoo bottles on Disney cruises. He said most hotels give shampoo bottles with print too small to read “when you reach the age of 40.” Therefore, he implemented bottles with larger print on the Disney cruises.
“Creativity even trumps slot machines when it comes to long term investments,” Eisner said.
Eisner noted how micromanagement can be used creatively to increase global demand for a product.
Playing the opening song of “The Lion King” in over a dozen languages, Eisner said the effort to make the film authentic took considerable dedication.
“We had to find singers in all of those languages who matched the same vocal tone,” he said.
Eisner referenced his investment firm’s recent purchase of card-making company Topps by addressing former New Jersey senator and NBA player Bill Bradley in the audience.
“I bought (Topps) so I could own Bradley’s cards without having to buy them,” he said jokingly.
Eisner said his plans for his investment firm include supporting “democratically developed” media-sharing companies such as Veoh, which allows users to share videos.
But he warned that in the age of YouTube, “human filters” are needed to micromanage the relevant content to appeal to a mass audience.
Law student Brandon Stroman said he enjoyed the presentation because of Eisner’s insights.
“It’s a great opportunity to hear from someone who has extensive experience in both business and entertainment,” Stroman said.