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Generally, when you have a changing of the guard when a titan is shown the door, we all gasp in horror and sadness and no small amount of schadenfreude, proclaim the world will never be the same him, and when we look up again 10 minutes later, we realize that the world is exactly the same without him and move briskly on.
But this time, it takes a minute or two more to turn the page.
It’s not that the result of Jim G’s departure is so consequential because, given the state of Viacom, nothing that happens there at this point has many implications beyond the shores of Viacom. But it sticks in one’s craw because upon reflection it seems even stupider and the handling seems even shoddier than it did at first glance.
A few more bullet points as the bullet points still filter in:
• First of all, word on the street is that Mr. G learned the day was at hand only after the press inquiry – an extraordinarily shoddy way to treat someone who has been a pillar of the community and all. Yes, of course, Jim Gianopolus will be fine; life goes on post-Redstone. But in terms of what it says about this company and their respect for this here creative community, its pretty crummy. Even by Hollywood standards.
• Given that their next moves are going to depend on the good graces of a few other Pillars of the Community, starting that conversation by tossing a fairly beloved made man onto the sidewalks in such a tawdry fashion, doesn’t ring of great masterful dealmaking at work here.
• As for whether it was necessary, the stories all suggest that Jim G was failing to follow Ms. Redstone’s wishes regarding throwing everything onto streaming. But really? Wasn’t he working for her all this time? Did he really defy her wishes and refuse to send films to streaming? Standing in front of the tank?
Or was it when these issues came up, he pointed out that, making these moves is complicated, because it’s complicated. But gets annoying to hear if you’re desperately trying to unload a company and there are people who don’t understand that nothing else matters.
• As for his successor, Norbit may be the most inspired entertainment executive since Terry Semel, but given he’s jumped up three slots in a couple years, how could you tell? He hasn’t sat in any chair long enough for executive brilliance to manifest itself.
• So what are his options now? A studio that is selling off every piece of real estate they’ve got and trying to turn Flashdance into a series, clearly is at the searching-under-the-sofa cushions point in their fiscal journey. So they have no cash. They fired the guy who goes way back with the talent, and rattled the town more with the day and date talk at the same time. They’ve already rebooted every property that they can scrape the tire marks off of. They haven’t yet announced the Going Ape cinematic universe, but that can’t be far behind.
So what’s that secret plan Norbit whispered to Lady Redstone? It better involve aliens landing and shipping the other studios back to the Pleiades, because they are running out of other options.
Ankler Rule #7: When you’re looking for the secret plan, there is never a secret plan. If anyone has anything resembling a plan, they so excited, they are cornering anyone they can stop in the street and screaming it at the top of their lungs.
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