From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Jeff Robinov – to the average person, it's a meaningless name, easily missed even when seen in person with a moment's inattention.

Just like now.

Wearing a simple and reserved smile, like a gentle scholar, despite his burly frame and bulging muscles, the visual impact of his physical strength creates a sense of pressure, yet he lacks presence, easily mistaken for an assistant or a bodyguard, quickly overlooked with a glance.

But in reality, he is a powerful figure at Warner Bros., the top executive of the film division, with only CEO Barry Meyer above him, a top-tier player in the Hollywood hierarchy.

Moreover, contrary to his muscular build, Jeff is an academic through and through, with a background in film; he's not a producer, nor a director, but rather comes from an economics and finance background, yet he's a passionate film enthusiast, giving him the professional management skills, rational judgment, and rich cinematic foundation to consistently make the right choices.

Of course, it's 2000, and Jeff has only recently taken over the film division; Warner Bros., ambitious to dominate Hollywood, has placed this heavy responsibility on Jeff, but his capabilities are yet to be seen —

Everything has just begun.

However, looking back from the perspective of 2023, Jeff was indeed the key to Warner Bros.' two decades of rise and fall; his numerous important decisions allowed Warner Bros. to dominate the first decade of the 21st century, and his resignation marked a turning point that plunged Warner Bros. into difficulties.

Around 2000, major film production companies began experimenting with European film production systems:

Locking in directors.

That is to say, they believed that the director was the soul of the film, locking in directors with potential, building projects around the director, and giving the director enough freedom.

This was a shift from the producer-led system of the 1980s to a director-centric approach; later, the full rise of comic book superhero movies allowed film companies to regain control, shifting back to a producer-led system.

However, Jeff withstood immense pressure, not only packaging the "Batman Begins" trilogy and signing it over to the then fledgling Christopher; but also, on his own authority, giving Christopher a five-picture deal —

This agreement guaranteed that Christopher, in addition to the "Batman Begins" trilogy, would have the creative freedom for two projects, allowing him to create the scripts and projects he wanted to film, and even if the projects were absurd and unbelievable, Jeff still relinquished the decision-making power and control of the projects to Christopher —

Jeff kept his promise.

Thus, "The Prestige" and "Inception" were born.

From that time on, Christopher collaborated with Warner Bros. for a full twenty-two years, until 2022, when Warner Bros. shifted to a producer-centric system and Jeff had already left, with all their efforts focused on developing the DC Universe, Christopher left Warner Bros. for the first time.

"Oppenheimer", Christopher collaborated with Universal Pictures.

It was under Jeff's insistence that Warner Bros. established long-term cooperative relationships with a group of excellent and stable directors, in addition to the aforementioned two, there were also —

Baz Luhrmann, Todd Philips, Zach Snyder.

Incidentally, when Ang Lee was still an unknown little director, Jeff was optimistic about his prospects, repeatedly hoping to entrust projects to Ang Lee to direct.

Unfortunately, from the 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century, Warner Bros.' rejection of Asian directors was still very serious, so much so that they missed "Brokeback Mountain" and "Life of Pi".

It wasn't until later, when Jeff left Warner Bros., on the one hand, establishing his own studio, Eighth Wonder; on the other hand, taking on a senior position at Sony Columbia, that he successfully facilitated Ang Lee's collaboration, resulting in "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk".

It can be said that Jeff is a businessman, but a businessman who knows how to measure things and respects talent; his indulgence of directors has brought about a series of terrible consequences, such as Zack Snyder's control of the DC Universe, sparking controversy; but more importantly, he brought Warner Bros. a decade of glory.

In the first decade after the millennium, Warner Bros. was almost far ahead, not only in North America but also in the global film market.

Now, this bald man is standing in front of Anson, even before Darren can introduce them, he has already proactively extended his right hand —

"Friends", the production company is Warner Bros.

And Darren?

Before Darren decided to have his own production company produce "Sex and the City", he had met with Warner Bros. to discuss the possibility of joining forces, and although it was not successful, Darren had established a good personal relationship with Jeff.

Obviously, when Anson appeared, Jeff was a stranger to Anson; but to Jeff, Anson was not.

Anson was not flustered, did not ask Darren for help, but looked at Jeff generously, shook Jeff's right hand, and revealed a smile.

"Wood. Anson Wood."

A self-introduction successfully made Jeff reveal a meaningful smile, "Seeing is believing, now I know why David is willing to take a risk."

The subtext is…?

Is he teasing Anson for using back channels?

Anson nodded lightly, accepting the teasing, "After all, he can't ruin his own livelihood."

The parachute is indeed a parachute, but Anson still proved himself with his strength, which persuaded David Crane to choose to take a risk, and ultimately won a rich reward.

"Haha." Jeff chuckled, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, he can't. He can't."

Darren, who was standing at another vertex of the triangle, was originally a little worried, after all, this was Anson's first time meeting a behind-the-scenes big shot at the leadership level, and even veteran actors who had been in the industry for many years might not be able to remain calm, but he never expected…

Once again, Anson brought a surprise.

Darren: Maybe I should be under the car.

First update.