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News Lasseter taking leave of absence
- Thread starter Lou Filerman
- Start date
Sometimes Pixar.
Jim Morris is president of Pixar.
Andrew Millstein is president of DA.
Both report to Edwin Catmull who is the uberpresident of DA and Pixar
Lasseter had the role of Chief Creative Officer for both studios. I don't know if that role has been filled by someone else, even temporarily.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
At Pixar, Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton have started to receive EP credits on projects they oversaw. No clue about WDAS, but Musker’s retirement was probably untimely given the circumstances.Sometimes Pixar.
Jim Morris is president of Pixar.
Andrew Millstein is president of DA.
Both report to Edwin Catmull who is the uberpresident of DA and Pixar
Lasseter had the role of Chief Creative Officer for both studios. I don't know if that role has been filled by someone else, even temporarily.
To repeat, according to the Vanity Fair report, Millstein was aware of John’s misconduct at the 2010 Academy Awards, at the minimum.
In a court of law, perhaps, but not the court of public opinion...
That really hasn't been the case with the #MeToo movement.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
I know. That’s how it works these days. An innocent person could have their life and career ruined over something that’s reported that’s fact without due process. I wish the news had real broadcasters that would report the news in a unbiased way and not the opinion of whoever owns the company. And yes, some of the people reported are guilty but it should be found in a court of law.
RandomPrincess
Keep Moving Forward
Thye problem is the court of law hasn't really done anything to help overall. Statistically, if you are rich and white you are getting away with it or get a light punishment.
That might be true. But does it make it ok to take chances with the lives and careers of others who might not be guilty? I really don't know the answer here, but taking chances and assuming guilt now just doesn't seem like the right answer either.
Kman101
Well-Known Member
A couple of accounts are not nearly as severe or as extreme, so I question a few of them (not talking about Lasseter but a couple of the men being accused, because you had a bad date it doesn't make someone a predator), but overall, it's kind of hard to question a lot of them because so many people have come out against them. Not everyone is a Harvey Weinstein, though. But if you like that person you may choose to not want to believe it's true, and we think we know these people, but we truly don't. But yes, overall, there seems to be a 'guilty' patch slapped to anyone and everyone when a claim is made. But more than one claim? I think there's validity in that. But with social media, you're labeled guilty and shunned. Not even just with the #MeToo movement. People are so quick to turn on someone and shun them. Social media is beyond toxic. People have lost sight of "treat people how you'd want to be treated". No one puts themselves in someone else's shoes anymore and tries to empathize. (Well, not "no one" but it seems people are beyond judgemental and quick to insist they're right and you're wrong and their opinion is what matters and people jump on the groupthink rhetoric. Like judging someone for taking a selfie on a Purple Wall. Why do we care so much what someone else does?) Anyway, sorry for the rant on social media ... back to the topic at hand.
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andysol
Well-Known Member
What's white have to do with it? You could've just left it at rich.
Bill Cosby, Ben Vereen, Russell Simmons, Andre Balazs, Twiggy Ramirez, Nelly, Seal, Aziz Ansari, Rich Rodriguez, Omar Ashmaw, Geraldo Rivera, Steve Chaggaris, Donovan McNabb, Tavis Smiley, Warren Sapp, Marshall Faulk, Eric Davis, L.A. Reed and a dozen+ more that aren't "white"- all say Hello.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Journalistic standards require facts, like accounts of sexual misconduct, to be triple checked. That conference call after the 2010 Oscars that implicates Ed Catmull, Andrew Millstein and Zenia Mucha knowing about this behavior needed to be verified by three separate individuals. The same standards apply to Ronan Farrow’s reports or The NY Times or the BuzzFeed piece on animator John Kricfalusi (Ren and Stimpy).
Rumors, like the ones a place like Gawker/Defamer used to run, can be baseless accusations, but the pieces of journalism that have sparked #MeToo, not so much.
There are serious consequences when people get these stories wrong and no one wants to repeat the Rolling Stone UVA campus rape story.
RandomPrincess
Keep Moving Forward
Beacuse if you actually can
White has a lot to do with it if you actually get into court.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
Money has far more to do with staying out of court than skin color. Hence why Chris Brown stayed out of jail despite ample legitimate evidence of severely beating Rihanna, whilst generally a broke white trailer trash man could get jailed for months or years for doing the same thing.
As it stands, I am myself wary of the #metoo movement. There are going to be cases like the Rolling Stones debacle of evil people making stuff up and destroying innocent lives. And those should not be ignored, lest we start punishing people based on simple accusations without evidence.
That said, there's too much smoke with Lasseter's case to assume there's no accompanying fire. His alleged inappropriate behavior was apparently fairly well known in the company. As I said before, while he shouldn't be giving out "unwanted hugs" either, it's not exactly so serious a charge that he should be fired for it. There was something much more serious going on that Disney knows about but is trying to keep quiet. They were quick to put him on "temporary leave" in reaction to this, instead of just ignoring it if they had good reason to believe he was innocent of his accusations.
As it stands, I am myself wary of the #metoo movement. There are going to be cases like the Rolling Stones debacle of evil people making stuff up and destroying innocent lives. And those should not be ignored, lest we start punishing people based on simple accusations without evidence.
That said, there's too much smoke with Lasseter's case to assume there's no accompanying fire. His alleged inappropriate behavior was apparently fairly well known in the company. As I said before, while he shouldn't be giving out "unwanted hugs" either, it's not exactly so serious a charge that he should be fired for it. There was something much more serious going on that Disney knows about but is trying to keep quiet. They were quick to put him on "temporary leave" in reaction to this, instead of just ignoring it if they had good reason to believe he was innocent of his accusations.
Sue_Vongello
Well-Known Member
As a woman I feel like he should not be in a position of power again (if it's all true of course and maybe there's leeway if alcohol was the root etc etc)
As a Disney fan I want him back because I trust him more than almost every other "suit" in charge of anything with the company.
Yeah, you could say I'm conflicted.
As a Disney fan I want him back because I trust him more than almost every other "suit" in charge of anything with the company.
Yeah, you could say I'm conflicted.
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I understand. Though I would add that the biggest potential roadblock behind the creative vs corporate angle in this mess is probably not the loss of an irreplaceable creative juggernaut. I'm of the opinion that there are lots of great talented creatives at Pixar, many probably even significantly outclass Lasseter. On a creative level, we can probably do without him.
Not that Lasseter didn't also have some great creative talent as well. I think he does. But what I feel was his greatest asset to Disney fans and the creative process was his rather uncommon degree of political power and influence over the corporate people. Not many creative people can claim this. His power occasionally allowed him to fight interference that would neuter or ruin projects. For instance, when bean counters attempted to significantly slash the Cars Land budget during development, he was able to put a stop to it by leveraging his political clout.
There ARE others who are very well suited to run Pixar and Disney's animation studio from a creative perspective. But I would guess they wouldn't command the same power and influence Lasseter had over the executives. Without this influence, I am concerned the executives will use the opportunity to seize control over the creative process and interfere with it. And that can't be good.
However, if Lasseter did return I doubt he would command the same sort of power and influence as before anyways. Thanks to the public nature of his scandal, the executives can exert dirt and leverage over HIM more effectively. So his greatest asset to the company would effectively be neutralized and turned against him.
TLDR version- I'm not sure it's worth crying over Lasseter being gone. There are arguably better choices than him that can take his place from a creative standpoint. And whatever power and influence he once had over corporate probably wouldn't be applicable anymore if he came back either.
(I'm not going to make this a political statement, but I will have a few political mentions here, simply as part of the overall thing. This is all as a forewarning)
Speaking for myself, as several different things (A Disney lover, a center-left individual (aka moderate registered Democrat), and a man who is a committed feminist), I feel that #metoo/Time's Up is necessary and should exist. However, it definitely has problematic blind spots, and is also incomplete because as of yet, it doesn't incorporate the need to root out those who prey upon children.
Simply put, 90 percent of the accounts that have come out since Harvey Weinstein's exposure are clearly accurate and trustworthy, and these individuals deserve whatever is coming to them. But false reports, while they are very rare, are still a real danger (not as much as MRAs exaggerate, but still) and must be guarded against. And allegations must be investigated thoroughly and verified before accepted. It is time for us to stop automatically disbelieving women, but we must also not automatically believe them. Without any chance to dig in the circumstances, these situations will fester. The case of Al Franken is a good example. Franken was denied an opportunity for the investigation that he himself called for, and the Senate Democrats dropped the ball considerably. I do agree that the more accounts there are, as a general rule of thumb, the more likely the charges are, but there's still a chance of being invented. These eight alleged accounts of misconduct didn't have to be created by all these women getting together into a room and meeting and conjuring the stories then and there, as they could very easily have just done so independently. In addition, four of the women have never been identified by name, meaning that they could very well not exist, and the writers of those articles could have simply invented them. Kristen Gillibrand et al should've stuck by Franken and incresed the call for an ethics investigation. Of course, it was ultimately Franken's call to resign, and he very easily could have chosen otherwise, but such a stunning lack of faith doesn't go unnoticed. The fact that we'll never know the truth now is utterly disheartening, and there is little chance that the Democrats' decision moved the needle in a significant manner. (For more about this politically speaking, view my article here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/7/1722316/-Al-Franken-Democrats-Self-Imposed-Disembowelment)
There's also the very real fact that honest miscommunication can easily be a driving factor in recent allegations. James Franco, for example, has been defended by virtually all his friends as the complete opposite of a predator. But Seth Rogen, Allison Brie, et al's stories were not reported compared to Ally Sheedy and the others' accounts. There's a very good chance that these women are looking at the actions out of context, and the social climate has encouraged them to misread the situation. (It also should not have kept him and The Disaster Artist out of the running for the Oscars. In many ways, it was robbing not only Franco of a crowning glory, but Tommy Wiseau as well, of the ultimate sign that world's greatest and most beloved bad director has well and truly arrived in the mainstream. Coupled with using the allegations to knock Franco out but keeping in Gary Oldman, someone who was charged by his ex-wife of attacking her with a phone and strangling her, to the point that he won Best Actor, it comes across as thoroughly cynical and opportunistic, not to mention selective.) This is also the case regarding the Aziz Ansari story. While there is no doubt that the date was problematic and that he had a hard time grasping the fact that sex was not going to be the outcome, the fact that the woman (who, let me be clear here, had every right to change her mind) would cross some boundaries, like oral and naked cuddling, but not others, would be confusing as hell to anyone. And if the individual is on the autistic spectrum (as Lasseter may possibly be, in addition to a possible alcoholic), then the situation is basically a booby trap. (For more about that element, look here:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...m-The-Future-The-Needling-And-The-Damage-Done)
But above all, the biggest problem and blind spot with the movement is its lack of focus on a problem that it is poised to be of great assistance in: the danger of child molestation. But at this moment, Rose McGowan is still on civil and friendly terms with Jeepers Creepers director Victor Salva (who was convicted of child sex offenses long before he made the first film), and she was known to be very dismissive of Corey Feldman, not just for his initial claims, but for his friendship with Michael Jackson. Many of these people have not approached the very real fact that this is an important issue, and that Hollywood is very much protecting individuals like Bryan Singer and Gary Goddard, and of course has their problematic handling of the cases of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. (After all, what can be said when Judd Apatow basically spent much of two years attacking Bill Cosby with full-throated denunciation, but did not do the same for Woody Allen, as well as help produce Paul Reubens' resurrection of Pee-Wee Herman for Netflix?) Individuals like these are protected, while Michael Jackson, an innocent man who did so much to better the world and bring about much needed change, was raked over the coals over decades of lies, slander and innuendo. (Could the man who wrote this song possibly have committed such vile acts? . For more info about Michael's case, look here at the articles on this informative site: https://vindicatemj.wordpress.com/)
The movement is needed, but it needs to grow and evolve, as well as nail down standards for accepting allegations to ensure innocent people's lives aren't destroyed. Otherwise, hubris and arrogance will surely doom it.
Speaking for myself, as several different things (A Disney lover, a center-left individual (aka moderate registered Democrat), and a man who is a committed feminist), I feel that #metoo/Time's Up is necessary and should exist. However, it definitely has problematic blind spots, and is also incomplete because as of yet, it doesn't incorporate the need to root out those who prey upon children.
Simply put, 90 percent of the accounts that have come out since Harvey Weinstein's exposure are clearly accurate and trustworthy, and these individuals deserve whatever is coming to them. But false reports, while they are very rare, are still a real danger (not as much as MRAs exaggerate, but still) and must be guarded against. And allegations must be investigated thoroughly and verified before accepted. It is time for us to stop automatically disbelieving women, but we must also not automatically believe them. Without any chance to dig in the circumstances, these situations will fester. The case of Al Franken is a good example. Franken was denied an opportunity for the investigation that he himself called for, and the Senate Democrats dropped the ball considerably. I do agree that the more accounts there are, as a general rule of thumb, the more likely the charges are, but there's still a chance of being invented. These eight alleged accounts of misconduct didn't have to be created by all these women getting together into a room and meeting and conjuring the stories then and there, as they could very easily have just done so independently. In addition, four of the women have never been identified by name, meaning that they could very well not exist, and the writers of those articles could have simply invented them. Kristen Gillibrand et al should've stuck by Franken and incresed the call for an ethics investigation. Of course, it was ultimately Franken's call to resign, and he very easily could have chosen otherwise, but such a stunning lack of faith doesn't go unnoticed. The fact that we'll never know the truth now is utterly disheartening, and there is little chance that the Democrats' decision moved the needle in a significant manner. (For more about this politically speaking, view my article here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/7/1722316/-Al-Franken-Democrats-Self-Imposed-Disembowelment)
There's also the very real fact that honest miscommunication can easily be a driving factor in recent allegations. James Franco, for example, has been defended by virtually all his friends as the complete opposite of a predator. But Seth Rogen, Allison Brie, et al's stories were not reported compared to Ally Sheedy and the others' accounts. There's a very good chance that these women are looking at the actions out of context, and the social climate has encouraged them to misread the situation. (It also should not have kept him and The Disaster Artist out of the running for the Oscars. In many ways, it was robbing not only Franco of a crowning glory, but Tommy Wiseau as well, of the ultimate sign that world's greatest and most beloved bad director has well and truly arrived in the mainstream. Coupled with using the allegations to knock Franco out but keeping in Gary Oldman, someone who was charged by his ex-wife of attacking her with a phone and strangling her, to the point that he won Best Actor, it comes across as thoroughly cynical and opportunistic, not to mention selective.) This is also the case regarding the Aziz Ansari story. While there is no doubt that the date was problematic and that he had a hard time grasping the fact that sex was not going to be the outcome, the fact that the woman (who, let me be clear here, had every right to change her mind) would cross some boundaries, like oral and naked cuddling, but not others, would be confusing as hell to anyone. And if the individual is on the autistic spectrum (as Lasseter may possibly be, in addition to a possible alcoholic), then the situation is basically a booby trap. (For more about that element, look here:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...m-The-Future-The-Needling-And-The-Damage-Done)
But above all, the biggest problem and blind spot with the movement is its lack of focus on a problem that it is poised to be of great assistance in: the danger of child molestation. But at this moment, Rose McGowan is still on civil and friendly terms with Jeepers Creepers director Victor Salva (who was convicted of child sex offenses long before he made the first film), and she was known to be very dismissive of Corey Feldman, not just for his initial claims, but for his friendship with Michael Jackson. Many of these people have not approached the very real fact that this is an important issue, and that Hollywood is very much protecting individuals like Bryan Singer and Gary Goddard, and of course has their problematic handling of the cases of Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. (After all, what can be said when Judd Apatow basically spent much of two years attacking Bill Cosby with full-throated denunciation, but did not do the same for Woody Allen, as well as help produce Paul Reubens' resurrection of Pee-Wee Herman for Netflix?) Individuals like these are protected, while Michael Jackson, an innocent man who did so much to better the world and bring about much needed change, was raked over the coals over decades of lies, slander and innuendo. (Could the man who wrote this song possibly have committed such vile acts? . For more info about Michael's case, look here at the articles on this informative site: https://vindicatemj.wordpress.com/)
The movement is needed, but it needs to grow and evolve, as well as nail down standards for accepting allegations to ensure innocent people's lives aren't destroyed. Otherwise, hubris and arrogance will surely doom it.
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Cannot reply to this without having this thread moved to the "Whine and Dine" pages.
Sue_Vongello
Well-Known Member
Not to go too far down the rabbit hole but it's not fair to lump Woody Allen in with any of these other guys. The allegations against him were investigated by two different states which resulted in neither state finding any evidence of the accusation.
Now back to Lasseter and why Bob Iger sucks.
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Essential reading from Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/f...-can-john-lasseter-ever-return-disney-1105297
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/f...-can-john-lasseter-ever-return-disney-1105297