Summary of Ben Fritz's The Big Picture

By IRB Media

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#1 By the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century, Sony Pictures had lost its way. The movie business had fundamentally morphed and derived most of its profits from giving global audiences what they want: branded franchise films. But Sony hadn’t made that transformation.

#2 When Amy Pascal joined Sony Pictures in 1996, the studio was still reeling from the most disastrous acquisition in the history of the movie industry. The Japanese electronics giant Sony Corporation had bought seventy-year-old Columbia Pictures in 1989.

#3 Pascal was a producer’s assistant who rose to become a vice president of production at Fox in 1985. In 1989, she left Fox to take a similar position at Columbia. In 1994, she was running her own mini-studio, Turner Pictures, with the backing of CNN and the TBS mogul Ted Turner.

#4 Amy Pascal, who was president of Columbia Pictures, was widely admired for her passion to make mid-budget, star-driven movies with original ideas. She was also widely admired for rising so high and so fast despite rampant sexism in Hollywood and the media that covered it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822500099

IRB Media

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Insights on Ben Fritz's The Big Picture

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

By the middle of the second decade of the twenty-first century, Sony Pictures had lost its way. The movie business had fundamentally morphed and derived most of its profits from giving global audiences what they want: branded franchise films. But Sony hadn’t made that transformation.

#2

When Amy Pascal joined Sony Pictures in 1996, the studio was still reeling from the most disastrous acquisition in the history of the movie industry. The Japanese electronics giant Sony Corporation had bought seventy-year-old Columbia Pictures in 1989.

#3

Pascal was a producer’s assistant who rose to become a vice president of production at Fox in 1985. In 1989, she left Fox to take a similar position at Columbia. In 1994, she was running her own mini-studio, Turner Pictures, with the backing of CNN and the TBS mogul Ted Turner.

#4

Amy Pascal, who was president of Columbia Pictures, was widely admired for her passion to make mid-budget, star-driven movies with original ideas. She was also widely admired for rising so high and so fast despite rampant sexism in Hollywood and the media that covered it.

#5

Sony’s US chief, Howard Stringer, and his Japanese bosses were not ready to put Pascal in charge. They were concerned about her business acumen and her habit of overspending on action movies like Charlie's Angels 2 and dramas like Spanglish.

#6

After leaving Hollywood in 1997, Michael Lynton seemed destined to become a CEO. He had no experience making movies, but he was a smart man with a lot of knowledge about the creative process.

#7

Lynton was never really accepted by the Hollywood elite. He didn’t care much for the social scene, and he had other priorities. He was close with the elite, including Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett.

#8

Lynton was CEO of Penguin Books, and head of the book publisher was perfect for him. He largely left the creative work to subordinates and focused on business strategy. He did get involved in crises, however, including an accounting scandal and Penguin’s publication of Satanic Verses in 1999.

#9

Amy Pascal and Laurence Lynton, the new Sony CEOs, seemed to get