Wald Pictures Animation Studio
When Zane arrived, Stephen Hillenburg (the head of the studio) and David Messer (the head writer) were already waiting downstairs.
As soon as they met, Zane gave them both a big, friendly hug.
"Stephen! David! You guys are something else," Zane laughed, pretending to be upset. "I was just downstairs at the ICQ office a few days ago! You could have told me the news then. But instead, you waited until now to call me?"
Stephen and David were stunned by Zane's playful mood. (The animation studio wasn't in Hollywood; it was in Silicon Valley, in the same building as Zane's internet company.)
"Boss," Stephen protested with a smile, "we didn't know you were coming!"
"That's right," David added quickly. "We've spent the last few nights working non-stop to finish SpongeBob SquarePants. Stephen hasn't slept in two days!"
"My fault, my fault!" Zane said, raising his hands. "I shouldn't tease you."
To be honest, Zane hadn't helped much with SpongeBob after the very beginning. It wasn't that he didn't want to; he just didn't know how to draw cartoons!
Plus, he trusted them completely. One was the father of SpongeBob, and the other was the genius who would one day plan the Avengers movies. With talent like that, and Zane's money, how could they fail?
Zane looked at Stephen and the other artists. They had dark circles under their eyes, and their clothes were messy. They looked exhausted.
Zane felt a pang of sympathy. He knew how hard they were working, He will give them big bonus.
"Mark, Sam," Zane said to his two bodyguards, "go buy some milk tea and hamburgers right now. And buy plenty."
He turned back to the team. "Stephen, David, no matter how busy you are, you can't work on empty stomachs. I'll make sure to take better care of you from now on."
"Thank you, boss!"
Everyone in the studio cheered. It was a small thing, but it showed that Zane really cared about them.
Zane knew that kindness was important, but money was even better. You can't pay rent with compliments!
Finishing 40 episodes of SpongeBob in less than 4 months was amazing. It was much faster than Zane expected.
Of course, SpongeBob was a simple 2D cartoon. If they were making a fancy 3D movie like Toy Story, it would have taken years.
For the next few hours, Zane sat with the whole team and watched the new episodes.
The result?
It was perfect!
The funny little sponge... Patrick Star, who was lazy and hated baths... The grumpy Squidward...
It was funny, smart, and full of ocean mysteries. It was even better than Zane had hoped.
"Everyone," Zane announced, standing up, "after watching these, I have to say... you did a great job!"
Everyone cheered again.
"Boss," Stephen said, "I'm glad you're satisfied."
David smiled. "And this is just the first 40 episodes. We're going to make nearly 200 in the future!"
The rest of the team was buzzing with excitement.
"We made a masterpiece!" one artist said. "The boss likes it!" said another. "All that hard work was worth it."
While everyone was celebrating, Zane raised his hand.
"Team," he shouted, his voice full of energy, "I have an announcement. I'm giving you all a raise! Starting next month, everyone in this studio gets 20% more money!"
A raise?!
The room exploded with excitement.
"Quiet down, quiet down!" Zane laughed. "Is a raise enough? No! I want this studio to be the best. Once SpongeBob is on TV, I'm giving you all a big bonus, too!"
He looked at them with serious, ambitious eyes. "And that's not all. In my plan, this studio won't just be a small part of Wald Pictures. I want you to be your own big company."
"And we aren't just doing SpongeBob," Zane continued. "Don't forget Finding Nemo. 3D movies are our future. We are going to make movies for the big screen."
"Team," he said, pointing a finger, "our target is Pixar!"
An independent company? Finding Nemo? Beating Pixar?
Stephen, David, and all the artists were thrilled. They were talented people with big dreams. They didn't just want money; they wanted to be the best. Zane was giving them a chance to do that.
"Stephen, David," Zane said, "tomorrow I am putting another $5 million into the studio account. I want you to buy new computers and equipment for 3D animation. And I want you to hire more people. We need at least 100 staff members to get Finding Nemo ready."
Stephen and David nodded.
Even though SpongeBob was great (and the toys would make billions!), it hadn't been on TV yet. No one knew for sure if it would be a hit.
But Finding Nemo? That was their true dream. A real movie.
"Boss, don't worry," Stephen said. "I'll handle the equipment."
David grinned. "And boss, I used to work at Pixar. Since we're hiring... I'm definitely going to 'poach' (steal) a few talented people from there."
Zane's eyes lit up.
There were so many smart people at Pixar! If David could bring just a few of them over, Finding Nemo would be finished much faster.
The plan was set. Stephen and David had their orders.
And Zane? He was going to be busy again. He had a great show, but now he needed to find a TV network to show it on.
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