Idei charts his own way

As the most discussed but least visible entertainment industry executive, Nobuyuki Idei did his best Tuesday to provide reasoned answers to the sorts of questions most of Japan's top businessmen would dismiss as rudely intrusive.

Seated in an antiseptic meeting room in the Sony Pictures Plaza building, the Sony president fought a valiant battle with showbiz vernacular in his effort to get across his main theme: Sony plans to build on its holdings in the entertainment industry, not surrender to adversity.

Some 24 reporters from around the world fired a range of questions at the reserved yet commanding Sony chieftain, who was attired in his proverbial dark blue suit, and who applied the measured phrases of the Japanese business culture rather than Hollywood superlatives to describe his new appointees.

He picked John Calley to be his new president because he was the "most suitable person" for the job. Jeff Sagansky, the new co-president, had demonstrated "good knowledge about Sony resources," he explained.

Calley's job, Idei said, was very simply to be "the creator to create good pictures." Once their good movies were made, Sony would then move on to expand its distribution platforms and diversify into related businesses. It was all a question of formulating an intelligent five-year plan, Idei said in calm, measured tones, as though he were outlining the plan for a new manufacturing plant to make televisions.

Had Hollywood become a major headache to Sony's Japanese leaders? Not really, Idei said, though it did provide some surprises. One such surprise, he said, was that he had to become accustomed to reading news of Sony in Variety before it became known, even to the highest level executives at Sony.

While Idei's presentation was quite formal, his manner reserved, the Sony chief seemed eager to get across his views to the assembled press. Noting that "The Mirror Has Two Faces," a Sony picture, was doing strong business, he acknowledged a concern that his company presented "no faces" to the Hollywood community.

His intent was to emphasize that Sony intended to assume more direct responsibility and control over its showbiz subsidiaries while providing abundant resources for future growth.

"We need a stable management in the entertainment business," Idei told the gathering, with a special nod to his newly appointed aides.