Discussion

By Roger Kolker on Feb 01, 2019

Frank reminds me of the financial printer customers I had in Atlanta back in the 80s. Fabulous suites stocked with food and drink at the ready - my visits were during the day and nothing was going on. It was late into the night when the work really happened. It seemed like they had minimally one of everything, including Xerox high speed duplicators with 3 x 7 service contracts. My how things have change since then.

By Gordon Pritchard on Feb 01, 2019

At least in Nigeria they had the foresight to train all those print companies in the art of internet scamming. Virtual plane crashes with a wealthy person on board whose bereaved family wants you, through your personal account, to help them claim a few million dollars in a secret offshore account. Very profitable alternative to putting ink on paper.

By John Clifford on Feb 06, 2019

As a typesetter in Hollywood, one of our company's most prosperous jobs was the Walt Disney Company Annual Report. We could low-ball the quote and make it up hand-over-fist with the changes. And there were changes, lots and lots of changes. First the accountants would get hold of it and make changes, then the executives would make changes and then finally (usually requiring holiday double/triple-time charges) the attorney's would pour over everything making the most ridiculous changes imaginable. Finally, hours before it had to be printed, we would finally get the copy for the one page we were holding, the president's message. Michael Eisner wrote one such missive on a plane between LA and Florida.

The design was always top rate. The year Roger Rabbit came out we had a cutout of him in the middle of the book.

I still have the t-shirts that we got at the end of the project which showed an exhausted Mickey Mouse slumped in a directors chair with the words, "I survived the 19xx Disney Annual Report."