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Look at a company like Weta Workshop. A New Zealand based effects studio that worked on a couple movies of middling success in the '90s as well as the Xena and

Look at a company like Weta Workshop. A New Zealand based effects studio that worked on a couple movies of middling success in the '90s as well as the Xena and Hercules TV shows, otherwise they had no significant reputation in the world. But they had a working relationship with Peter Jackson and he used them during the early 2000s in the making of the Lord of the Rings films. They had to stretch their capabilities and work at a level they never had before, but doing so propelled them onto the national stage. Now everyone knows about Weta and they've worked on dozens of worldwide blockbusters since then. Without that "big deal" they would likely be just an "also ran" local effects studio doing a few movies here and there despite their high levels of technical excellence and innovation.

bonesss 9y ago
To bridge that example with how the article is discussing the term: LOTR was a huge deal for Weta, but as per the articles framing, it wasn't "The Big Deal" -- Weta did The Right Thing by creating a valuable productive business in and of itself and letting large deals come later. Weta was not in a holding pattern ignoring their profitability hunting for a white whale that would make their business make sense. They created a business that made sense, built a reputation, and were then positioned to take on a larger project that catapulted them. Without the large deal they would still be a business, a profitable entity, and their interests would be aligned with their customers. An apples to apples comparison would be if Weta had ignored Xena because they were flirting with Disney hoping to land an exclusive Star Wars contract.