DreamWorks, LLC, also known as
DreamWorks Pictures,
DreamWorks SKG,
DreamWorks Studios or
DW Studios, LLC, is an
American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games, and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totalling more than $100 million each. Its most successful title to date is
Shrek 2.
[DreamWorks SKG All Time Box Office Results]
DreamWorks began in 1994 as an ambitious attempt by media moguls
Steven Spielberg,
Jeffrey Katzenberg, and
David Geffen (forming the
SKG present on the bottom of the DreamWorks logo) to create a new Hollywood studio. In December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to
Viacom. The sale was completed in February 2006. In 2008, Dreamworks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a US$1.5 billion deal to produce films with
India's
Reliance ADA Group.
[AFP: DreamWorks, India's Reliance Sign Major Deal, AFP, September 21, 2008]
DreamWorks' animation arm was spun-off in 2004 into
DreamWorks Animation SKG. Its films were distributed worldwide by
Paramount, but the animation studio remained independent of Paramount/Viacom.
On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks entered into a long-term, 30-picture distribution deal with
The Walt Disney Company by which the films will be released through the
Touchstone Pictures banner over the next five years. The deal came after negotiations broke off with
Universal Pictures just days earlier.
[Variety: Disney signs deal with DreamWorks Company will handle distribution for films, Variety, February 09, 2009] However, this deal
does not include Dreamworks' animation department.
History
The DreamWorks Pictures logoThe company was founded following Katzenberg being fired from
The Walt Disney Company in 1994. At the suggestion of Spielberg's friend, the two made an agreement with long-time Katzenberg collaborator Geffen to start their own studio. The studio was officially founded on October 12, 1994 with financial backing of $33 million from each of the three main partners and $500 million from
Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen.
DreamWorks Interactive is a computer and video game developer founded in 1995, as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG.
In 1998, DreamWorks released their first full-length
animated feature,
Antz.
In 1999, 2000 and 2001, DreamWorks won three consecutive
Academy Awards for
Best Picture for
American Beauty,
Gladiator and
A Beautiful Mind (the latter two with Universal).
On February 24, 2000,
Electronic Arts announced the acquisition of DreamWorks Interactive from DreamWorks and merged it with EA Pacific and Westwood Studios. DreamWorks Interactive became
EA Los Angeles (EALA).
DreamWorks Records, the company's
record label (the first project of which was
George Michael's
Older), never lived up to expectations, and was sold in October 2003 to
Universal Music Group, which operated the label as DreamWorks Nashville. That label was shut down in 2005 when its flagship artist,
Toby Keith, departed to form his own label.
[Stark, Phyllis, "Toby Keith topped country charts, shook up Music Row," Billboard magazine, December 24, 2005, p. YE-18.]
The studio has had its greatest financial success with movies, specifically
animated movies.
DreamWorks Animation teamed up with
Pacific Data Images (now known as PDI/DreamWorks) in 1996, emerging as the main competitor to
Pixar in the age of computer-generated animation and creating some of the highest grossing animated hits of all time, such as
Antz (1998),
The Prince of Egypt (1998),
Shrek (2001), its sequels
Shrek 2 (2004) and
Shrek the Third (2007);
Shark Tale (2004),
Madagascar (2005),
Over the Hedge (2006),
Flushed Away (2006),
Bee Movie (2007), and
Kung Fu Panda (2008). Based on the films' success,
DreamWorks Animation has spun off as its own publicly traded company.
In recent years, DreamWorks has scaled back. It stopped plans to build a high-tech studio, sold its music division, and has only produced a few television series,
Las Vegas,
Carpoolers, and
On the Lot, for example.
David Geffen admitted that DreamWorks had come close to bankruptcy twice. Under Katzenberg's watch, the studio suffered a $125 million loss on
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,
[ and also overestimated the DVD demand for Shrek 2.][DVD: doom, gloom or boom?, CNN] In 2005, out of their two large budget pictures, The Island bombed at the domestic box office, while War of the Worlds was produced as a joint effort with Paramount which was the first to reap the profits.['Island' Could Sink DreamWorks Sale, Fox News]
In December 2005, Viacom's Paramount Pictures agreed to purchase the live-action studio. The deal was valued at approximately $1.6 billion, an amount that included about $400 million in debt assumptions. The company completed its acquisition on February 1, 2006.[Paramount, DreamWorks agree to deal - Dec. 12, 2005]
On March 17, 2006, Paramount agreed to sell a controlling interest in the DreamWorks live-action library (pre-09/16/2005; DW Funding, LLC) to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II.[Viacom to Sell Paramount Pictures' DreamWorks Film Library For $900 Million] The film library is valued at $900 million. Paramount retained the worldwide distribution rights to these films, as well as various ancillary rights, including music publishing, sequels, and merchandising—this includes films that had been made by Paramount and DreamWorks. The sale was completed on May 8, 2006.[Viacom to Sell DreamWorks Film Library. Associated Press. March 18, 2006. Retrived on 07/20/2009.]
In June 2008, Variety reported that DreamWorks was looking for financing that would allow it to continue operations as an independent production company once its deal with Paramount ended later in the year.[DreamWorks considers indie future] Most of the money to do the new studio would come from an Indian investment firm called Reliance ADA Group. The DreamWorks trademarks are owned by DreamWorks Animation, and the new company would need their approval to use the trademarks. In September 2008, it was reported by Variety that Dreamworks closed a deal with Reliance to create a stand-alone production company and end its ties to Paramount.[DreamWorks, Reliance close deal]
On March 12, 2007, DreamWorks Animation announced it would release all of its films, beginning with Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), in RealD stereoscopic 3D.
Logo
The Dreamworks logo features a young boy sitting on a crescent moon while fishing. The general idea for the logo was from company's co-founder Steven Spielberg. Spielberg originally wanted a computer generated image, whereas Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren, of Industrial Light and Magic suggested a hand-painted one. Muren contacted friend and artist Robert Hunt to paint it. Hunt worked both versions featuring his son William as a model for the boy, and Spielberg liked the CGI one better. The music accompanying the logo as a movie starts was composed by John Williams. The main logo shows the scene at night, while the Dreamworks Animation logo shows it during the day. The "Night" Logo was Dark Blue, but is now Purple.
A similar moon-fishing boy can also found in the drawings of cartoonist Winsor McKay (Little Nemo)
The logo attached to feature films was made at ILM based on paintings by Hunt, in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Films, Dave Carson, and Clint Goldman.[[1]]
Trivia
- Currently, United International Pictures, a joint venture of Paramount and Universal, has the rights to release DreamWorks' films internationally, and will also handle releases from the new DreamWorks.
- The broadcast rights to many DreamWorks films are owned by ABC. Ironically, ABC (along with Pixar) is owned by Disney, with which Katzenberg had a falling out.
- Edwin R. Leonard, CTO of Dreamworks Animation, won a special achievement award at the 2008 Annies for driving their innovative work with Open Source Software and Linux.
[Annie Awards: Legacy – 35th Annual Annie Awards]
Filmography
DW Funding
First film library spun off in DW Funding, LLC and controlling interest sold to Soros Strategic Partners LP and Dune Entertainment II LLC.
Paramount
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
TV series and specials
Musical artists
Computer/Video games
Animations
