DreamWorks!
DreamWorks
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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.
As of late 2008, DreamWorks has struck a much-anticipated deal for theatrical distribution with Universal Pictures in a five-year agreement encompassing as many as six releases a year. The first project under the distribution deal should go before cameras by September 2009.
DreamWorks History
The company was founded following Katzenberg's resignation 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 dollars from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.DreamWorks Interactive is a computer and video game developer founded in 1995, as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG.
The first feature-length DreamWorks film to be released was The Peacemaker, in 1997, although an unsuccessful TV pilot called Dear Diary was put into limited theatrical release in 1996. It went on to win an Oscar for Best Short Film.
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.
The DreamWorks Animation logoThe 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 to create 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), and Flushed Away (2006). Based on their success, DreamWorks Animation has spun off as its own publicly traded company. In fact, PDI/DreamWorks has emerged as the main competitor to Pixar in the age of computer-generated animation, and is based in Redwood City, California.
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.
Recently, 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. 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.
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.
On March 17, 2006, Paramount agreed to sell the DreamWorks live-action library to a group led by George Soros for $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.
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. Since the DreamWorks name is now owned by Paramount the studio would go by a new, as yet unannounced, name. Most of the money to do the new studio would come from an Indian investment firm called Reliance ADA Group. 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.
As of 2009, DreamWorks Animation is planning on releasing all their films in 3-D starting with films such as Shrek Goes Forth.
DreamWorks History
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (June 2008)The theme heard during the DreamWorks logo at the beginning of most DreamWorks films was composed by John Williams. Currently, United International Pictures, a joint venture of Paramount and Universal, has the rights to release DreamWorks' films internationally.
The broadcast rights to many DreamWorks films are owned by ABC. Ironically, ABC is owned by Disney, with which Katzenberg had a falling out.
Edwin R. Leonard, CTO of Dreamworks, won a special achievement award at the 2008 Annies for driving their innovative work with Open Source Software and Linux.
DreamWorks Feature films
DreamWorks 1990s
DreamWorks 1997
AmistadMousehunt
The Peacemaker
DreamWorks 1998
Antz Deep Impact (co-production with Paramount Pictures)Paulie
The Prince of Egypt
Saving Private Ryan (with Paramount Pictures)
Small Soldiers (with Universal Pictures)
DreamWorks 1999
American BeautyForces of Nature
Galaxy Quest
The Haunting
In Dreams
The Love Letter
DreamWorks 2000s
DreamWorks 2000
Almost Famous (co-production with Columbia Pictures)Cast Away (co-production with 20th Century Fox)
Chicken Run (co-production with Aardman Animations and Pathé)
The Contender (co-production with Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG)
An Everlasting Piece (co-production with Columbia Pictures)
Gladiator (co-production with Universal Pictures)
Joseph: King of Dreams (Direct to Video)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (co-production with 20th Century Fox)
Meet the Parents (co-production with Universal Pictures)
The Road to El Dorado
Road Trip
Small Time Crooks
Walk the Talk (Direct to Video)
What Lies Beneath (co-production with 20th Century Fox)
DreamWorks 2001
ShrekThe Last Castle
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (co-production with Warner Bros.)
A Beautiful Mind (co-production with Universal Pictures)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (in association with VCL Communications GmbH)
Evolution (co-production with Columbia Pictures)
The Mexican (co-production with Newmarket Films)
DreamWorks 2002
Catch Me If You CanHollywood Ending
Minority Report (co-production with 20th Century Fox)
The Ring
Road to Perdition (with 20th Century Fox)
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
The Time Machine (with Warner Bros.)
The Tuxedo
DreamWorks 2003
Anything ElseBiker Boyz
The Cat in the Hat (co-production with Universal Studios)
Head of State
House of Sand and Fog
Millennium Actress (Go Fish Pictures division)
Old School
Paycheck (co-production with Paramount Pictures)
Seabiscuit (co-production with Universal Studios and Spyglass Entertainment)
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
DreamWorks 2004
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron BurgundyCollateral (with Paramount Pictures)
Envy (with Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment)
Eurotrip
Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 (Distribution by Go Fish Pictures division)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (co-production with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies)
Meet the Fockers (co-production with Universal Studios)
Shark Tale (distribution only)
Shrek 2 (distribution only)
The Stepford Wives (remake of 1975 film) (co-production with Paramount Pictures)
Surviving Christmas
The Terminal
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
DreamWorks 2005
The Chumscrubber (Distribution by Go Fish Pictures division)Dreamer
The Island (with Warner Bros.)
Just like Heaven
Madagascar (distribution only)
Match Point (co-production with BBC Films)
Memoirs of a Geisha (co-production with Columbia Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment)
Munich (co-production with Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Alliance Atlantis)
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (co-production with Revolution Studios)
Red Eye
The Ring Two
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (distribution only, co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Aardman
Animations)
War of the Worlds (co-production with Paramount Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)
DreamWorks 2006
Dreamgirls (with Paramount Pictures)Flags of Our Fathers (with Warner Bros.)
Flushed Away (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)
The Last Kiss (distribution only) (with Lakeshore Entertainment)
Letters from Iwo Jima (with Warner Bros.)
Over the Hedge (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (distribution only, produced by Constantin Film)
She's the Man (with Lakeshore Entertainment)
>.DreamWorks 2007
Bee Movie (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)Blades of Glory (with MTV Films)
Disturbia
The Heartbreak Kid
The Kite Runner (with Paramount Vantage)
Norbit
Shrek the Third (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (with Warner Bros.)
Things We Lost in the Fire
Transformers (with Paramount Pictures)
DreamWorks 2008
The Ruins (co-produced with Spyglass Entertainment) - April 4, 2008Kung Fu Panda (distribution only through Paramount Pictures) - June 6, 2008
Tropic Thunder - August 13, 2008
Ghost Town (co-produced with Spyglass Entertainment) - September 19, 2008
Eagle Eye - September 26, 2008
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (distribution only through Paramount Pictures) - November 7, 2008
The Soloist (co-produced with Working Title Films, Universal Pictures and Participant Productions) - November 21, 2008
Revolutionary Road (co-produced with Paramount Vantage and BBC Films) - December 26, 2008
DreamWorks 2009 and beyond
Hotel For Dogs (with Nickelodeon Movies)Ghost in the Shell
I Love You, Man
Fatal Frame (based on the Video Game)
Lincoln
The Lovely Bones (co-production with FilmFour)
She's Out Of My League
Shrek Goes Fourth (distribution only through Paramount)
Tintin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (with Paramount)
When Worlds Collide (with Paramount)
Monsters vs. Aliens
Count Duckula (co-production with Cosgrove Hall Films, FremantleMedia, Aardman, and distribution only through Paramount)
21 Jump Street (with Stephen J. Cannell)
