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DreamWorks SKG (also known as DreamWorks Pictures) is one of the major American film studios 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 $100,000,000 and its most successful title is Shrek 2, which DreamWorks merely distributed. It began as an ambitious attempt by media moguls David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Steven Spielberg to create a new Hollywood studio, but in December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006. DreamWorks' animation arm was spun-off in 2004, into DreamWorks Animation SKG, as such it will remain independent of Paramount/Viacom, however its films will be distributed worldwide by Paramount.
Overview The initials "SKG" stand for the company's co-founders, Spielberg (film director and founder of Amblin Entertainment), Katzenberg (former head of The Walt Disney Company's film studios), and Geffen (founder of Geffen Records). The company was founded following Katzenberg's forced 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 in October of 1994 with financial backing of $33 million from each of the three main partners and $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The first feature length DreamWorks film to be released was The Peacemaker, in 1997, although a failed 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 1999, 2000 and 2001, DreamWorks won three consecutive best picture Oscars for American Beauty, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind (the latter two with Universal). DreamWorks Records 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 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), Shrek (2001), its sequel Shrek 2 (2004), Shark Tale (2004), Madagascar (2005) Over the Hedge (2006) and the upcoming 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. DreamWorks frequently co-financed and co-distributed films with other studios, including Columbia, Fox, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros. With co-financing and co-distribution, one studio will release the film internationally and the other domestically. Here are some of the products of this deal: The only major studios DreamWorks have not co-released movies with are Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Walt Disney Pictures. For the latter, this is not surprising, given Disney's hostile relations with DreamWorks co-founder Katzenberg: when Disney’s then-second in command, Frank Wells, died in a helicopter crash, CEO Michael Eisner refused to promote Katzenberg, firing him after he pushed the issue. Katzenberg then filed a lawsuit against Disney to recover money he felt he was owed and settled out of court for an estimated $100 - $250 million (the actual amount remains secret). In recent years DreamWorks has scaled back. It stopped plans to build a high-tech studio, sold its music division, and only produces one television series, Las Vegas. In December 2005, Viacom's Paramount Pictures agreed to purchase the live-action studio. The deal is valued at approximately $1.6 billion, an amount that includes 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 (through September 17, 2005) to a group lead by George Soros for $900 million. Paramount will retain distribution rights, as well as various auxiliary rights, including music publishing, sequels, and merchandising -- this includes films that had been made by Paramount and DreamWorks, so now Paramount will have worldwide distribution rights to these films. * The theme heard 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. 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Unknown date In production Announced TV series TV specials Musical artists Artists who were signed with DreamWorks Records include: Sources | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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