When was dreamworks animation skg founded

One of the most powerful people in entertainment, Spielberg is responsible for many of the most successful films in history, as director of Jaws , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Raiders of the Lost Ark , E.

Spielberg's live-action and animation talents also traveled to network, cable, and syndicated television shows, producing and directing several shows including the Tiny Toon Adventures animated series current and Amazing Stories Before co-founding DreamWorks, Katzenberg made a name for himself as an executive in the entertainment business, most notably as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios from to He was responsible for the production, marketing, and distribution of all Disney filmed entertainment including motion pictures, television, cable, syndication, home video and interactive entertainment.

The departure would later prove to be an unclean break, as Katzenberg would find himself to be in a long, high-profile battle to cash in on a bonus he held was owed to him by Disney.

By the time Geffen helped found DreamWorks, he was already head of his own empire in the music business. Geffen Records was one of the largest record labels in the industry, the crowning achievement of his three decades in the corporate rock world.

He is credited with guiding the careers of s big-name acts including Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Jackson Browne; and the Eagles. Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen each brought their unique strengths, experiences and talent to DreamWorks, and each would appropriately head the company's core businesses: live-action movies, animated movies, and music, respectively.

Even though Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen would bring so much to their shared "Dream," many initially wondered whether it would be true to its name and actually "Work.

Amistad , which came out in , was Spielberg's first directorial project for DreamWorks. On the animated film front, DreamWorks joined with PDI in to co-produce original computer-generated feature films, including Antz , which was completed in , just weeks ahead of Disney's own insect-themed animation film, A Bug's Life.

Katzenberg also landed for DreamWorks the rights to Chicken Run , a promising Claymation project that was in development by Oscar-winning Aaardman Animations. The film would later become a hit in The first artist signed to SKG Records was George Michael, whose album in turned out to be much less successful than expected. But, when DreamWorks struck an unusual joint-venture pact with Rykodisc to cover two of Morphine's next albums, it seemed the company's music business was headed in the right direction.

The band was already playing in college radio stations all over, heading top lists, and winning prestigious awards such as the Boston Music Awards in and Aside from its movie and music core, DreamWorks explored other entertainment channels. These two turned out to be unsuccessful, but the studio followed up in with the high-profile Ink for CBS, starring Ted Danson, which lasted one full season. Fox, which turned out to be DreamWorks' most successful television show.

At the time, however, DreamWorks was still stunned when their plans for a syndicated show with Maury Povich and Connie Chung fell through. It was no surprise that Spielberg would get into the game business, being an avid gamer himself.

With cutting-edge games, a club-like atmosphere, and slick merchandising, the chain was well received amid lots of initial fanfare. That same year, DreamWorks' biggest-selling game was Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland , a first-person perspective, animated adventure game based on the R. Stine children's books and TV series. DreamWorks began to outgrow its shaky start and turn out critically acclaimed, successful films. Even though the opening weekend sales for Antz was about half of the Disney film, the DreamWorks project, headed by Katzenberg, would be the first one of many to seriously challenge Disney's position as head of the animation kingdom.

Shrek 2 is among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, and fourteen of the films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films, with Shrek 2 being the ninth all-time highest.

Although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, as well as stop-motion co-production with Aardman Animations, all of their films now use computer animation.

In recent years, the animation studio has acquired and created new divisions in an effort to diversify beyond the high-risk movie business. Films produced by DreamWorks Animation were formerly distributed worldwide by its main DreamWorks studio from to , Paramount Pictures from to , and 20th Century Studios from to Universal also now owns the rights to DreamWorks' back catalogue.

To build the talent base, Spielberg brought over artists from his London-based studio, Amblimation, while Katzenberg recruited some of the top animation staff from Disney. Some of Amblimation's artists came to DreamWorks in , when the studio's last feature was completed, with the rest doing so following the studio's closure in This new unit would produce computer-generated feature films, beginning with Antz in In , DreamWorks partnered with Aardman Animations, a British stop-motion animation studio, to co-produce and distribute Chicken Run , a stop-motion film already in pre-production.

Two years later they extended the deal for an additional four films. With Aardman doing stop-motion, they covered all three major styles, besides traditional and computer animation. This partnership had DreamWorks participating in the production of stop-motion films in Bristol, and also had Aardman participating in some of the CGI films made in the United States.

Three years later, DreamWorks SKG created DreamWorks Animation, a new business division that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. Due to the success of CGI animated films, DWA decided the same year to exit hand-drawn animation business after the next two of total four hand-drawn films.

Beginning with Shrek 2 , all released films, other than some co-produced with Aardman, were expected to be produced with CGI. Katzenberg headed the new division, while Spielberg and Geffen remained on board as investors and consultants. They made an agreement with their former parent to distribute all of their films until they deliver twelve new films, or December 12, , whichever came last. The agreement granted Paramount the worldwide rights to distribute all animated films, including previously released films, until the delivery of 13 new animated feature films or December 31, , whichever came last.

DWA's partnership with Aardman ended after the release of Flushed Away in November , having delivered three out of five films. The announcement was made before the film's release, on October 3, citing "creative differences". On March 13, , DreamWorks Animation announced it would release all of its films, beginning with Monsters vs.

Aliens , in stereoscopic 3D. The unit is owned by Technicolor, but DreamWorks hires and trains the animators, who then contribute to DreamWorks projects. Eventually they started contributing to DreamWorks' feature films as well, beginning with animating part of Puss in Boots As the only entertainment company on the list, they ranked 47th in , 6th in , 10th in , 14th in , and 12th in The company is praised by its employees for its openness, culture of collaboration, and a free breakfast and lunch, a perk not found at many other companies.

Beginning in , the studio had planned to release five feature films over the course of every two years, but the next year the studio revisited their plans, "but beyond , Katzenberg said the studio will play it by ear, even if that means abandoning his proclamation that DWA would try to release three pictures in a single year, every other year.

The same year, the company purchased the film rights to the Trolls franchise. In August , DreamWorks Animation formed a joint venture with Chinese investment companies to establish a Shanghai-based entertainment company, named Oriental DreamWorks, to develop and produce original Chinese films and their derivatives.

The report also mentioned a possibility where Sony would handle the United States distribution while 20th Century Fox would handle the international distribution. Renewal of the deal with Paramount was also open, but only with more favorable terms for Paramount. In August , DreamWorks Animation signed a five-year distribution deal with 20th Century Fox for both domestic and international markets.

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Fueled with ambition, rage, and a desire to trounce Disney, Katzenberg cofounded DreamWorks SKG, an independent studio full of sky-high ambitions, with movie mogul Steven Spielberg and former music industry impresario and billionaire David Geffen. Katzenberg will also be chairman of a new division called DreamWorks New Media, overseeing entities like AwesomenessTV , a thriving digital network aimed at millennials in which DWA owns a controlling stake.

That is something DWA has been struggling with. Despite top-grossing franchises like Shrek , Kung Fu Panda , and How to Train a Dragon , the company has not been as consistent as its competitors in recent years. Its last hands-down hit was Madagascar 3 in Peabody and Sherman , they simply failed to resonate.

From the beginning, everything about the company was grandiose, starting with its Tuscan-inspired campus in Glendale, California.

Stocked with water fountains, masseuses, and free lunches, the studio was expressly built to woo away animators from Disney—and it succeeded.