Five Years of Awesomeness
DreamWorks Television Animation marks five amazing years of creating hit shows for the streaming era.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since DreamWorks Animation launched a new TV division and signed a landmark deal with Netflix to produce 300 hours of exclusive content for the streaming service. Led by veteran animation executive Margie Cohn, the studio has been on the forefront of the streaming era, producing more than 20 popular animated shows for global audiences. To mark the occasion, we asked several of the top execs and creative visionaries at the studio to give us their views on the company and share some of the highlights of their experiences with us:
Margie Cohn
President, DWA TV
What is your best memory from these past five years? One of my favorite memories comes from the end of our first year when we presented our progress to the DreamWorks Board of Directors. This was a group of very, very accomplished and impressive people. They were in awe of what we achieved and were extremely complimentary. Later that night, we won our first Emmy for All Hail King Julien. A truly great day.
Why do you think the studio has been so successful in delivering so many well received shows? We work hard at honing in on the core idea of a show and then empower our producers and artists to do what they do best. We love that each show has its own distinct voice.
How would you define the DreamWorks TV animation brand? We strive to make good shows, period. More specifically, we have a desire to exceed expectations from what a viewer expects from TV animation. Also a specific point of view, a deep world for total immersion and humor on several levels.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Most challenging? The most rewarding is when a show hits its groove and just takes off. The most challenging? Picking my all-time favorite show! I love them all! How do you keep the inspiration/art machine energized every day? We strive to clear the obstacles that clog or impede great creative. We try to maintain an open atmosphere and to have safety nets should there be a snag in the process. Everyone works so hard so we dig in quickly to solve problems and are quick to celebrate success.
Where do you see the industry going in the next five years? Wherever it goes people will still want great series, and we’ll be here to provide them!
Monique Beatty
VP, TV Physical Production, DWA TV
Best Memory: So many good memories: Many Nerf battles, some crazy Movie Under The Stars antics, and so much travel! In the early days, I visited the VeggieTales team in Nashville on a weekly basis to help them get set up (and to taste-test as many barbecue joints as possible). We went to Vancouver just as frequently — we had half a dozen shows in production at various partner studios there. On one trip for Dinotrux, Jeff DeGrandis (exec producer), Katie Ely (line producer) and I were scheduled on a very early morning flight. Jeff and I arrived early and dozed at the gate until they announced boarding.
At that point, Katie still hadn’t shown up: she’d overslept and was racing to LAX. (She was working very long hours and line producing several series at that point.) We asked the gate agent if we could hold the plane. No. We boarded as late as we could, but were unable to delay the departure. Katie would have to catch the next flight and meet us there. Having made the trip to Vancouver so often, we were very familiar with the flight pattern — takeoff was a straight shot out over the Pacific, then a slow, graceful curve northward along the coast. We began our climb over the water, and then made the usual turn north. Then the … turn east? As we circled back toward the airport, the pilot announced there was an issue with the air circulation system forcing us to return to LAX. Jeff turned to me and gleefully exclaimed, “We’re going back for Katie!” We reunited with Katie at the gate, booked the next flight and made it to Vancouver in time for our meeting.
We are convinced the pilot manufactured that excuse and really went back just to get our beloved Katie. Every time I take off for Vancouver, I’m reminded of Jeff’s happy exclamation.
Reasons for Success: That’s an easy one: Everyone works together toward the same goal. We actively foster a positive, collaborative culture and we work with the best talents in the industry.
Defining the Brand: High-quality fun! I like that we don’t have a defined “house look” and that we’re able to create beautiful work in many different styles.
Wildest Anecdote: The year Mark Taylor retired, we gave him a sever-