Dreamworks CEO Katzenberg opens up
But Katzenberg credits hard work for his success
He inspires students with ways to succeed and in a Q&A, gives insight on how his animation studio stays on the cutting edge.
SYRACUSE, N.Y.
Big green ogres and penguins aside, DreamWorks Animation is just hitting its stride, says studio cofounder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Since its founding in 1994 by Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, DreamWorks has developed into an industry powerhouse to rival Pixar and Disney. Shrek 2 ( 2004) is the highest-grossing animated film of all time, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. DreamWorks holds six more slots in the top 20 animated films, including How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Kung Fu Panda and three more Shrek movies.
The average global box office per film for its latest releases is $550 million — and that’s before sales of DVDs and video on demand. Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2 grossed $1.2 billion globally last year, and both earned Oscar nominations for best animated film.
While far below a five-year high of $43.46 in Feb. 2010, DreamWorks’ stock
On the economy
We have a ways to go. I think that it’s hard to fathom ... how deep the hole is that we found ourselves in in 2007 and 2008. It’s a challenging time for us.
(No matter who is in the White House) we’re going to find ourselves in a very slow recovery for the next four or five years.
One of the things that I find most distressing here is what happens to kids coming out of school today and ... these kids coming out of the military today and the lack of opportunity for them. It’s very concerning to me.
On being different from Disney
When we started DreamWorks, I said to Steven (Spielberg) and David (Geffen), “I don’t want to make Disney movies, because that’s their heritage. I want us to create our own.” So we started experimenting.
And in 2001, the big green ogre visited us. We went, “Ah, there’s who we are.” There’s a movie that’s irreverent and subversive, with big comedy stars in it. A bit more sophisticated, a PG movie, not a G movie, not Disney.
A few years later, this idea popped into my head. I said, “DreamWorks makes movies for adults and the adult that exists in every child.” That’s what we try to do.
Most personal films he’s been involved in
uThe Lion King is based on something that occurred to me in my life. When I look at it, I actually am looking at a reflection of something personally challenging, very hurtful, a moment in my life that was a great learning experience for me. Simba coming back to face Scar is an allegory for me.
uI grew up across the street from the New York City Central Park Zoo. I went there as a kid, and I thought, “God, these animals, they live on 5th Avenue. ... I wonder what would happen if they had to go to the wild?”
Madagascar.
uWe made a movie called Spirit:
Stallion of the Cimarron, which is one
of (the studio’s) least successful movies. But the character of Spirit is a character (that I) identify with. He was indomitable.
On the power of technology
Technology is literally democratizing the world, but it’s also democratizing our world. Anybody can buy a camera.
I said to my son (David), who went to Boston University and is an aspiring filmmaker: “Go to the store, buy a camera, make a little film. You want to be a director, show them you can direct.” And he did.
He made a little short film, 12 minutes long, called The Life and Times of
RJ Berger, which then became a TV series for MTV Network for two years ( The Hard Times of RJ Berger), and that literally sent him on his career — which I have had zero to do with.
I think the power of technology today has allowed the barriers to get lower and lower and lower in terms of both in animation and any kind of filmmaker today.