DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio 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 million each.
DreamWorks began in 1994 as an ambitious attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen (forming the SKG present on the bottom of the DreamWorks logo) to create a new Hollywood studio of which they own 72%. In December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, parent of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006. In 2008, DreamWorks announced its intention to end its partnership with Paramount and signed a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with India's Reliance ADA Group. Reliance provided $325M of equity to fund recreating Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio as an independent entity. Clark Hallren, former Managing Director of the Entertainment Industries group of J.P. Morgan Securities and Alan J. Levine of J.P. Morgan Entertainment Advisors led the Reliance team in structuring the capital and business plan for the company. The movie studio's distribution is 50% owned by Reliance which is led by Anil Ambani.
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.
History[]
The company was founded following Katzenberg's resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. At the suggestion of a friend of Spielberg, the two made an agreement with long-time Katzenberg collaborator David 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 from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
In 1998, The United States 9th Circuit of Appeals upheld a lawsuit against DreamWorks for violating the copyright of Dreamworks, a company specializing in Star Trek Conventions.
In 1998, DreamWorks released its 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 later two with Universal).
DreamWorks Interactive is a computer and video game developer founded in 1995, as a subsidiary of DreamWorks SKG. 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 is the company's record label, the first project of which was George Michael's Older album. The first band signed to this label was the "eels" who released their debut album "Beautiful Freak" in 1997. Although the record company 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, emerging as the main competitor to Pixar in the age of computer-generated animation and one of the few competitors to Disney in creating traditionally animated feature films. DreamWorks Animation has produced some of the highest grossing animated hits of all time, such as Antz (1998), Shrek (2001), its sequels Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007) and Shrek Forever After (2010); Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Madagascar (2005), its sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), Over the Hedge (2006), Flushed Away (2006), Bee Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda (2008), Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), and Megamind (2010). Based on the films' success, DreamWorks Animation has spun off as its own publicly traded company.
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.
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 a controlling interest in the DreamWorks live-action library (pre-09/16/2005; DW Funding, LLC) to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II. The film library is valued at $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 music publishing rights were later licensed to Sony-ATV Music Publishing when that company acquired Paramount's Famous Music subdivision). The sale was completed on May 8, 2006.
On March 12, 2007, DreamWorks Animation announced it would release all of its films, beginning with Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), in stereoscopic 3D.
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. Most of the backing would come from an Indian investment firm called Reliance ADA Group. The DreamWorks trademarks are owned by DreamWorks Animation and the new company would need their approval to use the trademarks. 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.
On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks entered into a long-term, 30-picture distribution deal with the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures by which the films will be released through the Touchstone Pictures banner over the next five years. The deal came after negotiations broke off with Universal Pictures just days earlier.[1] However, this deal does not include Indian rights, which will be handled by Reliance, nor does it include DreamWorks Animation, whose films will still be distributed by Paramount through to late 2012. Also not included are sequels to live-action films released before the Paramount merger, or those released by Paramount themselves – Paramount retains the rights to these franchises, and one such sequel, Little Fockers, was released by Paramount internationally in December 2010 (Universal owns domestic rights).
Logo[]
The DreamWorks logo features a young boy sitting on a crescent moon while fishing. The general idea for the logo was the brainchild of company co-founder Steven Spielberg, who originally wanted a computer-generated image, whereas Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren, of Industrial Light and Magic suggested a hand-painted one. Muren then contacted a friend and fellow artist, Robert Hunt, to paint it. Hunt worked on both versions, for each of which his son William was cast as the model for the boy, and Spielberg liked the CGI one better. The music accompanying the logo to start live-action DreamWorks movies was specially composed by John Williams (although a number of DreamWorks films, such as Galaxy Quest and Saving Private Ryan, omit the music); the DreamWorks Animation logo has music from the Harry Gregson-Williams/John Powell score for Shrek. The main logo shows the scene at night, while the DreamWorks Animation logo shows it during the day. The "Night" Logo is Dark Blue.
The DreamWorks fanfare has been sampled for the intro to Kid Cudi's remix album, A Kid Named Cudi.
The logo attached to feature films was made at ILM based on paintings by Hunt, in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Films, Dave Carson and Clint Goldman.
Distribution[]
Currently, United International Pictures, a joint venture of Paramount and Universal, has the rights to release DreamWorks' films internationally (except South Korea), and will also handle releases from the new DreamWorks. The broadcast and basic subscription cable television rights to many DreamWorks films are owned by Disney-ABC International Television. Ironically, ABC (along with Pixar) is owned by Disney, with which Katzenberg had a falling out. In South Korea, CJ Entertainment has the rights to release all DreamWorks' films, except some co-productions (for example, Minority Report was distributed by Fox, and The Island by Warner Bros., due to these studios having owned the international rights to these films).
Awards[]
Edwin R. Leonard, CTO of DreamWorks Animation, won a special achievement award at the 2008 Annies for driving their innovative work with Open Source Software and Linux.
Filmography[]
- For animated films, see DreamWorks Animation
Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Distribution (1997-2005)[]
First film library spun off in DW Funding LLC and controlling interest sold to Soros Strategic Partners LP and Dune Entertainment II LLC. In February 2010, Viacom acquired the Soros stake. (The sale only included films released through December 28, 2005, the latest film in the package being Match Point.) All animated films are currently owned by Universal Pictures via its acquisition of DreamWorks Animation which was spun off from DreamWorks in 2004 as a publicly traded company until 2016. And a majority of films that were co-produced by both DreamWorks and its sister studio Amblin Entertainment are now co-owned by both Paramount and Amblin Partners (The owner of both the DreamWorks and Amblin banners).
Title | Release Date | Notes |
---|---|---|
The Peacemaker | September 26, 1997 | First film to be released |
Amistad | December 10, 1997 | co-production with HBO Pictures
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama |
MouseHunt | December 19, 1997 | |
Paulie | April 17, 1998 | co-production with Mutual Film Company |
Deep Impact | May 8, 1998 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
Small Soldiers | July 10, 1998 | co-production with Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment |
Saving Private Ryan | July 24, 1998 | co-production with Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Mutual Film Company
BAFTA Award for Best Film Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture |
Antz | October 2, 1998 | co-production with Pacific Data Images
DreamWorks' first computer animated feature film |
The Prince of Egypt | December 18, 1998 | co-production with 20th Century Fox
DreamWorks' first traditionally animated feature film |
In Dreams | January 15, 1999 | co-production with Amblin Entertainment |
Forces of Nature | March 19, 1999 | |
The Love Letter | May 21, 1999 | |
The Haunting | July 23, 1999 | |
American Beauty | October 1, 1999 | Academy Award for Best Picture
BAFTA Award for Best Film Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama |
Galaxy Quest | December 25, 1999 | |
The Road to El Dorado | March 31, 2000 | |
Gladiator | May 5, 2000 | co-production with Universal Pictures and Scott Free ProductionsAcademy Award for Best Picture
BAFTA Award for Best Film Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama |
Road Trip | May 19, 2000 | co-production with The Montecito Picture Company |
Small Time Crooks | May 19, 2000 | |
Chicken Run | June 23, 2000 | co-production with Pathé and Aardman AnimationsNominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
DreamWorks' first stop-motion animated feature film |
What Lies Beneath | July 21, 2000 | co-production with 20th Century Fox and ImageMovers |
Almost Famous | September 13, 2000 | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Vinyl Films
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy |
Meet the Parents | October 6, 2000 | co-production with Universal Pictures |
The Contender | October 13, 2000 | co-production with Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG |
The Legend of Bagger Vance | November 3, 2000 | co-production with 20th Century Fox and Allied Filmmakers |
Cast Away | December 7, 2000 | co-production with 20th Century Fox and ImageMovers |
An Everlasting Piece | December 25, 2000 | co-production with Columbia Pictures |
The Mexican | March 2, 2001 | co-production with Newmarket Films |
Shrek | May 18, 2001 | co-production with Pacific Data Images
First winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy |
Evolution | June 8, 2001 | co-production with Columbia Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company |
A.I. Artificial Intelligence | June 26, 2001 | co-production with Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment |
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion | August 24, 2001 | in association with VCL Communications GmbH |
The Last Castle | October 19, 2001 | |
The Make Big Thing | November 9, 2001 | co-production with Columbia Pictures and The Montecito Picture Company |
A Beautiful Mind | December 21, 2001 | co-production with Universal Pictures and Imagine EntertainmentAcademy Award for Best Picture
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film |
The Time Machine | March 8, 2002 | co-production with Warner Bros. |
Hollywood Ending | May 3, 2002 | |
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron | May 24, 2002 | co-production with 20th Century Fox
Nominee for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
Minority Report | June 21, 2002 | co-production with 20th Century Fox and Amblin Entertainment |
Road to Perdition | July 12, 2002 | co-production with 20th Century FoxNominated - Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture |
The Tuxedo | September 27, 2002 | |
The Ring | October 18, 2002 | |
Catch Me If You Can | December 25, 2002 | co-production with Amblin EntertainmentNominated - Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Picture |
Biker Boyz | January 31, 2003 | |
Old School | February 21, 2003 | |
Head of State | March 28, 2003 | |
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | July 22, 2003 | |
Seabiscuit | July 25, 2003 | co-production with Universal Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company |
Anything Else | September 19, 2003 | co-production with Hyde Park Entertainment |
The Cat in the Hat | November 21, 2003 | co-production with Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment |
House of Sand and Fog | December 19, 2003 | co-production with Cobalt Media Group |
Paycheck | December 25, 2003 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! | January 23, 2004 | |
Eurotrip | February 20, 2004 | |
Envy | April 30, 2004 | co-production with Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment |
Shrek 2 | May 19, 2004 | co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
The Stepford Wives | June 11, 2004 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
The Terminal | June 18, 2004 | co-production with Amblin Entertainment |
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy | July 9, 2004 | |
Collateral | August 6, 2004 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
Surviving Christmas | October 22, 2004 | |
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | December 17, 2004 | co-production with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies |
Meet the Fockers | December 22, 2004 | co-production with Universal Pictures |
The Ring Two | March 18, 2005 | |
War of the Worlds | June 29, 2005 | co-production with Paramount Pictures and Amblin Entertainment |
The Island | July 22, 2005 | co-production with Warner Bros. |
Red Eye | August 19, 2005 | |
Just Like Heaven | September 16, 2005 | |
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | October 7, 2005 | co-production with DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations
Last DreamWorks Animation film to be distributed by DreamWorks Pictures |
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio | October 14, 2005 | |
Dreamer | October 21, 2005 | |
Memoirs of a Geisha | December 23, 2005 | studio credit only; co-production with Columbia Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Amblin Entertainment and Red Wagon Productions |
Munich | December 23, 2005 | co-production with Universal Studios, Amblin Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company |
Match Point | December 28, 2005 | USA distribution only; co-production with BBC Films
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama |
DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures (2006-2010)[]
Title | Release Date | Notes |
---|---|---|
The Last Kiss | September 15, 2006 | US distribution only, produced by Lakeshore Entertainment |
Flags of Our Fathers | October 20, 2006 | co-production with Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment |
Dreamgirls | December 15, 2006 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
Letters from Iwo Jima | December 20, 2006 | co-production with Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment |
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer | December 27, 2006 | US distribution only, produced by Constantin Film |
Norbit | February 8, 2007 | |
Blades of Glory | March 30, 2007 | co-production with MTV Films and Red Hour Films |
Disturbia | April 13, 2007 | co-production with The Montecito Picture Company |
Transformers | July 2, 2007 | co-production with Paramount Pictures and Hasbro |
The Heartbreak Kid | October 5, 2007 | |
Things We Lost in the Fire | October 19, 2007 | |
The Kite Runner | December 14, 2007 | co-production with Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions; distributed by Paramount Classics |
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | December 21, 2007 | co-production with Warner Bros., Parkes/MacDonald Productions and The Zanuck Company |
The Ruins | April 4, 2008 | co-production with Spyglass Entertainment and Red Hour Films |
Tropic Thunder | August 8, 2008 | co-production with Red Hour Films |
Ghost Town | September 19, 2008 | co-production with Spyglass Entertainment |
Eagle Eye | September 26, 2008 | |
Revolutionary Road | December 26, 2008 | co-production with BBC Films and Paramount Vantage |
Hotel for Dogs | January 16, 2009 | co-production with Nickelodeon Movies |
The Uninvited | January 30, 2009 | co-production with Cold Spring Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Productions, The Monecito Picture Company and Vertigo Entertainment |
I Love You, Man | March 20, 2009 | co-production with The Montecito Picture Company |
The Soloist | April 24, 2009 | co-production with Universal Studios, StudioCanal, Participant Media, Between Two Trees, Working Title Films and Krasnoff/Foster Entertainment |
The Brothers Bloom | May 15, 2009 | co-production with Walt Disney Pictures and Summit Entertainment |
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | June 24, 2009 | co-production with Paramount Pictures and Hasbro |
Paranormal Activity | September 25, 2009 | co-production with Paramount Pictures |
The Lovely Bones | December 11, 2009 (premiere) January 15, 2010 (wide) |
co-production with Paramount Pictures, FilmFour and Wingnut Films |
She's Out of My League | March 12, 2010 | co-production with Paramount Pictures and Mosaic Media Group |
Dinner for Schmucks | July 30, 2010 | co-production with Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Parkes/MacDonald Productions and Everyman Pictures |
Going the Distance | September 10, 2010 | co-production with Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Summit Entertainment and Offspring Entertainment |
Little Fockers | December 22, 2010 | produced with Relativity Media, TriBeCa Productions and Everyman Pictures |
DreamWorks Studios/Reliance ADA Group (2011-2017)[]
Title | Release Date | Notes |
---|---|---|
I Am Number Four | February 18, 2011 | part of the 30-picture distribution deal with Touchstone Pictures co-production with Bay Films and Reliance BIG Films |
Cowboys & Aliens | July 29, 2011 | distributed by Universal Pictures; co-production with Reliance Entertainment, Relativity Media, Imagine Entertainment, Fairview Entertainment and Platinum Studios |
The Help | August 12, 2011 | distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media, Imagination Abu Dhabi, 1492 Pictures and Harbinger Pictures
Nominee of the Academy Award for Best Picture |
Fright Night | August 19, 2011 | part of the 30-picture distribution deal with Touchstone Pictures co-production with Film4 and Wild Bunch |
What's Your Number? | September 30, 2011 | distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. Pictures, Reliance Entertainment, Regency Enterprises, Legendary Pictures and Constellation Films |
Real Steel | October 7, 2011 | part of the 30-picture distribution deal with Touchstone Pictures co-production with ImageMovers |
War Horse | December 25, 2011 | part of the 30-picture distribution deal with Touchstone Pictures co-production with Shochiku, Amblin Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company |
The Lone Ranger | July 3, 2013 | distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with Reliance Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Amblin Entertainment, Blind Wink Productions and Infinitum Nihil |
The Fifth Estate | October 18, 2013 | distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with Reliance Entertainment, Participant Media and Anonymous Content |
The Other Woman | April 25, 2014 | distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with 20th Century Fox, Reliance Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment |
DreamWorks Pictures/Amblin Partners (2016-present)[]
2018[]
- On Chesil Beach (May 18, 2018) (released by Go Fish Pictures; co-production with Bleecker Street; produced in UK by BBC Films)
- Action Point (June 1, 2018) (distribution only; co-production with Paramount Pictures and Geffen Pictures)
- Colette (September 21, 2018) (distribution only; co-production with Lionsgate, Bleecker Street and Bold Films)
- The House with a Clock in its Walls (September 21, 2018) (distributed by Universal Pictures; co-production with Amblin Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment)
- Instant Family (November 16, 2018) (distribution only; co-production with Paramount Pictures)
- Bumblebee (December 21, 2018) (distribution only; co-production with Paramount Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Platinum Dunes, Tencent Pictures and Allspark Pictures)
- Welcome to Marwen (December 21, 2018) (distributed by Universal Pictures; co-production with Perfect World Pictures and ImageMovers)
2019[]
- The Princess and the Frog (Ben 10 Cinematic Universe and 10th Anniversary Edition) (December 13, 2019) (re-release) (distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; co-production with Reliance Entertainment; in collaboration with Cartoon Network Studios, Man of Action Entertainment, Mirage Studios, TMS Entertainment, DC Comics, Santo Domingo Animation, Ithrax Producciones, Sunwoo Entertainment, Shin-Ei Animation, The Curiosity Company, Mercury Filmworks, Toei Animation and Youngheart Productions; produced in China by Warner China Film; produced in Brazil by Globo Filmes)
2020[]
- Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (July 24, 2020) (distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures; released by Go Fish Pictures; co-production with Atlantic Releasing Corporation, Threshold Entertainment, Nintendo Films and 4K Media Inc.; produced in Japan by Toho and OLM, Inc.)
TV series and specials[]
See also: DreamWorks Television
Musical artists[]
See also: DreamWorks Records
Computer and video games[]
See also: EA Los Angeles
Animations[]
See also: DreamWorks Animation
References[]
- ↑ Variety: Disney signs deal with DreamWorks Company will handle distribution for films, Variety, February 9, 2009