This is not the end of DreamWorks Animation
Today is a huge loss for all the talented artists and hard working staff members of PDI DreamWorks. I'm sorry for the all these innocent people that had to suffer through bad executive producing, they are not at fault yet they are the loser of this situation. But, this is not the end of DreamWorks Animation. Here are some updates:
It’s also cutting back its feature film output from three to two movies a year, with plans to release a sequel and an original title in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
As part of the company re-organization, DreamWorks Animation marketing head Dawn Taubin and chief operating officer Mark Zoradi are departing, while Lew Coleman is retiring as vice chairman.
The company will focus on six specific movies for the next three years: “Kung Fu Panda 3″ (March 18, 2016), “Trolls” (Nov. 4, 2016), “Boss Baby” (Jan. 13, 2017), “The Croods 2″ (Dec. 22, 2017), “Larrikins” (Feb. 16, 2018) and “How to Train Your Dragon 3″ (June 29, 2018).
“B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations” has been put back into development.
Budgets on its films will be reduced to $120 million, starting with “Trolls,” out in 2017. Its northern California studio, PDI, also will be shuttered, with staff there offered the chance to move to DWA’s headquarters in Glendale, Calif. PDI had produced the “How to Train Your Dragon” films.
DWA also said “Captain Underpants” will be produced outside of the studio’s pipeline “at a significantly lower cost” with a 2017 release. The company’s only 2015 release is “Home,” which will open domestically on March 27.
Both “Kung Fu Panda 3″ and “B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations” were moved out of 2015, with the latter not yet landing on a new release date.
Now onto some more positive aspects:
DWA chief Jeffrey Katzenberg said he will take a more hands-on role in how the studio’s films are developed and produced.
“My time and my focus needs to be on making blockbuster films,” Katzenberg said during a call with analysts after announcing the re-org. “We have the people to do it. That’s where my energy is going to be focused.
“Feature animation is the core of our company. Getting our feature film business back on track is our number one priority.”
Katzenberg said that making three films per year was “too ambitious. I want us to get back to making two great blockbuster films a year. We want to get back to basics here.”
Zoradi had joined DWA just seven months ago. “Given that we’re narrowing the focus of the company over the next two to three years, we’ve tried to bring our executive suite in line with a more focused agenda for the company,” Katzenberg said during the call with analysts, adding that Zoradi had volunteered to leave the company, given its new strategy.
“I think we were top heavy and given that we are right sizing the entire operation and focusing the company on the businesses we are in today, rather than businesses we imagined we might be in, this is the right sizing that we need,” Katzenberg said.
The studio enjoyed a now-brief morale boost when “How to Train Your Dragon 2″ was nominated for an Oscar in the best animation picture race, just after winning the Golden Globe in the same category.
DWA made the announcement of the re-org after the stock market closed. Wall Street reacted fairly to the news, with the company’s stock rising more than 3% in after-hours trading.
DreamWorks needed to organize themselves again and this is what they are doing right now. While this is a terrible loss, it could have been worse. They are trying to get back on track with a strong executive producing team behind feature films to make them worth while again. There were rumors about Katzenberg wanting to close the studio down entirely except for instant shows and the YouTube channel. So while this might seem like the worst case scenario: It is probably the only move they are able to do right now to keep the studio alive. (This whole producers making 33 Mio while animators get nothing is another story I won't touch upon)
Let's not forget that Katzenberg is a very strong producer and one of the driving forces behind the Disney Renaissance back in the days. All we can do right now is hope that this plan will work out and financially support the company by going to see HOME on March 27.