DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds. They have released a total of 23 feature films, including the series of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon.

Even though the studio also made traditionally animated films about serious subjects earlier, such as The Prince of Egypt, Joseph: King of Dreams, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, most of their computer-generated films and television series have now gained the studio a reputation for being focused on humor and satire although their most successful recent franchises have it balanced with more dramatic narratives.

The studio was formed by the merger of the feature animation division of DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI). Originally formed under the banner of DreamWorks in 1997 by some of Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation alumni, it was spun off into a separate public company in 2004. DreamWorks Animation currently maintains two campuses: the original DreamWorks feature animation studio in Glendale, California and the PDI studio in Redwood City, California.

Films produced by DreamWorks Animation are currently distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Viacom, who acquired the DreamWorks live-action studio in February 2006, spinning it off again in 2008.

History[link]

The PDI / DreamWorks Studio in Redwood City, California

1994–2004[link]

On October 12, 1994, DreamWorks SKG was formed and founded by a trio of entertainment players, director and producer Steven Spielberg, music executive David Geffen, and former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg.

The new studio has attracted many artists from Spielberg's animation studio Amblimation. They first joined in 1995, when the last feature was completed,^[3] and the rest came in 1997, when the studio had shut down.

In 1995, DreamWorks signed a co-production deal with Pacific Data Images to form subsidiary PDI, LLC (PDI owned 60% of PDI, LLC, while DreamWorks SKG owned 40%). The new unit would produce computer-generated feature films beginning with Antz in 1998. In the same year DreamWorks SKG produced The Prince of Egypt, which used both CG technology and traditional animation techniques.

In 1997, 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.^[4] Two years later they extended the deal for an additional four films. With Aardman doing stop-motion, they covered all three major styles, beside traditional and computer animation.^[5] This partnership had DreamWorks participating in the production of stop-motion films in Bristol, and also had Aardman participating in some of the CG films made in the US.

In 2000, DreamWorks SKG created a new business division, DreamWorks Animation, that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. The same year DW acquired majority interest (90%) in PDI, reforming it into PDI/DreamWorks, the Northern California branch of its new business division.^[6] Next year Shrek was released and went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Due to the success of CG 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, are expected to be produced in CG.^[7] Release of Shrek 2 and Shark Tale also made DWA the first studio to produce two CG animated features in a single year.^[8]

The animation division was spun-off on October 27, 2004 into publicly traded company named DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and headed by Katzenberg. DWA also inherited interests in PDI/DreamWorks. They made an agreement with former parent to distribute all of their films until they deliver 12 new films, or December 12, 2010, whatever comes last.^[8]

2004–present[link]

On January 31, 2006, DWA entered into a distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures, which acquired DWA's former parent and distribution partner, DreamWorks SKG. The agreement granted Paramount the worldwide rights to distribute all animated films, including previously released until the delivery of 13 new animated feature films or December 31, 2012, whatever comes last.^[9]

Delivering three out five films, the partnership with Aardman ended after the release of Flushed Away in November 2006. The announcement was made before the film's release, on October 3, citing "creative differences" as the reason.^[10] DWA retained the co-ownership of rights to all films co-produced with Aardman, with an exception for Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, for which they only kept rights for worldwide distribution.^[7]

On March 13, 2007, DreamWorks Animation announced it would release all of its films, beginning with Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), in stereoscopic 3D.^[11] Together with Intel they co-developed a new 3-D film-making technology InTru3D.^[12]

In 2008, DWA extended its production into India, where they established a special unit within Technicolor, named DreamWorks Dedicated Unit. DDU at first worked only on TV specials, such as Merry Madagascar, and Scared Shrekless, and DVD projects.^[13] With animating part of Puss in Boots (2011), they also started contributing to the feature films.^[14]

Since 2009, the studio has been a regular guest on the list of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. As the only entertainment company on the list, they ranked 47th in 2009,^[15] 6th in 2010,^[16] 10th in 2011,^[17] and 14th in 2012.^[18] 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.

With 2010, the studio had planned to release five feature films over the course of every two years,^[19] but the next year the studio revisited their plans, "But beyond 2012, 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."^[20] In 2010, DWA became the first studio that released three CG-animated films in a year.

The same year DreamWorks Animation created a new division named MoonBoy Animation.^[21] Its first show was Neighbors from Hell, a collaboration with Fox Television Animation.

On February 17, 2012, DreamWorks Animation announced a joint venture with China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment to build a Shanghai based family entertainment company named Oriental DreamWorks. The new venture is expected to develop and produce original Chinese animated and live action content for distribution within China and worldwide. The company will also produce live entertainment content, theme parks, games and consumer products. Oriental DreamWorks, owned 45% by DWA and 55% by the Chinese partners, and with the cash and intellectual capital worth of $330 million, will get $2 billion investment in next five years,^[22] and is expected to launch in late 2012.^[23] The studio's first animated feature film is planned for 2016, with one animated feature per year till 2018, and two per year after that. A live action film is expected to be released within next two years.^[24]

Partnerships[link]

• DreamWorks Animation has an on-going partnership with HP, and the studio exclusively uses HP workstations and servers. In 2005, DWA partnered with HP to introduce HP Halo Telepresence Solutions, technologies that allow people in different locations to communicate in a face-to-face environment in real time.^[25]
• In 2005, AMD signed a 3 year deal to provide processors to the studio. This relationship ended in 2008, and DreamWorks announced that they will use Intel processors for future productions.^[26]
• On June 4, 2010, DreamWorks Animation and Royal Caribbean announced a strategic alliance set to take place onboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships including Allure of the Seas.^[27]

Board of directors[link]

The following executives^[28] are on the DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Board of Directors:

• Roger Enrico, Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
• Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc./Co-Founder of DreamWorks.
• Lew Coleman, President of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.
• Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Capital Management
• Nathan Myhrvold, Chief Executive Officer of Intellectual Ventures
• Richard Sherman, CEO of The David Geffen Company
• Karl von der Heyden, retired Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Pepsico, Inc.
• Judson Green, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ
• Michael Montgomery, President of Montgomery & Co.
• Thomas E. Freston, former CEO of Viacom
• Harry (Skip) Brittenham, Director

Productions[link]

Feature films[link]

Released films

Upcoming films

Films in development

Direct-to-video[link]

TV specials[link]

Short films[link]

Television series[link]

Inherited material[link]

Additionally, DreamWorks Animation holds the underlying US rights to the DiC animated series Alienators: Evolution Continues, co-produced with the parent DreamWorks studio and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television, who holds international rights). The series was a spin-off of the 2001 DreamWorks / Columbia film Evolution. The same also applies to Neighbors from Hell, since the show is co-produced by DreamWorks Animation (under their newly established MoonBoy Animation division), an independent company known as Bento Box Entertainment (itself a newly formed division of Film Roman), and 20th Century Fox Television.

See also[link]

	Animation portal
	Companies portal
	Greater Los Angeles portal
	Film portal
	United States portal

• DreamWorks Studios
• Pacific Data Images
• Aardman Animations
• List of Dreamworks Animation Films

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• DreamWorks Animation at the Internet Movie Database
• DreamWorks Animation's channel on YouTube
• DreamWorks Animation on Facebook
• DreamWorks Animation on Twitter