Animation Revelation Forum

It's Revelation Time! => Dreamworks => Topic started by: Nameless on May 22, 2014, 03:26:50 AM

Title: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on May 22, 2014, 03:26:50 AM
DreamWorks Animation has not been doing so well recently. The company has lost money on Rise of the Guardians (http://variety.com/2013/film/news/dreamworks-animation-takes-87-million-write-down-for-rise-of-the-guardians-819555/ (http://variety.com/2013/film/news/dreamworks-animation-takes-87-million-write-down-for-rise-of-the-guardians-819555/)), Turbo (http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/dreamworks-animation-takes-13-5m-charge-for-turbo-as-q4-earnings-lag-analyst-estimates/ (http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/dreamworks-animation-takes-13-5m-charge-for-turbo-as-q4-earnings-lag-analyst-estimates/)), and Mr. Peabody & Sherman (http://variety.com/2014/film/news/dreamworks-animation-takes-57-million-writedown-cites-mr-peabody-1201166905/ (http://variety.com/2014/film/news/dreamworks-animation-takes-57-million-writedown-cites-mr-peabody-1201166905/)) - three of their last four movies. However, all faced competition from other, better-marketed, more highly-regarded animated films (ROTG was up against Wreck-It Ralph, Turbo was up against Monsters University and Despicable Me 2, and Peabody faced off with The LEGO Movie).

In addition, the company has embarked on a diversification strategy in the last two years, acquiring Classic Media, the rights to the Troll dolls, the YouTube multi-channel network AwesomenessTV, and the preschool shows produced by Chapman Entertainment, in addition to starting a book publishing division and a new "DreamWorksTV" YouTube channel. Time will tell if the diversification pays off in the long run...

I'm starting to wonder (and worry) that the DreamWorks brand is tainted. They have made little attempt to escape the "star power" image that defined them a decade ago, but whose novelty has worn off, and there are also those who won't forgive them for Shark Tale and Bee Movie. Also, the US animation industry would be much worse for the absence of DWA, as they are the largest animation employer in the country.

Will they succeed in turning themselves around? I hope so, but as long as Jeffrey Katzenberg remains its CEO, I don't think they can do it...

EDIT: I forgot, they swapped the release dates for Home and The Penguins of Madagascar: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/penguins-of-madagascar-release-date-home-1201187374/ (http://variety.com/2014/film/news/penguins-of-madagascar-release-date-home-1201187374/)
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Inkwolf on May 22, 2014, 08:08:56 AM
That's sad to hear.  Rise of the Guardians was a great movie, and seems popular after the fact.  Are the losses box-office only?  They may be making it up in video sales.

Diversification sounds good, but it kind of worries me how all these media giants seem to be seizing control of all the publishing and broadcasting channels.  I mean, when Disney publishes a book, and prints reviews of it in all their Disney-owned news outlets by Disney-paid reviewers, and advertises the heck out of it on all the Disney-owned channels, and makes a Diisney movie based on their own book, and hypes THAT in all their media...what chance is there that individual art and independent works can survive in the fact of these commercial giants with their own competing products to promote?
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on May 22, 2014, 07:33:23 PM
They do seem to be box-office only; even without notorious "Hollywood accounting", I've been led to believe that very few movies actually do turn a profit theatrically, and that ancillary markets (not only home video, but also TV and streaming) are how movies turn profits.

Also, the Variety article I linked about the release date swap failed to mention Penguins's real competition: Big Hero 6.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Avaitor on May 23, 2014, 03:18:38 PM
I heard that they're going through with a Shrek 5 after all. Maybe they'll just revert back to sequels for a while and cut back on the riskier originals?
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on May 23, 2014, 03:33:17 PM
Can't we just have a PnB 2 instead?

That's what I want. The original was better than all the Shrek movies.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 05, 2014, 12:57:54 AM
They're being sued over various financial statements. (http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140804-907451.html)

This has been a really bad year for DWA. I don't know if there is any relief coming for them either; the company isn't an attractive takeover target because of its dual-class stock structure (the Class A shares, with one vote each, are publicly-traded as "DWA", and the Class B shares, with fifteen votes each, are all owned by Jeffrey Katzenberg) and its lack of recent hits or popular IP (as best as I can tell they basically have Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Where's Waldo, and Olivia - and those last two came from Classic Media) doesn't help either. Unless they can hang in long enough for Katzenberg to install a good successor and/or get some more hits, they're doomed.

Edit: got the stock information mixed up
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Inkwolf on August 05, 2014, 08:18:37 AM
Kung Fu Panda 3 will be coming out next year, too won't it?  That's a pretty popular series.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 05, 2014, 02:06:58 PM
Fairly, but honestly, "popular" by DWA standards seems like a different kind of popular to me. KFP doesn't seem like a household name, like Shrek, and it doesn't have a prominent, devoted fanbase, like HTTYD does.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 05, 2014, 02:20:55 PM
Just give me a Puss 'n Boots sequel. That's all I want.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 05, 2014, 02:45:25 PM
You'll get your wish...in 2018. (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni57359533/)

To be honest, the timing seems really crappy to me. There is a Puss in Boots TV show that's coming to Netflix and is supposed to keep the franchise fresh in the meantime, but who knows how long it will last? A theatrical sequel seven years after the original seems unwise to me.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Spark Of Spirit on August 05, 2014, 02:52:32 PM
SEVEN years.  :o

Oy vey.

Well, here's hoping its worth it.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Skeeter Valentine on August 05, 2014, 06:37:36 PM
Hopefully they'll die out and take their derivative storytelling, cliche characters, repetitive jokes, and lazy animation with them.

And before someone says DRAGON, keep in mind DWA involvement in those movies was fairly minimal.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 05, 2014, 08:07:05 PM
I hope DreamWorks Classics and its IP lands somewhere decent. As Classic Media, they weren't a very competent steward, but I don't think that things like Rocky and Bullwinkle deserve to be buried in a vault, and they do have those old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials too. They do own a lot of old characters like Lassie and Underdog that had their time in the sun long ago and probably shouldn't be brought back, though.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daikun on August 12, 2014, 08:32:41 PM
Lawsuit time! (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/onlocation/la-et-ct-dreamworks-lawsuit-20140811-story.html)
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 18, 2014, 04:38:06 PM
And on top of that, Lassie is now a top priority for DWA (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/business/media/lassie-as-salesdog-one-more-trip-to-the-well.html).

I understand that they have to make something of their Classic Media acquisition, but to be honest, if they couldn't count on Mr. Peabody & Sherman to turn a profit for them quickly enough, why do they have any hopes for Lassie?
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daikun on August 18, 2014, 09:09:12 PM
Ugh... Lassie? Really?

That show was so bland.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Avaitor on August 18, 2014, 11:35:50 PM
Yeah, I don't see Lassie turning out well for them.

Oh, and apparently Dreamworks is working on a Peabody & Sherman series, I believe for Netflix. That's actually a better idea, since I don't think the characters really lend themselves to a movie. I know they can work as a short subject series, however.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daxdiv on August 19, 2014, 12:30:20 AM
Let me guess, Timmy is going to fall down the well to another dimension and Lassie has to save him?
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on August 19, 2014, 01:10:20 AM
Quote from: Avaitor on August 18, 2014, 11:35:50 PM
Yeah, I don't see Lassie turning out well for them.

Oh, and apparently Dreamworks is working on a Peabody & Sherman series, I believe for Netflix. That's actually a better idea, since I don't think the characters really lend themselves to a movie. I know they can work as a short subject series, however.

Where did you read about this series? I thought DWA had basically decided the Jay Ward characters weren't worth their time once they took the write-down on the movie (the way they handled that still bothers me; they figured the thing was gonna fail and so decided to get the pain out of the way, while it seems like they REALLY wanted ROTG and Turbo to be hits)
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daikun on August 19, 2014, 01:34:57 AM
Quote from: Nameless on August 19, 2014, 01:10:20 AMWhere did you read about this series?

Animation Guild Blog (http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/animation-work-in-and-around-los-angeles.html)

Of course, it's a sketchy source at best, so you never know.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daikun on September 28, 2014, 12:17:13 AM
DWA may get bought out. (http://news.yahoo.com/japans-softbank-talks-buy-dreamworks-media-reports-032839203--finance.html)
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: LumRanmaYasha on September 28, 2014, 12:28:25 AM
The source of the rumor is unidentified, so I'm taking this with a grain of salt. Considering their financial difficulties, though, it wouldn't surprise me if the talks are happening as reported, and Softbank does buy them out if negotiations are settled.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on September 29, 2014, 06:07:22 PM
Sale talks have cooled. (http://online.wsj.com/articles/softbank-dreamworks-animation-talks-cool-1412025651)

This isn't the first time a sale's been rumored. Katzenberg offered DWA to Viacom circa 2007 (http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/12/paramount200712), and News Corp. kicked the tires in 2012 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dreamworks-animation-fox-deal-news-corp-drama-374205); I also recall reading that in 2009, Katzenberg shopped DWA to Comcast (where he tried to sway them to let him be CEO of NBCUniversal), Disney, and Time Warner, but they all said no. I don't think Hollywood is interested in owning DWA outright now, considering how problem-riddled it is and how egotistical Katzenberg is.
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Daikun on November 12, 2014, 07:45:01 PM
Potential merger talks with Hearst and...Hasbro? (https://deadline.com/2014/11/dreamworks-animation-hasbro-merger-negotiations-in-works-1201282751)

I'm thinking the shellshocked Hub veterans are feeling a bit desperate...
Title: Re: What will become of DreamWorks Animation?
Post by: Nameless on November 12, 2014, 10:52:06 PM
There's no talk of Hearst buying DWA outright, just of them investing in AwesomenessTV.

I haven't said this here, but when The Hub existed, I felt that Hasbro buying DWA would have been a fairly easy way to bolster Hasbro's forays into family entertainment. It seems kind of odd for them to do this now that they're on the way to bowing out of Discovery Family...and Hasbro could well join the list of Hollywood outsiders whose investments came to nothing or ended up blowing up in their faces (e.g. Transamerica, Coca-Cola, Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi).

Another kink in the deal: a lot of valuable Hasbro IP, like Transformers and G.I. Joe, is locked up elsewhere. Who's to say that Paramount won't have a freakout and start cranking out more of those just to hold onto the rights, like Sony is doing with Spider-Man?

There is, however, a possibility that Penguins of Madagascar could perform poorly and scuttle the deal. And having Jeffrey Katzenberg be chairman of the combined company? And calling it "DreamWorks-Hasbro"? Are we sure this is 2014 and not the late 1990s? This sounds like a possible deal from Hell, the way it's set up now.