UPDATE ON KATZENBERG AND DWA

September 2, 2016
|In Animation & Visual Effects
|By jchan

From ASIFA-SF Newsletter, Sept 2016 Issue.

Untitled

UPDATE ON KATZENBERG AND DWA

On Aug. 22 the sale of DWA for $3.8 billion was completed. NBCUniversal now owns DreamWorks Animation and Katzenberg is chair of DreamWorks New Media,that includes digital-focused properties such as AwesomenessTV. Before the sale was finalized he attended previews of his upcoming films Trolls and Boss Baby. Katzenberg is expected to pursue a his next venture in an office close to his Beverly Hills home. It is still unclear how involved Illumination’s chief Chris Meledandri will be. It is assumed Universal will greenlight two DWA films a year including Shrek 5 and Shadows for 2019 releases. Meledandri is already responsible for sequels to The Secret Life of Pets, Despicable Me and Minions so overseeing two more films a year may not be a realistic workload. NBCU’s CEO Jeff Shell says, “I don’t think Chris has even determined what he wants his involvement to be.”