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'DreamWorks, LLC', also known as 'DreamWorks Pictures', 'DreamWorks SKG', or 'DreamWorks Studios' is a major 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. Its most successful title to date is ''Shrek 2''^[1].
DreamWorks began as an ambitious attempt by media moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen to create a new Hollywood studio. But in December 2005, the founders agreed to sell the studio to Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures. The sale was completed in February 2006.
DreamWorks' animation arm was spun-off in 2004, into DreamWorks Animation SKG, Its films will be distributed worldwide by Paramount, but the animation studio will remain independent of Paramount/Viacom.

Contents
History
Trivia
Feature Films
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008 and upcoming films
TV series and specials
Musical artists
References
External links

History

The company was founded following Katzenberg's forced resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. At the suggestion of Spielberg's friend, the two made an agreement with long-time Katzenberg collaborator 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.
The first feature length DreamWorks film to be released was ''The Peacemaker'', in 1997, although a failed TV pilot called ''Dear Diary'' was put into limited theatrical release in 1996. It went on to win an Oscar for Best Short Film.
In 1999, 2000 and 2001, DreamWorks won three consecutive best picture Oscars for ''American Beauty'', ''Gladiator'' and ''A Beautiful Mind'' (the later two with Universal).
DreamWorks Records, the company's record label (the first project of which was George Michael's ''Older''), 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.^[2]

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 to create some of the highest grossing animated hits of all time, such as ''Antz'' (1998), ''Shrek'' (2001), its sequel ''Shrek 2'' (2004), ''Shark Tale'' (2004), ''Madagascar'' (2005), ''Over the Hedge'' (2006), and ''Flushed Away'' (2006). Based on their success, DreamWorks Animation has spun off as its own publicly traded company. In fact, PDI/DreamWorks has emerged as the main competitor to Pixar in the age of computer-generated animation, and is based in Redwood City, California.
In recent years DreamWorks has scaled back. It stopped plans to build a high-tech studio, sold its music division, and only produces one television series, ''Las Vegas''.
Recently, David Geffen admitted that DreamWorks had come close to bankruptcy twice. Under Katzenberg's watch, the studio suffered a $125 million loss on , 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. ^[3].
On March 17 2006 Paramount agreed to sell the DreamWorks live-action library to a group led by George Soros for $900 million. Paramount retained the worldwide distribution rights to these films, as well as various auxiliary rights, including music publishing, sequels, and merchandising -- this includes films that had been made by Paramount and DreamWorks. The sale was completed on May 8 2006. ^[4]

Trivia

★ The initials "SKG" (below the logo 'DreamWorks') stand for the company's co-founders, 'S'pielberg (film director and founder of Amblin Entertainment), 'K'atzenberg (former head of The Walt Disney Company's film studios), and 'G'effen (founder of Geffen Records).

★ The theme heard during the DreamWorks logo at the beginning of most DreamWorks films was composed by John Williams.

★ Currently, United International Pictures, a joint venture of Paramount and Universal, has the rights to release DreamWorks' films internationally.

Feature Films

1997

★ ''Amistad''

★ ''Mousehunt''

★ ''The Peacemaker''

1998

★ ''Antz''

★ ''Deep Impact'' (co-production with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Paulie''

★ ''The Prince of Egypt''

★ ''Saving Private Ryan'' (with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Small Soldiers'' (with Universal Studios)

1999

★ ''American Beauty''

★ ''Forces of Nature''

★ ''Galaxy Quest''

★ ''The Haunting''

★ ''In Dreams''

★ ''The Love Letter''

2000

★ ''Almost Famous'' (co-production with Columbia Pictures)

★ ''Cast Away'' (co-production with 20th Century Fox)

★ ''Chicken Run'' (co-production with Aardman Animations and Pathé)

★ ''The Contender'' (co-production with Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG)

★ ''An Everlasting Piece'' (co-production with Columbia Pictures)

★ ''Gladiator'' (co-production with Universal Pictures)

★ '' (Direct to Video)

★ ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' (co-production with 20th Century Fox)

★ ''Meet the Parents'' (co-production with Universal Pictures)

★ ''The Road to El Dorado''

★ ''Road Trip''

★ ''Small Time Crooks''

★ ''Walk the Talk'' (Direct to Video)

★ ''What Lies Beneath'' (co-production with 20th Century Fox)

2001

★ ''Shrek''

★ ''The Last Castle''

★ ''A.I.: Artificial Intelligence'' (co-production with Warner Bros.)

★ ''A Beautiful Mind'' (co-production with Universal Studios)

★ ''The Curse of the Jade Scorpion'' (in association with VCL Communications GmbH)

★ ''Evolution'' (co-production with Columbia Pictures)

★ ''The Mexican'' (co-production with Newmarket Films)

2002

★ ''Catch Me If You Can''

★ ''Hollywood Ending''

★ ''Minority Report'' (co-production with 20th Century Fox)

★ ''The Ring''

★ ''Road to Perdition'' (with 20th Century Fox)

★ ''

★ ''The Time Machine'' (with Warner Bros.)

★ ''The Tuxedo''

2003

★ ''Anything Else''

★ ''Biker Boyz''

★ ''The Cat in the Hat'' (co-production with Universal Studios)

★ ''Head of State''

★ ''House of Sand and Fog''

★ ''Millennium Actress'' (Go Fish Pictures division)

★ ''Old School''

★ ''Paycheck'' (co-production with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Seabiscuit'' (co-production with Universal Studios and Spyglass Entertainment)

★ ''

2004

★ ''

★ ''Collateral'' (with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Envy'' (with Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment)

★ ''Eurotrip''

★ '' 2'' (Distribution by Go Fish Pictures division)

★ ''Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events'' (co-production with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies)

★ ''Meet the Fockers'' (co-production with Universal Studios)

★ ''Shark Tale'' (distribution only)

★ ''Shrek 2'' (distribution only)

★ ''The Stepford Wives'' (remake of 1975 film) (co-production with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Surviving Christmas''

★ ''The Terminal''

★ ''Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!''

2005

★ ''The Chumscrubber'' (Distribution by Go Fish Pictures division)

★ ''

★ ''The Island'' (with Warner Bros.)

★ ''Just like Heaven''

★ ''Madagascar''

★ ''Match Point'' (co-production with BBC Films)

★ ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (co-production with Columbia Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment)

★ ''Munich'' (co-production with Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment and Alliance Atlantis)

★ ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' (co-production with Revolution Studios)

★ ''Red Eye''

★ ''The Ring Two''

★ '' (distribution only, co-production between DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animations)

★ ''War of the Worlds'' (co-production with Paramount Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)

2006

★ ''Dreamgirls'' (with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Flags of Our Fathers'' (with Warner Bros.)

★ ''Flushed Away'' (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)

★ ''The Last Kiss'' (distribution only) (with Lakeshore Entertainment)

★ ''Over the Hedge'' (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)

★ '' (distribution only, produced by Constantin Film)

★ ''She's the Man'' (with Lakeshore Entertainment)

★ ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' (with Warner Bros.)

2007

★ ''Bee Movie'' (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Blades of Glory'' (with MTV Films)

★ ''Disturbia''

★ ''Norbit''

★ ''Shrek the Third'' (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Sweeney Todd'' (with Warner Bros.)

★ ''The Heartbreak Kid''

★ ''Things We Lost in the Fire''

★ ''Transformers'' (with Paramount Pictures)

2008 and upcoming films

★ ''When Worlds Collide'' (with Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Lincoln''

★ ''

★ ''The Lovely Bones'' (co-production with FilmFour)

★ ''Revolutionary Road'' (co-production with BBC Films)

★ ''Will''

★ ''Tintin''

★ ''Shrek 4'' (distribution only through Paramount Pictures)

★ ''Ruler Movie)'' (with Miramax Films)

TV series and specials

Main articles: DreamWorks Television

Musical artists

Main articles: DreamWorks Records

References

1. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?studio=dreamworks.htm
2. Stark, Phyllis, "Toby Keith topped country charts, shook up Music Row," ''Billboard magazine'', December 24, 2005, p. YE-18.
3. http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/11/news/fortune500/viacom_dreamworks.reut/index.htm
4. http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-17-2006/0004322250&EDATE=

External links

★ Official webpage

★

★ DreamWorks fan site