Katzenberg, Jeffrey

Born in New York, in a Jewish family. Father, Walter Katzenberg, was a stockbroker; mother - Anne Katzenberg (nee Stern; 1926-2012), artist ^{[1] [2]} .

Paramount Pictures

For a short time, Katsenberg tried himself as an acting agent (“talent agent”, an intermediary offering the services of collaborating actors to film studios), but in 1975 he became an assistant to Barry Diller , chairman of the board of directors ( chairman ) Paramount Pictures . Diller appointed Katsenberg to the marketing department and then to the television department, where Katsenberg was tasked with reviving the Star Trek franchise . This series was more successful than Star Trek: The Film ( 1979 ). Some time later, Katzenberg became President of Production under the direct supervision of COO Michael Eisner .

The Walt Disney Company

In 1984 , Eisner became the CEO of The Walt Disney Company . He brought Katzenberg with him and entrusted him with the leadership of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group , including the struggling Walt Disney Feature Animation . Under Katzenberg, the affairs of the company went uphill - during his leadership, the most successful films of the Disney studio were created: “ Who Framed Roger Rabbit ” (1988), “The Little Mermaid ” (1989), “ Beauty and the Beast ” (1991, the only animated film nominated to Oscar as “Best Film”), “ Aladdin ” (1992) and “ The Lion King ” (1994), which until 2003 was the most commercially successful film for family viewing. He also launched the extremely successful partnership between Pixar and Disney , and Disney's acquisition of the Miramax Films film company.

When Eisner's deputy, , died in a helicopter crash in 1994 , Eisner refused to appoint Katzenberg to the vacant president. Katzenberg issued an ultimatum, threatening to leave the company, and was fired. Then he began a lawsuit against Disney to get the $ 280 million that he claimed the studio owed him. And won the process. Probably, even then he had the idea of ​​the future Shrek , the prototype of which is very similar to his former boss - Eisner.

DreamWorks SKG

A year later, Katzenberg founded DreamWorks SKG , together with Stephen Spielberg and David Geffen . According to Forbes magazine, Katzenberg earned $ 800 million in profit from this investment, investing $ 30 million in the business. He was also the producer of the films released by the Prince of Egypt ( 1998 ), ( 2000 ) and Spirit: Soul of the Prairies ( 2002 ).

Having started for health, the studio soon began to experience difficulties - plans to establish a studio campus in Los Angeles were buried when she had to sell her record label and video game division. The company was one step away from bankruptcy twice. The studio suffered the loss of $ 125 million that the film Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas brought, and she also suffered losses due to the fact that the DVD with the movie Shrek 2 was released in an unreasonably large circulation. However, thanks to its animation division, the studio managed to survive the crisis.

In 2004, Dreamworks Animation (DWA) was split into a separate company led by Katzenberg and conducted an extremely successful initial public offering .

DreamWorks was sold to Viacom in December 2005, and since Viacom also owns Paramount, Katzenberg is back in the same company as his former colleagues. [1] [2] [3]

In 2006, Katzenberg appeared in the fifth season of The Apprentice (the Russian version is called “Candidate”). The winners of the show got the opportunity to voice minor characters in the cartoon " Forest Brothers ".

Rewards

He holds the title of Honorary Doctor of Sciences Ringling College of Art and Design (May 2, 2008). In 2013, Katzenberg was awarded the special Oscar for achievements in the field of humanism . In the same year he was awarded the US National Medal in the Arts .

• Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Internet Movie Database