DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg Views Bold Expansion (Exclusive)

Is Jeffrey Katzenberg going to grow his empire? If DreamWorks Animation goes it alone when its alliance with Vital finishes in 2012, Katzenberg is thinking about developing a co-op to distribute third-party films additionally to DWA's lucrative animated game titles.our editor recommends'Puss in Boots': The way it Won the Weekend Box Office, But Disappointed Wall StreetDreamWorks Animation Stretches Chief Marketing Officer Anne Globe's Contract This type of dramatic move would open start up business possibilities for DWA but require additional overhead, for example new marketing and distribution executives. The process might be a boost towards the public company, whose small slate of films is looked at by Wall Street. When Puss in Boots opened up March. 28 to $34.a million, hammered with a freakishly early nor'easter, Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible complained it had been "a whole lot worse than our bearish [forecasts]," and also the stock dropped 8 percent to shut at $18.56 on March. 31. PHOTOS: 'Puss in Boots' and 9 Other Wrongly Sexy Cartoons To assist explore three key options -- including self-disbursing only DWA game titles or settling a brand new cope with Vital or any other studio -- Katzenberg has employed Chuck Viane, who walked lower as Disney's longtime leader of distribution this season. "One thing we've considered is developing a co-op by which we'd distribute films using their company independent producers, and you will find even some small-majors that may want to have that type of scale to service them and to lower their costs," Katzenberg informs The Hollywood Reporter. "They are large ideas and large possibilities which are about much not only marketing and disbursing 2 or 3 DreamWorks game titles annually.Inch Reteaming with Viane -- whom Katzenberg and former Disney studio chief Dick Prepare introduced to Disney 27 years back -- fortifies Katzenberg's negotiating position, since Viane has deep ties using the theater-owner community. "When I told Jeffrey, a part of my problem continues to be responding to the telephone all these folks who wish to have these conversations," Viane states. PHOTOS: Professionals in the Oscars Katzenberg underscores he doesn't favor anyone option at this time. He expects to begin talks with Vital and then any other studio by spring before determining his course by summer time 2012. Vital's Kaira Gray wants a greater distribution fee compared to 8 percent DWA now pays Katzenberg isn't prone to complement. "Clearly, being having a major studio, you will find the advantage of their infrastructure. And many of these companies have affiliated companies that will help you," he states, adding that Vital has been doing an incredible job together with his movies, that have produced $10 billion. "But determining your own enterprise provides extensive advantages. You're not depending on another person, you're never going for a back chair to anybody else's agenda, you're never incompatible with someone else's needs or problems or arranging." DWA wouldn't need to start on your own, either, because it already handles its very own consumer items. Still, additionally to making a theatrical operation, it would need to setup a house video division (which Vital now handles, together with television sales), but Katzenberg states that's hardly "brain surgery,Inch observing that DWA COO Ann Daly practical knowledge for the reason that arena. She headed worldwide home theatre at DreamWorks SKG -- the studio that Katzenberg produced with David Geffen and Steven Spielberg in 1994 and that DWA was spun off in 2004. If Katzenberg does enter into distribution, he wouldn't be remaking DWA right into a latest version from the original DreamWorks. However the move would raise an intriguing scenario: There'd be absolutely nothing to prevent current DreamWorks partners Spielberg and Stacey Snider from dealing with DWA when their multiyear cope with Disney finishes in 2015. Related Subjects Jeffrey Katzenberg