Dreamworks Animation

DREAMWORKS

ANIMATION SKG

COMPANY

HISTORY

• Started by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994

• 2000: DreamWorks Animation became its own division of DreamWorks

• 2001: DreamWorks released Shrek, its biggest blockbuster to that point

• 2004: DreamWorks Animation SKG became its own publicly-traded company

• Top 15 of Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For

DREAMWORKS’

DREAMS

COMPANY

CULTURE

• Management strategy:1. Fostering spontaneous discussions2. Encouraging risk-taking3. Openly discussing mistakes4. Sharing successes5. Nurturing professional development

• Incentives to reduce stress• Providing a sense of security• “Postmortems”• Mid-project interviews

STRENGTHS

• Great work environment • Works in small groups

• Best animation equipment

• Less reliable on advertising dollars (also a weakness)

• Use of sequels & trilogies makes loyal consumers

WEAKNESSES

• New company with less data & revenue records

• No strong financial backing

• Only makes 2 movies per year

• Swings in ticket sales and marketing

• Use of sequels and only animated movies could cause limited audience

• Lack of infrastructure to market and release films worldwide

• High cost of movies ($150 million per movie)

BRING THE DREAM BACK TO DREAMWORKSImproving Productivity While Fostering Creativity

• Reassess DreamWorks Animation’s present management style

• Need to evoke more creative, unique and original ideas for new films

• Employees too comfortable with many benefits

• DreamWorks Animation’s mission statement: “the animation…should be as

good as the talent within the company that creates it.”

HOW TO BRING BACK THE DREAM

“That’ll do, Donkey. That’ll do.”