Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg is a prominent American business executive and entrepreneur known for his substantial contributions to the film industry, particularly during his tenure at Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. Born in Manhattan in 1950, he began his career as a talent agent before rapidly ascending the ranks at Paramount, where he played a pivotal role in producing iconic films like *Star Trek: The Motion Picture*, *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, and *Beverly Hills Cop*. Katzenberg later joined Disney, where his leadership helped revitalize animated filmmaking, leading to successful releases such as *The Lion King* and *Aladdin*, and facilitating a partnership with Pixar.
In 1994, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, launching a new major studio that produced critically acclaimed films like *Shrek*. Despite some challenges, such as near bankruptcy and a contentious departure from Disney, Katzenberg's ventures have continued to influence the animation landscape. He later established DreamWorks Animation, which achieved significant success before being acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016. A notable figure in political fundraising, Katzenberg has been involved in supporting various campaigns, including those of Barack Obama and Kamala Harris. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to philanthropic efforts and has received multiple awards for his contributions to the arts and humanitarian causes.
Jeffrey Katzenberg
BUSINESS EXECUTIVE AND ENTREPRENEUR
With his innovative thinking and leadership, Katzenberg made significant contributions to the profitability of Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. He was a cofounder, with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, of DreamWorks SKG, the first new major studio in Hollywood in several decades.
AREAS OF ACHIEVEMENT: Business; entertainment
Early Life
Jeffrey Katzenberg was born in Manhattan in the last days of 1950. The son of a well-to-do stockbroker and his wife, Katzenberg grew up in comfortable circumstances and attended private schools. Diminutive even into adulthood, he had the nickname "Squirt." When still a young teenager, he worked in the successful mayoral campaign of John Lindsay and was hired by him subsequently for the mayor’s failed bid for the presidency in 1972. Katzenberg attended, but did not graduate from, New York University in the early 1970s. Following that he became a talent agent and then joined the New York office of Paramount Pictures. He served as an executive assistant to the chairman Barry Diller and subsequently as the director for marketing.
Life’s Work
Katzenberg rose in the ranks and relocated to Los Angeles to become the vice president of programming for Paramount Television in 1977 while still in his twenties. Tasked with reinvigorating the Star Trek franchise, he helped the production and release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). He did well enough to be promoted to senior vice president of production for the studio’s film division in 1980 and then was promoted again to president of production for films and television in 1982. Among the films approved by him were the wildly successful trio of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Airplane! (1980), and Beverly Hills Cop (1984).
When Michael Eisner, the president of Paramount Pictures, moved over to Walt Disney studios as chairman in 1984, Katzenberg went with him to take charge of the Disney motion-picture division. He was tasked with revitalizing film production for adult audiences under the studio’s Hollywood, Miramax, and Touchstone labels. The films Katzenberg fostered included the hit comedies Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and Three Men and a Baby (1987). By the time of his rancorous departure, Katzenberg had helped the studio diversify its product and rise from the doldrums of tepid "family-friendly" features to claim a place in the very top echelon of Hollywood.
In the late 1980s and 1990s Katzenberg was especially instrumental in reviving Disney’s flagging animation fortunes by greenlighting such successful releases as The Little Mermaid (1989), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), Toy Story (1995), and Beauty and the Beast (1991), an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture. Perhaps his greatest coup was partnering Disney with the successful computer animation company Pixar. This collaboration continued to result in one successful film after another through the 1990s and into the twenty-first century. Ten years after Katzenberg's arrival, Disney was the world’s most profitable film studio. Under his decade-long aegis profits reached some $8.5 billion, a sixfold increase.
Despite, or possibly because of, Katzenberg's success at Disney, he and Eisner had a fractious falling out when Katzenberg was denied ascension to the company’s presidency after the accidental death of the incumbent, Frank Wells. Katzenberg then resigned or was forced out of Disney, and he promptly sued for substantial damages. Unpleasant charges and countercharges issued from both sides, and he was eventually awarded an out-of-court settlement of $280 million. In court, Eisner admitted having said about his once-close colleague: "I hate the little midget."
Katzenberg then joined with media mogul David Geffen and director Steven Spielberg in 1994 to form DreamWorks SKG, the first seemingly successful effort in decades to establish a new major studio. The partners were each said to have contributed more than $33 million to finance the studio. The ambitious deals the company entered into included supplying television series to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for seven years, the Home Box Office (HBO) channel with a slate of up to one hundred films over ten years, and technology company Microsoft with interactive computer game software.
In the division of labor at DreamWorks, Katzenberg was in charge of animation, Spielberg oversaw live-action production, and Geffen directed the music production and interactive media. Increasingly utilizing computer animation, Katzenberg produced several successful films, notably the Shrek series. The first Shrek (2001) won an Academy Award. However, DreamWorks did not live up to its potential and apparently came close to filing for bankruptcy. In 2005 the studio was sold to the media giant Viacom. Still, the animation division, which in 2004 was spun off as a separate entity under Katzenberg’s leadership, largely proved successful. Katzenberg later concentrated on developing 3-D film processes and shifted all of DreamWorks Animation (DWA)'s animated film production using only that technology. In 2016, DWA was acquired by NBCUniversal for nearly $4 million. Katzenberg, who had been CEO of DWA at the time of the sale, became chair of DreamWorks New Media (DWN), although he stepped down from this position in 2017. He started a video streaming platform, Quibi, in 2020, but it shut down in just six months. In 2024, he raised $460 million for his new investment firm, Wndr.Co.
By the 2010s, Katzenberg was estimated to have amassed a fortune of some eight hundred million dollars. He frequently used his wealth to support political causes, and was a major supporter of Barack Obama even before his successful presidential bid in 2008. During Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns, Katzenberg served as a prominent fundraiser. In 2023, Katzenberg was named as one of the co-chairs of President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and was also a financial supporter. After Biden dropped out of the race in 2024, Katzenberg became co-chair of Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.
Katzenberg married Marion Siegel, once a kindergarten teacher, in 1975 and the couple had twins, Laura and David. His son followed in his footsteps and entered the television production industry. Katzenberg was also highly active in charitable giving and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2008. In 2012, he was presented with a humanitarian award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of his charity work.
Significance
The continuing evolution of entertainment media, particularly motion pictures, was at least partly influenced by the vision of Katzenberg. He was one of the cadre of rapidly rising young executives who understood the psychology and power of mass communication, particularly television. He made use of that knowledge in producing and marketing "brand" films and programs that appealed to a mass audience. For instance, his revival of the seemingly tired Star Trek led to a revitalized series of films. The resurgent popularity of animated features in the 1990s and their continued success into the twenty-first century was largely driven by Katzenberg's understanding that the genre was merely moribund, not completely dead, and could be elevated to the same level of critical respect and mass appeal as live-action films. He has even been called the "inventor" of the modern animation film. Although Katzenberg was not always right in his choices, he prospered in setting the stage for the future of technology-driven multimedia.
Bibliography
Berrin, Danielle. "Jeffrey Katzenberg: Mogul on a Mission." Jewish Journal. Tribe Media, 17 July 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Bowles, Scott. "Katzenberg Follows the Mickey Mouse Master's Formula." USA Today. USA Today, 9 May 2013. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
Costa, Cameron. "Hollywood’s Jeffrey Katzenberg Bets on Cybersecurity, Avoids Digital Media as He Seeks Out Startups." CNBC, 4 June 2024, www.cnbc.com/2024/06/04/jeffrey-katzenberg-wndrco-raises-460-million.html. Accessed 1 Sept. 2024.
Grover, Ronald. The Disney Touch: How a Daring Management Team Revived an Entertainment Empire. Homewood, Ill.: Business One Irwin, 1991. Print.
Katzenberg, Jeffrey. "Biden Did What Was Best for the Country." The New York Times, 24 July 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/opinion/katzenberg-biden-kamala-harris.html. Accessed 1 Sept. 2024.
Kimmel, Daniel M. The Dream Team: The Rise and Fall of DreamWorks. Lanham, Md.: Ivan R. Dee, 2007. Print.
LaPorte, Nicole. The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2010. Print.
Stewart, James B. Disney War. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005. Print.