If there’s a Hollywood studio deal that rivals Disney’s acquisition of Pixar Studios last year, it’s the Paramount/DreamWorks deal. Paramount picked up DreamWorks Pictures and its decent library of films in a deal that was completed early last year. To the casual observer, the deal looked pretty good, giving Paramount several Academy recognized titles in their first year together (Dreamgirls, Letters from Iwo Jima) and some massive hits this year (Transformers, Shrek 3).
But all is not well in La-La Land apparently. According to Variety, David Geffen and Steven Spielberg are considering leaving Paramount, and taking the DreamWorks name with them. Things would have to be pretty bad to get Spielberg and Geffen to walk, since the name is the only thing they’d get to take with them. Most of the DreamWorks employees and the library of films the studio had built would remain Paramount property, and anyone who has been a Star Trek fan for any amount of time know how possessive Paramount can be.
The difficulties stem from a name that’s no stranger to controversies such as this: Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone. Redstone’s name is associated with the very public termination of Paramount’s relationswhip with Tom Cruise and, more recently, the very public comments about his daughter’s “little to no contribution” towards the Redstone entertainment empire. The problems between Geffen, Spielberg, and Redstone come from an allegation that the Viacom chairperson has cold-shouldered the S and G in DreamWorks SKG, accentuating prior claims of snubs and studio credit grabs.
You’ve probably wondering, “Well, what about the K in DreamWorks SKG?” Jeffrey Katzenberg is actually pretty well set at this point. He set up DreamWorks Animation as an independent, autonomous studio, separate from Paramount. The Animation studio has a distribution deal with Paramount, but he operates independently, so snubs and cold-shoulders aren’t really bugging Katzenberg.
Despite the press attention, both sides claim to have a functional working relationship that borders on friendly. Geffen called Variety from his yacht and told the paper that he and Spielberg were happy with Paramount’s handling of their films, naming names of key people involved. Redstone insisted his relationship with the execs is a friendly one, and let’s not forget – this is a man who just publicly bashed his daughter. He’s not one for pulling punches.
In fact, it’s that last part that makes me wonder how much of this is actually real and how much is accentuated by the press. Redstone’s biggest battles have been very public – Tom Cruise, his daughter, etc. Now the allegation is he’s being too quiet? Something just doesn’t add up. I guess we’ll have to watch how things go over the next 15 months, the alleged time span for Spielberg and Geffen to walk, and see whether Redstone starts making public remarks or if this is just being blown out of proportion.
