At the end of the nineties, Spielberg founded a new Hollywood studio, DreamWorks SKG. With executives Jeffrey Katzenberg David Geffen. It was the first movie studio to be launched in decades. Spielberg himself mentioned he wanted to build a studio driven by ideas. Not by the corporate politics of most Hollywood studios. The first film under the DreamWorks banner was the George Clooney film The Peacemaker. It was followed by the Spielberg directed Amistad. A film where a group of slaves take over ship after being snatched from West Africa.
Spielberg also used DreamWorks as a vehicle to produce film and television for other artists. The same way he did with his previous production company Amblin Entertainment. He produced Almost Famous and American Beauty. Along with two films starring Russell Crowe, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. The latter co-produced with the film’s director Ron Howard. Even the sitcom Spin City with Michael J. Fox and producer Gary David Goldberg.
In the decade since its founding, the studio has never been an actual studio. Much like Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks relied on having an office at the Universal lot. DreamWorks was even made an offer to buy Universal before it was sold to NBC. The irony was several years later, when they sold DreamWorks to Paramount Pictures. A deal Spielberg soon found to be a headache. He then sought help from a group of investors in India to help buy DreamWorks back.
Another shocker came about as DreamWorks signed a thirty picture deal with Disney. Many expected them to return to Universal because of Spielberg’s long history with the studio. There are those who find these change of plans to be odd. Katzenberg helped Spielberg form the studio after being fired Disney executive Michael Eisner. The same executive who gave him his start at former DreamWorks owner Paramount Pictures. Only time will tell how this deal with Disney will turn out.
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