Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Getting Serious?

Reports the L.A. Times:

has tapped respected distribution veteran Chuck Viane to advise the company on a range of distribution options, including the viability of releasing its own movies or finding a new studio to do the job.

"In the next six to nine months we have a very important decision to make in terms of our future distribution," DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said. ...

[M]ore Hollywood studios are angling to get a piece of the increasingly crowded computer-animation business... Four of the top 10 movies at the box office in 2010 were animated films, including "Toy Story 3" and "Shrek Forever After." ...

I was over at DreamWorks Animation today, doing a 401(k) meeting and walking around. Remarkably enough, no artist talked to me about who's going to be distributing the gaggle of features on which he/she is now working. People have shots to get out.

Disney began distributing its own animated features and shorts in the early 1950s. It took Walt about a quarter century to get around to it, but at the time he was branching into feature-length documentaries and live-action films, so it made sense. He was going from "cartoon studio" to "mini-major" ... and soon thereafter an amusement park operator.

Previous to launching Buena Vista Distribution (named for the street the Disney lot sits on), the company had its product distributed by RKO, before that United Artists, and before that Columbia Pictures.

We'll see how a stand-alone distribution company works out for DreamWorks Animation. Perhaps Mr. Spielberg will kick in some live-action offerings to, you know, round out the release slate.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It can't be done. Jerry Beck says so.

alex said...

I believe that the original article went like this:

"Paramount tapped former Disney executive David Stainton to ruin it... sorry, to run it..."

Anonymous said...

Mr. Spielberg could only kick in some live-action offerings, because after the damn ugly Tintin, he's not highly regarded in animation.

Anonymous said...

I think Tintin is going to be a huge hit.

Charles Kenny said...

If they decide to go the digital route, they could save a lot of money and effort and gain a competitive advantage from being first in the field.

I think it'll pay off nicely for them.

Anonymous said...

"If they decide to go the digital route, they could save a lot of money and effort and gain a competitive advantage from being first in the field."


Paramount is distributing their VES screeners online already. No more DVDs through the post, you have to watch the feature film online. And there you already have the next step in place for future Paramount distribution.

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