Word: geffen
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...doubted the artistic talent at DreamWorks SKG when it was launched in 1994 amid hype befitting its superstar founders, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Overlooked in the face of such Tinseltown royalty, though, was that none were proven CEOs--a niggling detail that has become hard to miss after a series of gaffes since the trio sold shares of its animation division to the public last year...
That is hardly the pace-setting media juggernaut the founders, with their impeccable pedigrees, envisioned. Spielberg is the creative force behind Jaws, Jurassic Park and the new War of the Worlds. Katzenberg was Disney's animation genius. Geffen discovered the Eagles and introduced Guns N' Roses to the world. Together the moguls planned to move beyond movies and music to TV, toys and the Internet...
Their dreams aren't dead yet. But some Wall Street analysts wonder whether the moguls need to hire a new CEO, a role Geffen took on at investors' request. Spielberg just wants to make movies; Katzenberg is CEO of the publicly traded animation company, which remains majority owned by DreamWorks' founders and early investors. Success has been spotty on all fronts. DreamWorks never built the studio complex it had planned and gave up on its TV, record and Internet ambitions. Its animated movies--other than the Shrek franchise--have been unspectacular. "Probably our eyes were bigger than our stomachs," Geffen...
...before setting release dates. There are so many new releases that retailers afford each a much shorter shelf life. And with 80% of U.S. households owning DVD players, fewer people are rushing out to replace their old tapes--slowing DVD sales. Those shifts have made forecasting sales difficult and, Geffen says, "sort of blindsided us," helping lead to what has come to be known as the Shrek wreck. Early this year, the company told analysts that it expected to sell 55 million Shrek 2 videos--a figure it has lowered to about 40 million. That's still a phenomenal number...
...guests. They included Pop Artist Andy Warhol, Actress Rosanna Arquette (who co-starred with the bride in Desperately Seeking Susan) and Brat Pack Members Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson. TV Talk Show Host David Letterman was also there, as were Cher (in purple hair), Diane Keaton, Record Producer David Geffen and Penn's friend Timothy Hutton. But the reporters never saw Madonna or Penn enter or leave...