Jeffrey Katzenberg (born December 21, 1950) is an American film producer and media proprietor. He is most known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994; and co-founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation.
Before Shrek[]
Prior to founding DreamWorks, Katzenberg had worked closely with Michael Eisner at Paramount Pictures, before the two moved to the Walt Disney Company in 1984. Katzenberg was made the head of Disney Animation, where he would oversee the production of several animated projects. Two in particular, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, would pave the way for the famous Disney Renaissance. However, after the release of The Lion King (the studio's most profitable animated film during the 1990's), Katzenberg would leave the company due to bad blood between him and Eisner.
Collaborating with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, the three would found DreamWorks SKG. This would be a studio meant to create new projects in response to the hardships the three had faced during those times. Thanks to his experience at Disney, Katzenberg would be named as head of the animation department, Here, he would carry over several ideas he had initially pitched at Disney, including Antz, The Prince of Egypt, and Chicken Run.
Shrek[]
Jeffery Katzenberg would serve as one of the producers of Shrek, using the film to actively mock his former employer, the Walt Disney Company. He would also use the project as an opportunity to further push the new medium of computer-animated films, citing the film as "not evolutionary, it's revolutionary." The film, having an infamously troubled production, would go on to be one of the highest grossing films of the year and earn critical acclaim. Shrek would also be the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and pave the way for one of the most successful film franchises of all-time.
Katzenberg would continue his involvement with the Shrek franchise as executive producer, announcing plans for four total sequels. Later on however, he would narrow it down to three after his love of the fourth film's storyline as "Shrek's ending." Along with executive producing the Shrek sequels, Katzenberg would oversee all future DreamWorks Animation productions beginning in 2004. This would see the start of three more major animated franchises for the studio-- Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train your Dragon. Unfortunately, after an emphasis on multiple animated releases per year and massive financial losses, Katzenberg would progressively have less of a presence in the studio's outputs. When the studio laid off multiple employees in 2014-15, and the eventual Comcast buyout in 2016, Katzenberg would step down as CEO of DreamWorks Animation. He would however remain as the chairman for DreamWorks New Media, a division that includes the likes of AwesomenessTV.
After DreamWorks[]
Despite being named as chairman of DreamWorks New Media after the Comcast buyout, he left for unknown reasons. He would then resurface having created a new media and technology company called WndrCo. He was also the founder of Quibi, a defunct short-form mobile video platform.