UPDATE: I’m also hearing that Transformers and Transformers 2 writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (also, Mission: Impossible III, Eagle Eye, Star Trek) may hang with DreamWorks.
DreamWorks has started making its post-Paramount moves regarding executives, staff and producers.
Here’s what I can tell you so far: the word I have is that Adam Goodman will be staying at Viacom (but not to replace Brad Weston at Paramount, as I’ve already reported), with one or two executives following him. Some people tell me Goodman’s title will be president of production. Holly Bario and Mark Sourian will end up as co-presidents of production at Dreamworks 2.0 with about four execs following them. No surprises there. (And I’ve already told you that DreamWorks COO Jeff Small will follow studio chief Stacey Snider.) In all, DreamWorks will be downsizing its 150 staff by about 15%, I’m told. Yesterday was especially tense. As an insider descibed it, “Staff were getting called into rooms to let them know if they were staying or going. One room, with Holly and Mark in it, meant you were staying. The other, with the CFO in it, meant you were going.” Still, I’m assured that anyone not moving over will continue to be paid until their Paramount contract ends. But that’s cold comfort.
As far as producers, Ivan Reitman/Tom Pollock’s Montecito Picture Company will not be moving to DreamWorks 2.0. Of course, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald will be staying with DreamWorks. Nina Jacobson moves as does Sam Mendes. Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films is also about to confirm it’s following DreamWorks. The producers are learning which projects are going where as DreamWorks and Paramount separate.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.


There you go, complete proof that people fail upwards in this business. An unpleasant Pillsbury Doughboy, no taste, whose only qualification is a long enough tongue to get up Spielberg’s butt, Adam Goodman was almost let go when Stacy Snider came on board the place. It’s no surprise that she pushed him overboard at last, what IS shocking is that Paramount would offer him a job. If they did not he would have NO WHERE to turn in an industry where he has offended every agent, manager and filmmaker he has ever worked with. His future is grim in any event, because the Brad Westons and John Leshers of the world will be on to his viper-like ways pretty quick. The rest of the execs were pretty good I hear Beaubaire has two offers already.
Beaubaire is a solid exec and has been since his days at warner brothers.
He gets a lot of respect from lit people in town.
People can say what they want about Adam, but he was largely responsible for the moneymakers on the D’Works slate over the past few years. And everyone knows you can behave however you want in this town if your films are making money. He’ll be fine.
Yah Amblin’, I am sure it would be SHOCKING that Paramount would want to keep the person responsible for Transformers, Eagle Eye and pretty much every other live-action movie they’ve released in the past 3 years that’s actually made money (minus Iron Man, which wasn’t theirs anyways). Sorry he passed on your CRAPPY spec/client/project/self, but then again so did the REST of the town which would probably explain why you have so much spare time to fallaciously BASH people anonymously on the internet.
(directed towards the last two posters)
Hey Adam, good to see you here. Do you think SS would be pleased to see you taking credit for Transformers? Wasn’t he the guy who wanted to get it made? And Eagle Eye? Wasn’t that SS’s actual idea? That’s what the writers say. In fact, what was your idea over at Dreamworks? No worries, credit grabbing and brown nosing never go out of style in Hollywood.
I know this will get responses but it’s the truth.
It is so easy to crap on executives. I used to do it until I became friends with several and I began to see what their jobs are really like. In a word, thankless.
They are not allowed to be wrong, confused or imperfect. They are pressured for surefire hits and can’t miss projects from bosses who insist on higher and higher quarterly profits no matter what. They live in fear and they perpetuate as a means of survival.
So before we condemn AG or anyone think about it. Could you do any better in this system?
All the people at these studios want to make great films and do great things but we’ve got a system that’s broken from the ground up. Unless we have the courage to change it, we get the executives we deserve.
Well, they may only be downsizing by 15%, but I’ve heard that they are absolutely slaughtering their Story Dept. 90% of their union readers are being let go or reassigned to Paramount. Lots of staff cuts.
I wonder how all these remaining DreamWorks execs will function with just two readers. Guess their weekend read is about to get a lot bigger….