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The DreamWorks Animation boss looking for a bigger job has taken to sending out emails to the whole company of what looks like a boastful blog (typos and all). This one is pretty boring. But I bet Deadline commenters can do better:
From: Katzenberg, Jeffrey
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 7:49 PM
To: DreamWorks AnimationYikes, another crazy busy day. Bkft with Cyma Zarghami (pres of Nick) to discuss out series. Penguins continues to be very strong (3rd highest rated show 2-11yr). We have already been given a second season pickup for KFP series and it won’t even go on the air until fall 2011 after our feature film has been released. Big promotional/advt pushes lined up for our launch of Megamind and KFP2. Back at studio I spent 2 hrs with Croods and saw fantastic and very imaginative presentations of characters, creatures, and world. REALLY exciting and unique. Then saw story reel of first seq to go into production….good start but lots more to do to get it to great. Discussed latest draft. Hosted the owners of largest private equity fund called TPG on campus ($20B of cash) They want us to know they’re ready, willing, able to support us if there’s ever anything big we want to pursue. Nothing on the horizon but good to have them in the wings and excited about dwa. Went over to employee appreciation lunch for Facilities group. What a fantastic job they’ve done over the last 18 months. New building. Remodeled buildings and commissary. The campus has never looked more beautiful. 3 Cheers to them!!!
Met with Turbo team to discuss latest script which is very big step forward and is very promising project. Met with Mad3 team to review 60pgs of rewrite done by Noah Bombach that are exc!!! Met with Dragons2 team and Dean pitched out next chapter…. very smart /interesting /ambitious. Guardians showed some costume and character designs and some super animation tests (one of the tests Gabe showed of North was a first for me….. he was animated saying f___ you.) FUNNY. No it won’t be in movie. Saw a couple of seqs that had good work but out of context seemed long. Last mtg of the day was 2 hour Franchise mtg where prod/mktg/consumer products all come together to look at long term strategy for managing our 4 franchises and all of the zillion things going on with each of them. Off to dinner with the Family and seeing Scott Pilgrim movie.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I cannot believe this leaked out. Who wouldn’t want to hear about the goings-on of their CEO, especially in these economic times. I work at DreamWorks Animation and I think it is wonderful that information from us goes to the top and that information from the top comes back down. JK’s messages give a face to his office and demonstrates his efforts to make the company successful. If this type of thing is leaked, what other information is making it out the door, and at what cost to the company!? Keep up the great work JK; I look forward to reading what you are doing for us today!
Sorry Nikki–agree with you most of the time, but think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Tame stuff in Katz’s email (your headline for this story is misleading/disconnected from the content).
And so what about the typos. Good to know that he’s being personable with his staff (though not cool whoever leaked it to you guys).
When I was an assistant many many years ago I learned from JK’s assist that every night he personally returned all the calls on his phone list. JK and Ron Meyer were two I looked up to. Now years later I am an owner of a very successful business (not in the entertainment world)in sustainable building. I do the same thing to our employees as JK does. I can thank some of the best ‘culture’ in our biz to the lessons I learned from them both.
I don’t understand why someone would think JK’s emails warrants sarcasm? It’s great!
what a surprise, Nikki is trying to be bitterly sarcastic about nothing again. I don’t even like most Dreamworks products, but the email sounded like a fun update to me.
“Noah Bombach”? haha. who’s that?
Used to work for JK at DW for years. He’s always been this enthusiastic about every piece of the animation biz and has used various different methods to keep his employees in the loop. I like the e-mail.
Because it reads like a livejournal entry.
MDE used to do the same thing so that’s where the idea came from. Of course, his style was much more formal, but same idea. I used to save them, but probably all trashed by now.
Guy’s a rockstar for giving a shout out to facilities.
You’re ace in my book, Katz.
Sounds fine to me.
I’m surprised any DWA employee would feel compelled to betray the person who provides so much for so many. It’s a shame that this person values fruitless gossip over the incredible, extraordinarily rare work environment he has created.
All that on a Friday night? He must tivo WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
Considering I’ve been on the receiving end of a scream fest from a boss who ambushed his staff from the bathroom–how the hell do I get a job with Dreamworks? Is there some secret message I’m not seeing here? I would enjoy getting this from a boss…….lighten the hell up!
Hey Jeff! Hi! I’ve got a FANTASTIC job for you: Go over to what’s left of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital and talk to the people you’re throwing out OR – go to other places where the people are whom YOU’VE ALREADY THROWN OUT… and Talk to them, listen to their tears and see how you’ve made the last years of their lives among the worst.
You-Don’t-Get-It. The quote that most personafies you is the line from ALL THAT JAZZ: “Ladies and gentlemen, let me lay on you a so-so entertainer, not much of a humanitarian, and this cat was never *nobody’s* friend.”
You’re famous for being fired from Disney’s, what you did to the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, and making CG animated movies that will always be 2nd class to Pixar. Way to go, Jeff!
JK is an amazing executive. His energy, creativity, and passion for filmmaking is phenomenal, and this e-mail offers a brief glimpse into a typical day for him — which, by the way, is 10X busier and more stressful than most people’s busiest, most stressful day ever. Agree that it wasn’t cool to leak an internal e-mail, but this is nothing to be embarrassed about. P.S. JK is a great exec, but like anyone at his level, he has good days and bad days.
The email didn’t mention the MPTF Hospital debacle or the disastrous
foundation investment with Bernie Madoff or the many money-wasting Dreamworks missteps chronicled in the new book THE MEN WHO WOULD BE KINGS… This has all the trimmings of a well orchestrated smokescreen.
This “man of the people” routine is as phony as it gets. Does anyone seriously believe that this email was “leaked” without Katzenberg leaking it himself?
Everyone knows that three honchos at this place are as secretive as it gets and believe me, that filters down to the rank and file. No one leaked anything. Someone would be shot over there if so.
THIS IS A PR STUNT, PURE AND SIMPLE. The three former amigos are clearly sweating big-time and Katzenberg’s increasingly desperate acts are downright amusing. But one thing is crystal clear: he’s a great family man and all around swell guy. Yeah right.
@ Jeffrey — Tuesday August 10, 2010 @ 9:54am PDT
There are comments above yours that acknowledge that Jeffrey does indeed provide feedback to his employees but you on the other hand just regurgitate crap you probably heard third hand.
I think I would appreciate this a bit more if it was at all readable. You can be colloquial without removing the vowels of half the words in your sentences, man.
I’m really annoyed that an employee would break the considerable trust of their employers to leak this email to your site, and really disappointed (though perhaps not surprised)that you felt compelled to share this with the world. And for what? Are there any juicy spoilers here? Any criminal conduct that ought to be exposed? I also work at DW, and have been quite impressed with the candor and casualness of many of the emails, which are not always “everything is awesome” updates (though, let’s face it: DW has a LOT to be happy about right now, especially compared to almost everyone else) – he is not afraid to recognize the accomplishments of his competitors nor to identify problems and concerns at DW. I couldn’t help wondering how long it would take for some inscrupulous weasel to spoil it all by leaking them out. Do you think that leaking sensitive information makes it easier or harder to make a movie as good as possible? Many people in the entertainment industry will tell you how frustrating it is to work in an atmosphere of extreme paranoia, where family/friends can’t visit your office, departments are often afraid to share any more information than absolutely necessary with each other – people are often kept largely in the dark about the very movies they’re working on, and often know little to nothing about the other movies/tv shows their fellow employees are working on. The management assumes that they cannot trust most of their employees and act accordingly. This is especially the case for animated films, where it takes 3 – 5 years to make a film and studio heads are terrified that someone will rip off their idea before they’re even done. When I was at Disney, I often was only given the tiny part of the script I was working on at the time, which had to be immediately returned, and often had to go through elaborate hoops to get access to my own work for revisions, out of fear that it could be stolen/leaked. I used to think everyone was being ridiculous. Thanks so much for validating that paranoia, probably ending our email updates, and making the studios, in general, a worse place to work, ensuring that open communication and sharing of good news, creativity and innovation will be kept to an absolute minimum. The only good thing I can see about this is that this email has nothing shameful to hide, and, ironically, more people seem to want to work here now.
In response to a few of the other posters: I guess there’s no way I can personally prove I’m not lying to you, unless you got a job here yourself but
a) we all really do get these emails (at least until now)
b) the people I know, including myself, really enjoy them
c) everybody I know is generally having a great time here and is truly excited about what we’re doing right now, and are going to do, and we’re huge and getting bigger all the time (one of the only studios that is still hiring these days!)
d) whatever personal opinions you may have about Katzenberg, I think he’s a great boss, is making awesome movies, and has created a great place to work – hands down the best I’ve ever worked at.
It’s like having a private chat at the end of the day with his staff, lets them know where his head is at and what he’s working on. I think the Greeks call it “transparency.” I like it.
I like it too. It’s nice that it seems that JK wrote it himself as opposed to other studios who have their pr write it and just send it from their email, which is very impersonal.
I think the people making negative comments above are probably ones who never find anything positive and always look for the worst.
Yeah, this seems innocuous at worst and good leadership at best. Not really sure why this is posted here…
Sounds awesome! I wish he were my boss.
I worked for DWA for many years, and this must have just started. Just like their “annual-ish” quarterly meetings it will just disappear. It’s just to quell rumors, nothing more.