Md. Taqi Yasir
If you listen closely, you can hear a hint of pessimism in the predictions of Steve Hulett, business rep of the Animation Guild, about what will happen after NBCUniversal completes its acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. Thanks to the Walt Disney Co.’s 2006 purchase of Pixar Animation Studios, for example, Hulett has seen versions of this movie before.
“Usually they spend a period of time trying to soothe nervous hearts,” says Hulett of acquirers. “They lie to the crew because they’ve got a picture to get out, and they can’t have people jumping ship. … They use whatever argument they can use to calm you down, [but] I suspect there will be 200 or 300 fewer people working there in the next 18 months.” DWA is a union shop, and NBCU’s animation operation, Illumination Entertainment, isn’t. The guild has 565 members in feature animation at DWA and 281 in television. Hulett expects features to bear the brunt of the cuts while television will hold or grow. The impact on Hollywood’s animators is one of several thorny issues that have yet to be addressed in the wake of NBCU’s April 28 reveal that it will pay $3.8 billion for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s animation house. NBCU CEO Steve Burke has been vague about the company’s plans for DWA, though the well-liked but thrifty Chris Meledandri, who runs Universal’s successful Illumination (Minions, Despicable Me), will be in charge.
Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal’s film group, tells The Hollywood Reporter he admires DWA’s movie and television work, adding, “Hopefully, we can find a way to do the same-quality films for a lower price.”
A studio insider says one engine for the deal besides Shell’s admitted “Disney envy” and NBCU parent Comcast’s desire to stock its theme parks with fresh characters and other intellectual property was the belief that DWA’s Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon are “four franchises that aren’t over yet.”