DreamWorks' Katzenberg gives students career advice and a 'Shrek' preview
By Daniel Aloi
Walt Disney once said he made "movies for children and the child that exists in all of us." A new generation of computer animators has adopted a corollary to Uncle Walt's mission statement.
"We make movies for adults and the adult that exists in every child," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Oct. 30 in Statler Auditorium. "Children today, they're so much more aware, and they understand parody, they understand satire. Talking at them -- not down to them -- is what differentiates us."
The executive in charge of such animated hits as "Shrek" and "Chicken Run" discussed his career and the world of computer animation with Computer and Information Sciences Professor Don Greenberg in a fireside chat-style conversation onstage that also included Manesh Ramasubramanian, M.S. '00, head of effects for DreamWorks Animation. The event was co-sponsored by the Program in Computer Graphics.
Katzenberg first showed an action-packed, seven-minute preview of "Shrek the Third," currently in production and coming to theaters in May 2007.
"You're the guinea pigs here, because I don't think this has been shown off of our studio lot. So if anyone holds up a cell phone while this is on, I'm gonna come out and kill you," Katzenberg said, to laughter from the audience of about 400.
"There has never been a better time than right now in terms of computer graphics and computer software," Katzenberg said.
The rate of technological advancement in software has escalated more than tenfold between each of the "Shrek" films, he said. "If you look at the details of texture and clothing from one to two to three, the difference is dramatic." And as the global entertainment industry and new media expand, "the rate of change in the business right now is greater than any time I've seen in 30 years."
Katzenberg started the movie studio DreamWorks SKG in 1994 with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Besides the "Shrek" films, DreamWorks' animation division has delivered several films, including "Antz," "The Prince of Egypt," "Shark Tale," the current release "Over the Hedge," the television series "Father of the Pride" and three collaborations with Aardman Animation. Each film takes up to four years to make.
"One thing that sets Pixar [Disney's animation partner] and DreamWorks apart is we are constantly innovating in design and complexity and putting our resources into these films," he said. "We are hungry for talent; we are constantly recruiting."
He urged students to experiment and explore, "whether it's on the technical side or the artistic side. Inside the four walls of this university, you get to experiment and find out who you are. I would urge anyone to take advantage of the luxury you have today, and take time to do that," he said.
He credited three things for helping him in his career, rising in the ranks to president of Paramount Pictures and then becoming chairman of Walt Disney Studios before founding DreamWorks: "First, I only sleep five hours a night, so I get an extra day a week. And I needed it. Second, I don't get jet lag. And third, I had wonderful mentors."
Katzenberg said he learned much about moviemaking from the extensive archives of notes and memoranda left behind by Walt Disney.
"Everywhere he went, someone was there recording it," he said. "He left breadcrumbs the size of Volkswagens. All of it was there, for anyone who bothered to look."
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