DreamWorks and Paramount split

2008-10-07 10:04

Los Angeles - Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studio announced the details of its split from Paramount Pictures on Monday, an amicable divorce that allows the most successful US director to start a new studio with $1.5bn in funding from Indian entertainment conglomerate Reliance ADA Group.

Under the exit agreement, DreamWorks will take the lead on 15 to 20 development projects, with Paramount having the option to co-finance and co-distribute, the studios said in a joint statement.

Paramount would offer the same option to Reliance on the 15 to 20 projects it takes over. Most of DreamWorks staff will stay with the new entity.

New distribution partner

Still to be announced is Spielberg's choice for a new distribution partner which is widely expected to be Universal Studios.

Spielberg founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994 together with entertainment moguls David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg and sold it in 2006 for $1.6bn to Viacom, Paramount's parent company.

However, despite producing a string of hits for Paramount such as Transformers, the DreamWorks partners, which still include Spielberg, have continually clashed with their corporate bosses.

Geffen will not take any part in the new venture while Katzenberg runs DreamWorks Animation Studios, a publicly owned company that is separate from Paramount. - dpa

- SAPA