History of Dreamworks

History of DreamWorks

DreamWorks Studios is a motion picture company founded by partners Steven

Spielberg, Stacey Snider and The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Currently,

DreamWorks has a worldwide distribution deal with The Walt Disney Studios, who

markets and distributes their films.

Originally, Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen founded

DreamWorks in 1994. One of the studio’s first ventures was the long-running sitcom

“Spin City.” In September 1997 DreamWorks released its first feature film: The action

thriller "The Peacemaker," starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. This was

followed by Spielberg's first film for the studio, "Amistad," which was nominated for

four Academy Awards, including Anthony Hopkins for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1998, DreamWorks released Spielberg’s critically acclaimed World War II

drama, “Saving Private Ryan,” as well as its first two animated features, “Antz” and “The

Prince of Egypt.” “Saving Private Ryan,” which was a co-production with Paramount,

was the highest grossing release (domestically) of the year, and was nominated for 11

Academy Awards, of which it won five, including Best Director for Spielberg.

They next year, DreamWorks released the Academy Award winning “American

Beauty,” starring Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening and directed by first-time director

Sam Mendes. Then, in 2000, the studio released “Gladiator” (a co-production with

Universal Studios), which won that year’s Oscar for Best Picture, “Almost Famous” (a

co-production with Sony), “Meet the Parents” (a co-production with Universal), “The

Contender” and “Castaway” (a co-production with 20th Century Fox). At the box office,

DreamWorks’ releases in 2000 totaled over $2 billion worldwide.

DreamWorks would continue to prove its dominance in the movie industry with...