Ties Between DreamWorks and Universal Could Preclude Future Deal
Rumors continue to fly that Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks are unhappy at Paramount Pictures and plan to leave the motion picture company once their three-year contract is up ( see story from NPR). This is possible because DreamWorks Animation is a separate independent entity from DreamWorks Studio and owns the rights to the DreamWorks name. Universal Studios has consistently been mentioned as a future destination of DreamWorks and a personal favorite of Spielberg. Universal was also considering buying DreamWorks in 2005 when Paramount stepped in with a higher offer. Any Hollywood studio would jump at the chance to land DreamWorks and Spielberg, the top Director in Hollywood today. We created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map to determine if any connections exist that could make Universal an early favorite to lure DreamWorks.
From the Knowledge Map we find that the strongest ties are through Michael Montgomery and InterActiveCorp. DreamWorks Director Montgomery is a former CEO of Sega Gameworks, a joint venture between Sega, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks. This direct connection could prove extremely valuable should DreamWorks initiate negotiations with Universal.
Another notable connection is through InterActiveCorp where DreamWorks Director Paul Allen held a directorship on the IAC board with Frank Biondi and Brian Mulligan. Biondi is a former Chairman/CEO of Universal Studios and Mulligan was a Founder and Principal of Universal Partners, a group formed to acquire Universal Studios.
With these connections both DreamWorks and Universal seem to have significant avenues with which to initiate negotiations should DreamWorks leave Paramount.
Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer browsers only): http://nv.intellectspace.com
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