Snider settling behind reins at DreamWorks
Snider settles in at D'Works
June 23, 2006
Steven Spielberg has a new gatekeeper. In the wake of Viacom's $1.6 billion purchase of 12-year-old DreamWorks, Hollywood's most powerful director might have let go of his dream of owning a studio, but he and fellow DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen still are running a major motion picture company, with new DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider, former chairman of Universal Pictures, now at its helm.
Snider, who works out of Spielberg's old Amblin offices on the Universal lot, has wasted no time making her mark since she moved to DreamWorks on April 15. She has swiftly familiarized herself with every project and presented her 2007 production slate to distributor Paramount Pictures. While DreamWorks is invested in maintaining its autonomy and remains firmly in control of its own greenlighting authority, Snider has instituted weekly phone calls with Paramount's distribution and marketing heads, Jim Tharp and Gerry Rich, respectively, as well as Paramount Home Entertainment chief Kelley Avery.
Since her arrival, Hollywood insiders have wondered whether Snider will be satisfied overseeing a relatively small slate -- in 2007, DreamWorks will produce eight pictures, up from the four to six originally projected. And many have speculated that Paramount chairman Brad Grey, who hired a relatively inexperienced production team, eventually could turn to DreamWorks to supply even more pictures.
For the moment, Snider is working closely with Spielberg to divvy up an annual production budget of $300 million-$400 million, less than half the $1 billion annual slate she had overseen at Universal. Joined by DreamWorks production chief Adam Goodman for an interview in her bright new office, Snider said: "I was like a Tasmanian devil at first. I'm walking into a great year for DreamWorks. We have a full cupboard. I feel bad when someone comes to a new place and dismisses all the work that has been done just because it's someone else's regime. So many movies were ready to go that just needed one last twirl of the plate."
Snider is learning how to roll with Spielberg's rhythms. "I can't filter or predict Steven," she said. "I'm riding the surf with him. We let him respond to things. And he loves to hear from us about what we're excited about. He's so wonderfully creatively engaged. He's interested in movies of all sizes and genres, even tiny little movies that we're not sure are commercial. That's of no concern as long as we have other movies that are."
Suddenly, green lights are coming more rapidly than in the past, observers said. As soon as David Benioff handed in his adaptation of the best-seller "The Kite Runner," the movie was on the fast track for 2007. Co-financed by Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and produced by former DreamWorks production chiefs Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and SKE's William Horberg, "Kite" already is in preproduction. Director Marc Forster is casting unknowns in Kabul, Afghanistan, for a September start. "This is a story that needs to be told in its rightful language," Snider said of the $20 million drama, which will shoot in native languages and English. "What's empowering about Stacey is being here with somebody who's done the job before," said Goodman, who himself is adjusting to a new boss. "She pushes us in the right direction."
In September, DreamWorks also will begin shooting Sam Mendes' $16 million production of "Things We Lost in the Fire," starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro under the direction of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, and "Seven Day Itch," from the writing-directing team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Ben Stiller's Red Hour Prods., which has had a long-standing deal at DreamWorks. "It's a hilarious script that recalls the work the Farrellys did on 'There's Something About Mary,' " Snider said.
Under Snider, Goodman has extended an overall deal with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("The Island," "Transformers"). And Snider suggested that producers Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff consider Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich") to write a movie based on a series of Los Angeles Times articles by columnist Steve Lopez about a homeless musician who once studied at Juilliard (HR 6/22).
The 2007 slate also includes several broad comedies, including MTV Films' ice skating spoof "Blades of Glory," starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck; Brian Robbins' untitled comedy, starring Eddie Murphy in multiple roles (Murphy has a first-look deal at DreamWorks). Also on tap is D.J. Caruso's teen thriller "Disturbia," starring Shia LaBeouf, the fifth movie that Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock's Montecito Pictures Co. has made for DreamWorks.
"For us, it's business as usual," Pollock said of working with Snider's new regime. "She's a pro. She knows all the moves. It's functioning really well now."
Because DreamWorks already had collaborated on co-productions with Paramount, Goodman has cordial relationships with his fellow execs at Paramount, with which DreamWorks is co-producing the $150 million summer 2007 tentpole "Transformers." The project is five weeks into production under director Michael Bay as it aims for a July 4 release date. "Steven has been very active working with Michael," Snider said. "It's a boys' adventure with great ILM effects; the technology of the cars and airplanes transforming is photo-realistic."
Meanwhile, DreamWorks is about to roll out its fall 2006 lineup, which includes Tony Goldwyn's romantic comedy "The Last Kiss," starring Zach Braff, a negative pickup from Lakeshore Entertainment; Clint Eastwood's Spielberg-produced World War II drama "Flags of Our Fathers," which will launch as an Oscar hopeful in October; and Tom Tykwer's adaptation of the best-seller "Perfume," for which DreamWorks acquired domestic rights.
On Dec. 21, "Dreamgirls," the DreamWorks/Paramount co-production of writer-director Bill Condon's movie adaptation of the Broadway musical, hits screens with a cast headed by Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Murphy. Although former DreamWorks marketing chief Terry Press has moved to the publicly held DreamWorks Animation -- headed by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the third member of the original DreamWorks troika -- she is overseeing the movie's marketing. She screened advance footage at last month's Festival de Cannes to rapturous response.
Snider's current task will be finding the next picture Spielberg directs. Having made two 2005 movies back-to-back, "War of the Worlds" and "Munich," the prolific Spielberg has not yet committed to his next film. But there are several projects on the drawing board, including an Abraham Lincoln biopic, an untitled space travel project at Paramount and a script by Rod Lurie set in the glitzy New York media world as well as "Indiana Jones 4," which Paramount would co-finance with George Lucas' Lucasfilm. David Koepp's script is expected in two to three months.
Presently, Snider is revving her engines for 2008. The next looming start could be another musical adaptation for which DreamWorks owns all rights -- Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," which director Tim Burton and producers Richard Zanuck, Parkes and MacDonald have made a high priority. Burton is talking to old collaborator Johnny Depp about starring in what he calls "a Grand Guignol horror story," Snider said. Although Depp could decide to first film Warner Bros. Pictures' "Shantaram," Snider added that "maybe 'Sweeney Todd' falls in our lap for Christmas" -- for either '07 or '08.
She's also crossing her fingers that director Jay Roach will pick up his remake of "The Party." The setting of the 1968 comedy that starred Peter Sellers has been reimagined as a lavish Hollywood premiere for a lousy movie.
It might be under new ownership, but DreamWorks has never been busier.
Snider, who works out of Spielberg's old Amblin offices on the Universal lot, has wasted no time making her mark since she moved to DreamWorks on April 15. She has swiftly familiarized herself with every project and presented her 2007 production slate to distributor Paramount Pictures. While DreamWorks is invested in maintaining its autonomy and remains firmly in control of its own greenlighting authority, Snider has instituted weekly phone calls with Paramount's distribution and marketing heads, Jim Tharp and Gerry Rich, respectively, as well as Paramount Home Entertainment chief Kelley Avery.
Since her arrival, Hollywood insiders have wondered whether Snider will be satisfied overseeing a relatively small slate -- in 2007, DreamWorks will produce eight pictures, up from the four to six originally projected. And many have speculated that Paramount chairman Brad Grey, who hired a relatively inexperienced production team, eventually could turn to DreamWorks to supply even more pictures.
For the moment, Snider is working closely with Spielberg to divvy up an annual production budget of $300 million-$400 million, less than half the $1 billion annual slate she had overseen at Universal. Joined by DreamWorks production chief Adam Goodman for an interview in her bright new office, Snider said: "I was like a Tasmanian devil at first. I'm walking into a great year for DreamWorks. We have a full cupboard. I feel bad when someone comes to a new place and dismisses all the work that has been done just because it's someone else's regime. So many movies were ready to go that just needed one last twirl of the plate."
Snider is learning how to roll with Spielberg's rhythms. "I can't filter or predict Steven," she said. "I'm riding the surf with him. We let him respond to things. And he loves to hear from us about what we're excited about. He's so wonderfully creatively engaged. He's interested in movies of all sizes and genres, even tiny little movies that we're not sure are commercial. That's of no concern as long as we have other movies that are."
Suddenly, green lights are coming more rapidly than in the past, observers said. As soon as David Benioff handed in his adaptation of the best-seller "The Kite Runner," the movie was on the fast track for 2007. Co-financed by Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and produced by former DreamWorks production chiefs Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and SKE's William Horberg, "Kite" already is in preproduction. Director Marc Forster is casting unknowns in Kabul, Afghanistan, for a September start. "This is a story that needs to be told in its rightful language," Snider said of the $20 million drama, which will shoot in native languages and English. "What's empowering about Stacey is being here with somebody who's done the job before," said Goodman, who himself is adjusting to a new boss. "She pushes us in the right direction."
In September, DreamWorks also will begin shooting Sam Mendes' $16 million production of "Things We Lost in the Fire," starring Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro under the direction of Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier, and "Seven Day Itch," from the writing-directing team of Peter and Bobby Farrelly and Ben Stiller's Red Hour Prods., which has had a long-standing deal at DreamWorks. "It's a hilarious script that recalls the work the Farrellys did on 'There's Something About Mary,' " Snider said.
Under Snider, Goodman has extended an overall deal with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("The Island," "Transformers"). And Snider suggested that producers Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff consider Susannah Grant ("Erin Brockovich") to write a movie based on a series of Los Angeles Times articles by columnist Steve Lopez about a homeless musician who once studied at Juilliard (HR 6/22).
The 2007 slate also includes several broad comedies, including MTV Films' ice skating spoof "Blades of Glory," starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck; Brian Robbins' untitled comedy, starring Eddie Murphy in multiple roles (Murphy has a first-look deal at DreamWorks). Also on tap is D.J. Caruso's teen thriller "Disturbia," starring Shia LaBeouf, the fifth movie that Ivan Reitman and Tom Pollock's Montecito Pictures Co. has made for DreamWorks.
"For us, it's business as usual," Pollock said of working with Snider's new regime. "She's a pro. She knows all the moves. It's functioning really well now."
Because DreamWorks already had collaborated on co-productions with Paramount, Goodman has cordial relationships with his fellow execs at Paramount, with which DreamWorks is co-producing the $150 million summer 2007 tentpole "Transformers." The project is five weeks into production under director Michael Bay as it aims for a July 4 release date. "Steven has been very active working with Michael," Snider said. "It's a boys' adventure with great ILM effects; the technology of the cars and airplanes transforming is photo-realistic."
Meanwhile, DreamWorks is about to roll out its fall 2006 lineup, which includes Tony Goldwyn's romantic comedy "The Last Kiss," starring Zach Braff, a negative pickup from Lakeshore Entertainment; Clint Eastwood's Spielberg-produced World War II drama "Flags of Our Fathers," which will launch as an Oscar hopeful in October; and Tom Tykwer's adaptation of the best-seller "Perfume," for which DreamWorks acquired domestic rights.
On Dec. 21, "Dreamgirls," the DreamWorks/Paramount co-production of writer-director Bill Condon's movie adaptation of the Broadway musical, hits screens with a cast headed by Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Murphy. Although former DreamWorks marketing chief Terry Press has moved to the publicly held DreamWorks Animation -- headed by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the third member of the original DreamWorks troika -- she is overseeing the movie's marketing. She screened advance footage at last month's Festival de Cannes to rapturous response.
Snider's current task will be finding the next picture Spielberg directs. Having made two 2005 movies back-to-back, "War of the Worlds" and "Munich," the prolific Spielberg has not yet committed to his next film. But there are several projects on the drawing board, including an Abraham Lincoln biopic, an untitled space travel project at Paramount and a script by Rod Lurie set in the glitzy New York media world as well as "Indiana Jones 4," which Paramount would co-finance with George Lucas' Lucasfilm. David Koepp's script is expected in two to three months.
Presently, Snider is revving her engines for 2008. The next looming start could be another musical adaptation for which DreamWorks owns all rights -- Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," which director Tim Burton and producers Richard Zanuck, Parkes and MacDonald have made a high priority. Burton is talking to old collaborator Johnny Depp about starring in what he calls "a Grand Guignol horror story," Snider said. Although Depp could decide to first film Warner Bros. Pictures' "Shantaram," Snider added that "maybe 'Sweeney Todd' falls in our lap for Christmas" -- for either '07 or '08.
She's also crossing her fingers that director Jay Roach will pick up his remake of "The Party." The setting of the 1968 comedy that starred Peter Sellers has been reimagined as a lavish Hollywood premiere for a lousy movie.
It might be under new ownership, but DreamWorks has never been busier.
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