Jeffrey Katzenberg served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, and later as the CEO and a co-founder and director of DreamWorks Animation SKG.
DreamWorks Animation is the largest animation studio in the world and has released 24 animated feature films, including the franchise properties of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. Under Katzenberg’s leadership, DreamWorks Animation became the first studio to produce all of its feature films in 3D and in 2010 became the first company to release three CG feature films in 3D in a single year. DreamWorks Animation has been named one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by Fortune magazine for four consecutive years.
Since its inception, DreamWorks has produced a number of celebrated films, including three Best Picture Academy Award winners–American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind. The studio released its first animated films in 1998, Antz and The Prince of Egypt. Prior to co-founding DreamWorks, Katzenberg served as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. During his tenure, the studio produced such landmark animated films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, as well as such live action hits as Good Morning, Vietnam, Three Men and a Baby, Dead Poets Society, Pretty Woman, Father of the Bride, and Sister Act.
Katzenberg previously served as president of Paramount Studios, where he was involved in such now-classic films as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Best Picture Academy Award winners Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment. Together with his wife, Marilyn, Katzenberg provides support and leads fundraising efforts on behalf of dozens of local, national, and international organizations focused on healthcare, education, the arts, Jewish causes, children, civic improvement, and the environment.
