Historical Figure
Jeffrey Katzenberg
b. 1950
American film producer and media proprietor (born 1950)
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Biography
Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chair of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. Following his departure, he co-founded DreamWorks SKG in 1994, where he served as the company's chief executive officer (CEO) and executive producer of its animated franchises—including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon—until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in the same year, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform that lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.
Timeline
The story of Jeffrey Katzenberg, told in moments.
Named chairman of Walt Disney Studios at 33. Over the next decade he oversaw The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
Left Disney in a bitter feud with Michael Eisner after being passed over for president. Filed a $250 million lawsuit. Co-founded DreamWorks with Spielberg and Geffen three months later.
DreamWorks released Shrek, grossing $484 million. Won the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film parodied Disney fairy tales.
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