Dream Advice

Jeffrey Katzenberg Gives Students An Inside View Of The Industry

Jeffrey Katzenberg advised those gathered to “believe in yourself because if you don’t, why should anyone else?”

Want to know how to succeed in the entertainment industry? It’s simple: “Take a problem and turn it into something else,” Jeffrey Katzenberg told students who packed into Frank Sinatra Hall to hear words of wisdom directly from the master.

Undergrads and grads alike took advantage of the unique opportunity to ask questions and solicit advice from the DreamWorks Animation SKG CEO, who visited campus on November 2. The particular anecdote about success stemmed from the time when Disney CEO Michael Eisner assigned Katzenberg the task of revamping the historic studio’s animation division. “What started as my problem became my love.”

He extends that sense of appreciation to the basic foundation of the industry. “I love the fact that everything we do comes out of somebody’s imagination,” said Katzenberg, whose leadership has helped DreamWorks Animation enjoy a number of critical and commercial hits. In addition to the incredibly successful Shrek films, DreamWorks’ other great titles include Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Shark Tale and Flushed Away. Shrek and Wallace & Gromit were each winners of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film and Shrek 2 is the highest-grossing animated feature film of all time. The company’s newest release, Bee Movie, written, produced and starring Jerry Seinfeld, was released on November 2.

Bee Movie, written, produced and starring Jerry Seinfeld, was released on November 2.

“He’s brought all of us a great deal of pleasure over the years with a great deal of movies,” Dean Elizabeth M. Daley said as she moderated the discussion. “Everything he does is through the love of film and the love of storytelling.”

During the Q&A, the former chairman of The Walt Disney Studios touched upon his start in the business in the unlikely place of New York City politics where he met members of the entertainment field such as David Picker, then president of United Artists who hired Katzenberg as “a gofer.”

“David was incredible in giving me my first chance,” he added. “When he thought there was a better opportunity, he encouraged me, and finding a mentor like that is something rare.”
Fielding questions from the students on topics ranging from film distribution to 3D technology to the differences between Blu-ray and HD, Katzenberg was posed the inevitable question on how his studio compares to Pixar Animation.

Students asked questions ranging from film distribution to comparisons with Pixar Animation.

“I constantly learn from them and feel challenged by them in a good way,” he said, further explaining that Walt Disney’s own philosophy of making movies for children and the child that exists within all of us was a guiding light for Katzenberg every day throughout his decade at Disney.

“When I started DreamWorks, it was imperative that we find something different and redefine what an animated film can be.” That difference lay in a twist of the great master’s words.

“We make movies for adults and the adult that lives in every child,” Katzenberg laughed, noting that Shrek more than ever helped the studio define what they were aiming for in the movies they make today.

While he said, “there is no natural path to becoming a filmmaker,” he advised those gathered to “believe in yourself because if you don’t, why should anyone else?”

Daley brought the afternoon to a close describing Katzenberg as “an executive who has created that sense of an honest community,” and in turn, the CEO simply said that there are honest people throughout the business and ended with simple advice.

“I don’t believe in the word, ‘no.’ ‘Maybe’ or ‘not yet,’ but never ‘no.’”