The latest round of downsizing to hit the animation industry in the wake of unpredictable box o!ce swings, rising production costs and delays due to the writers’ and actors’ guild strikes is DreamWorks Animation.
Following reports that the studio is cutting some of its in-house production activity as part of the NBC-Universal owned company’s goal to lower production costs by 20%, DreamWorks has now laid o” four percent of its sta” — approximately 70 positions, a spokesperson told Deadline. The cuts hit as the studio prepares to see its latest star-powered, big screen musical spectacle Trolls Band Together bow in theaters on November 17.
Sources at the studio revealed that execs have announced a new “mixed-production” work model for feature films beginning with its 2025 releases, which include an adaptation of Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man, an unannounced project and an unannounced sequel the latter of which will be produced in partnership with Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver (Spider-Verse, Hotel Transylvania, The Sea Beast, Smalfoot). The tax breaks for producing in BC are an appealing part of the deal, in addition to Imageworks’ track record
Prior to being named DreamWorks Animation COO, Randy Lake was President of Operations at Imageworks and was at the studio during the time it moved most of its production operations to Vancouver from the Los Angeles area.
DreamWorks Animation EVP of Feature Production, Erika Burton, told employees that the in-house team will handle all creative front end under this test run arrangement and one hour of production, splitting the asset builds 50-50 with Imageworks. The Sony studio will also be responsible for 20 minutes of production, including entire sequences.
The planned 2024 releases from DreamWorks, Kung Fu Panda 4 and recently announced adaptation The Wild Robot, will be produced entirely in-house. The studio’s upcoming Netflix project Orion and the Dark, based on a script by Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa), is being produced by partner studio Mikros Animation in Paris and Bangalore — having previously helped DreamWorks bring Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie to screens.
[Source: Deadline, Cartoon Brew]
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