Jeffrey Katzenberg, Ralph Fiennes and Val Kilmer Interviews on "The Prince of Egypt" (Dec. 16, 1998)

Jeffrey Katzenberg (/ˈkætsənˌbɜːrɡ/; born December 21, 1950) is an American film producer and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation,[a] where he oversaw the production of such animated franchises as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. He has since founded a new media and technology company called WndrCo and was the founder of Quibi, a defunct short-form mobile video platform. Katzenberg has also been involved in politics. With his active support of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, he was called "one of Hollywood's premier political kingmakers and one of the Democratic Party's top national fund-raisers".[1] He is a campaign co-chair of Joe Biden's re-election campaign.[2] Early life and education Katzenberg was born on December 21, 1950, in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of Anne, an artist, and Walter Katzenberg, a stockbroker.[3] He attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, graduating in 1969. When he was 14, Katzenberg volunteered to work on John Lindsay's successful New York mayoral campaign. He quickly received the nickname "Squirt" and attended as many meetings as he could.[4] He went on to attend New York University for one year, before dropping out to work full-time as an advance man for Lindsay.[5][6] Professional career Paramount Pictures Katzenberg began his career as an assistant to producer David V. Picker, then in 1974 he became an assistant to Barry Diller, the chairman of Paramount Pictures.[3] Diller moved Katzenberg to the marketing department, followed by other assignments within the studio, until he was assigned to revive the Star Trek franchise, which resulted in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He continued to work his way up and became president of production under Paramount's president, Michael Eisner, overseeing the production of films including 48 Hrs., Terms of Endearment, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.[7] The Walt Disney Studios In 1984, Eisner became chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. Eisner brought Katzenberg with him to serve as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.[3] As head of the studio, he oversaw all filmed content including motion pictures, television, Disney Channel, and home video distribution.[3] Katzenberg was responsible for reviving the studio which, at the time, ranked last at the box office among the major studios. He focused the studio on the production of adult-oriented comedies through its Touchstone Pictures banner, including films such as Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Three Men and a Baby, Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society, and Pretty Woman. By 1987, Disney had become the number-one studio at the box office.[8] Katzenberg expanded Disney's film portfolio by launching Hollywood Pictures with Eisner and overseeing the acquisition of Miramax Films in 1993.[4] Katzenberg also oversaw Touchstone Television, which produced television series such as The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and Home Improvement. The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The first feature film from DreamWorks to be traditionally animated and their second overall, it is an adaptation of the first fourteen chapters of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to a prophet of the Lord, chosen by God to carry out his ultimate destiny of leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. The film was directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells (in Chapman and Hickner's feature directorial debuts) with a screenplay written by Philip LaZebnik. It features songs written by Stephen Schwartz and a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The voice cast consists of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, and Martin Short. Jeffrey Katzenberg had frequently suggested an animated adaptation of the 1956 film The Ten Commandments while working for The Walt Disney Company, and he decided to put the idea into production after leaving Disney and co-founding DreamWorks Pictures in 1994. To make the project, DreamWorks employed artists who had worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation and Amblimation, totaling a crew of 350 people from 34 countries. The film has a blend of traditional animation and computer-generated imagery, created using software from Toon Boom Animation and Silicon Graphics. In retrospective years since its release, the film has been widely acclaimed. It is now considered by many to be the best DreamWorks film and one of the greatest animated films of all time.[12][13][14][15]