The Dream Team: The Rise and Fall of DreamWorks: Lessons from the New Hollywood

by Daniel M. Kimmel

On October 12, 1994, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen―three of Hollywood's biggest players―announced they would form a new studio to produce feature films, television series, and pop music recordings. It didn't have a name, though Katzenberg's reference to his partners as the "Dream Team" eventually led to the company being dubbed DreamWorks. What the three men were attempting hadn't been done in more than sixty create a movie studio that could compete with the already existing major players. In The Dream Team , Daniel Kimmel tells the behind-the-scenes story of DreamWorks' rise―and the end of the dream eleven years later, when most of the company was sold off or shut down. Its plan for 1,087 acres of studio facilities that would include residences and retail operations came to naught. Its animation division was split off and went public. Its principals had already begun to go their own ways. Mr. Kimmel explores DreamWorks' best-picture Oscars for American Beauty and Gladiator ; a near miss (but box office success) for Saving Private Ryan ; a smash animated hit Shrek winning the first Oscar ever for best animated feature and pointing the industry toward computer animation. But he also investigates why an enterprise with such promise failed to reach the heights. Was it the company's diffuse management style, or had the industry changed and consolidated so greatly that it was now impossible for new players to break into the ranks? Mr. Kimmel offers intriguing answers, showing how, more often than not, the guys tilting at windmills usually end up on the ground.

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Daniel M. Kimmel is the 2018 recipient of the Skylark Award presented by the New England Science Fiction Association. He is past president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and founding co-chair of the Boston Online Film Critics Association. His reviews appeared in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette and can now be found at NorthShoreMovies.net. He is also in demand as a speaker for various groups and writes on classic SF films for Space and Time. From 2014-2015 he was editor of The Jewish Advocate, America's oldest English language newspaper serving the Jewish community.

His book on the history of FOX TV, The Fourth Network (2004), received the Cable Center Book Award. He is also author of The Dream Team -- The Rise and Fall of DreamWorks: Lessons from the New Hollywood (2006) and I'll Have What She's Having -- Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies (2008). His book Jar Jar Binks Must Die... and other observations about science fiction movies(2011)was a finalist for the Hugo Award for best related work. His first novel, Shh! It's a Secret: a novel about Aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender's Guide, which was a finalist for the Compton Crook Award given by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society for best first novel. His other novels are Time on My Hands: My Misadventures in Time Travel, Father of the Bride of Frankenstein, and Banned in Boston. He has also had several short stories published at HollywoodDementia.com as well as in AMAZING Stories, Three Crows magazine, and a number of anthologies including Transcendent, Science Fiction for the Throne, and Release the Virgins!.

Reviews

[Poung · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun book to read.

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story of what was going to be a paradigm shift in Hollywood. Kimmel clearly explains the entertainment business and gets you into the story of Dreamworks. I like the bit where Kimmel mentions the 2000 Worldcon.

[Russell Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes informative, but not very insightful or well-written book. Tracks the inception of DreamWorks SKG up until the end of its existence as an independent studio. The author has remarkably few primary sources from what I can tell -- 85% of the book could be cobbled together from newspaper and magazine articles at the time.
What I liked least about the book is that the author frequently comes across as negative about some of the key players, without providing a basis for that disdain. In particular, the author takes veiled pot shots at Spielberg, and it makes the narrative feel less credible. I have no idea whether Spielberg is a good guy or not, but the author writes like he has a personal bone to pick.
Not recommended unless you really really want to know a few more details about DW.