Dreamworks Animation

DreamWorks Animation has ruled out working with Paramount Pictures after next year. The independent studio behind the "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda" movies officially informed Paramount Pictures that it was rejecting an offer to continue their distribution agreement on the same financial terms for one additional year, confirmed a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.  COMPANY TOWN

News that DreamWorks Animation is cutting short its output deal with HBO in order to work with Netflix sent the "Shrek" producer's stock to its highest point in more than a month. DreamWorks Animation's current agreement with pay-TV channel HBO was to run until 2014. Under the terms of the deal, DreamWorks Animation movies go exclusively to HBO during the "pay cable window," which typically starts about six months after theatrical debut. However, DreamWorks Animation has gone to HBO and obtained an exit from the contract so it can instead make its movies available on Netflix's Internet streaming service during that window, a person familiar with the matter confirmed.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation jumped 12% on Monday after the studio's movie "Puss in Boots" topped the box office for the second consecutive weekend. The DreamWorks film about a feline outlaw voiced by Antonio Banderas pulled in a surprisingly strong $33 million over the weekend, with ticket sales slipping a mere 3% compared with last week. Movies usually drop substantially more in their second weekend, suggesting that "Puss in Boots" could have more staying power than was initially anticipated.

DreamWorks Animation on Friday announced plans to build a studio in Shanghai, in what the Glendale-based company billed as a landmark agreement with two state-owned Chinese media companies. The creator of the "Shrek" movies said it was forming Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in concert with Shanghai Alliance Investment -- an investment arm of the Shanghai municipal government -- to establish a family entertainment company in China.

DreamWorks Animation has become the second Hollywood studio to enter into a distribution agreement with China's top online video site, Youku.com. Youku said Monday that it had signed a deal with the Glendale-based animation studio to distribute the "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China, marking the first time that DreamWorks releases have been made available in that country through the Internet. Both of the previously released "Kung Fu Panda" films, which were hugely popular in China, will be immediately available on Youku's premium on-demand service for less than $1. The movies will subsequently be available for free viewing on Youku's Hollywood Movie Channel.

CITY HALL ? The City Council on Tuesday will consider allocating grant funds to create more plans for the long-awaited walkway along the Los Angeles River, even as ongoing negotiations with DreamWorks hold up the first phase of the project. Project officials hope to break ground on the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project this summer, but protracted negotiations on a 15-foot strip of land on the DreamWorks Animation campus necessary for the river walkway remain ongoing. The two sides reached an agreement more than six months ago, and city officials have maintained for months that the negotiations would soon end. But the proposed easement has been in a holding pattern as attorneys continue to review the agreement.

GLENDALE — David Geffen, one of three media moguls who helped spearhead the establishment of DreamWorks SKG 14 years ago, officially stepped down from the animation company’s board of directors Tuesday. Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg announced the move, which will not affect Geffen’s ownership in DreamWorks Animation, during a report that detailed the company’s third quarter earnings. “David’s vision for and commitment to the company has been absolutely vital throughout its 14-year history,” Katzenberg said.

Paramount Pictures is launching its own animation division, spelling a likely end next year to its longtime agreement to distribute movies for DreamWorks Animation. The relationship between the two companies has been strained recently over how much DreamWorks pays the Viacom Inc.-owned studio to release its films, according to people with knowledge of the matter. One person familiar with the thinking of top executives at Paramount said the studio offered DWA Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg a one-year extension to his company's deal, which expires in 2012, for the same fee DreamWorks now pays Paramount: 8% of film revenues.

Fortune has come out with its list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," and California-based firms claim six out of the top 20 spots, including No. 1, Google . Notably, one of the reasons Google made it into the top spot was because "everything was up at Google last year," including revenue, profits and hiring, the magazine said. Still, revenue reportedly was lower than expected in the fourth quarter, and on Thursday Google's stock fell nearly 60 points in after-hours trading.

DreamWorks Animation on Friday announced plans to build a studio in Shanghai, in what the Glendale-based company billed as a landmark agreement with two state-owned Chinese media companies. The creator of the "Shrek" movies said it was forming Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in concert with Shanghai Alliance Investment -- an investment arm of the Shanghai municipal government -- to establish a family entertainment company in China.

Fortune has come out with its list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," and California-based firms claim six out of the top 20 spots, including No. 1, Google . Notably, one of the reasons Google made it into the top spot was because "everything was up at Google last year," including revenue, profits and hiring, the magazine said. Still, revenue reportedly was lower than expected in the fourth quarter, and on Thursday Google's stock fell nearly 60 points in after-hours trading.

Glendale is boring. Or at least that's what more than a year of market research indicates. Consultants hired to develop a new brand strategy for the city unveiled their findings Tuesday at City Hall, saying most people think of Glendale as the boring city between Burbank and Pasadena. To combat that image, Nashville-based North Star Destination Strategies suggested a new marketing strategy centered on the tagline, “Your Life. Animated.” With a nod toward Glendale-based animation studios such as DreamWorks Animation and Disney's creative campus, the phrase comes with a new logo that includes the city's name in lowercase letters surrounded by five multicolored curlicues.

Shares of DreamWorks Animation jumped 12% on Monday after the studio's movie "Puss in Boots" topped the box office for the second consecutive weekend. The DreamWorks film about a feline outlaw voiced by Antonio Banderas pulled in a surprisingly strong $33 million over the weekend, with ticket sales slipping a mere 3% compared with last week. Movies usually drop substantially more in their second weekend, suggesting that "Puss in Boots" could have more staying power than was initially anticipated.

DreamWorks Animation SKG aims to build an animation studio in Shanghai in a further effort to plumb the vast Chinese economy. The Glendale-based studio, which recently announced a deal with online video site Youku.com to distribute its "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China, is recruiting executives to run a studio that would produce animated movies and TV shows catering to the Chinese market, said a person familiar with the plans who was not authorized to...

DreamWorks Animation has become the second Hollywood studio to enter into a distribution agreement with China's top online video site, Youku.com. Youku said Monday that it had signed a deal with the Glendale-based animation studio to distribute the "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China, marking the first time that DreamWorks releases have been made available in that country through the Internet. Both of the previously released "Kung Fu Panda" films, which were hugely popular in China, will be immediately available on Youku's premium on-demand service for less than $1. The movies will subsequently be available for free viewing on Youku's Hollywood Movie Channel.

Publicly-held companies based in Glendale and Burbank were relatively unscathed in the stock market's 512-point plunge today. Glendale-based Public Storage's stocks dropped by $6.26 to $110.82 per share. Stocks for DineEquity, owner of Applebee's and IHOP, declined by $4.46 to $42.40 per share. The Walt Disney Co. was also scraped, its stock decreasing by $2.08 to $35.35 per share. Nestle, DreamWorks Animation and Time Warner, which owns Burbank-based Warner Bros., each saw their stocks fall between $1 and  $1.50.

DreamWorks Animation has ruled out working with Paramount Pictures after next year. The independent studio behind the "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda" movies officially informed Paramount Pictures that it was rejecting an offer to continue their distribution agreement on the same financial terms for one additional year, confirmed a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.  COMPANY TOWN

News that DreamWorks Animation is cutting short its output deal with HBO in order to work with Netflix sent the "Shrek" producer's stock to its highest point in more than a month. DreamWorks Animation's current agreement with pay-TV channel HBO was to run until 2014. Under the terms of the deal, DreamWorks Animation movies go exclusively to HBO during the "pay cable window," which typically starts about six months after theatrical debut. However, DreamWorks Animation has gone to HBO and obtained an exit from the contract so it can instead make its movies available on Netflix's Internet streaming service during that window, a person familiar with the matter confirmed.