1. Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American media proprietor and film producer.
46 Facts About Jeffrey Katzenberg
1. 2.
Jeffrey Katzenberg served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films.
3.
Jeffrey Katzenberg has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in 2017, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform that lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.
4.
Jeffrey Katzenberg served as a campaign co-chair for Joe Biden's 2024 presidential re-election campaign, and subsequently Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign.
5.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was born on December 21,1950, in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of Anne, an artist, and Walter Jeffrey Katzenberg, a stockbroker.
6.
Jeffrey Katzenberg attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, graduating in 1969.
7.
Jeffrey Katzenberg quickly received the nickname "Squirt" and attended as many meetings as he could.
8.
Jeffrey Katzenberg went on to attend New York University for one year, before dropping out to work full-time as an advance man for Lindsay.
9.
Jeffrey Katzenberg 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.
10.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was responsible for reviving the studio which, at the time, ranked last at the box office among the major studios.
11.
Jeffrey Katzenberg 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.
12.
Jeffrey Katzenberg expanded Disney's film portfolio by launching Hollywood Pictures with Eisner and overseeing the acquisition of Miramax Films in 1993.
13.
Jeffrey Katzenberg oversaw Touchstone Television, which produced television series such as The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and Home Improvement.
14.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was charged with turning around Disney's ailing Feature Animation unit, creating some intrastudio controversy when he personally edited a few minutes out of a completed Disney animated feature, The Black Cauldron, shortly after joining the company.
15.
Jeffrey Katzenberg brokered a deal with Pixar to produce 3D computer-generated animated movies and greenlit production of Toy Story.
16.
Concerns arose internally at Disney, particularly from Eisner and Roy E Disney, about Katzenberg taking too much credit for the success of Disney's animated releases.
17.
In 1993, Jeffrey Katzenberg discussed with Eisner the possibility of being promoted to president of the company, which would mean moving Frank Wells from president to vice chairman.
18.
Eisner responded that Wells would feel "hurt" in that scenario and then, according to Jeffrey Katzenberg, assured him that he would get the job if Wells vacated the position.
19.
Disney board member Stanley Gold said Jeffrey Katzenberg had been brought low by "his ego and almost pathological need to be important".
20.
Later in 1994, Jeffrey Katzenberg co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, with Jeffrey Katzenberg taking primary responsibility for animation operations.
21.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was credited as producer or executive producer on the DreamWorks animated films The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Chicken Run and Joseph: King of Dreams, Shrek in 2001, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron in 2002, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas in 2003 and both Shrek 2 and Shark Tale in 2004.
22.
In 2006, Jeffrey Katzenberg made an appearance on the fifth season of The Apprentice.
23.
Jeffrey Katzenberg awarded the task winners an opportunity to be character voices in Over the Hedge.
24.
Jeffrey Katzenberg left his position as CEO of DWA and was named chairman of DreamWorks New Media, consisting of DWA's interests in AwesomenessTV and Nova.
25.
In January 2017, the LA Times reported that Jeffrey Katzenberg had raised funds for a new media and technology investment firm called WndrCo.
26.
In late 2018, Jeffrey Katzenberg announced his new video streaming platform, Quibi, created in partnership with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman.
27.
Jeffrey Katzenberg said the shutdown was due to a sudden change in how audiences consume media caused by the coronavirus pandemic which did not align with Quibi's market niche as well as a desire to return some funds to investors.
28.
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been a prominent supporter of Democratic candidates for elected office since the Clinton administration and was an early supporter of Barack Obama.
29.
Reportedly "smitten" by Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Jeffrey Katzenberg pledged his full support to Obama in 2006 if he decided to run for president.
30.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was an avid fundraiser for Obama, doing so while much of Hollywood was still supporting the Clintons.
31.
The Wall Street Journal reported his efforts allowed Jeffrey Katzenberg to become an "informal liaison" between Hollywood and the Obama administration.
32.
In 2012, Jeffrey Katzenberg organized a fundraiser for Obama's 2012 presidential campaign at the residence of George Clooney.
33.
Some Obama campaign officials were unhappy with some of Jeffrey Katzenberg's requests, including that Obama stay and talk with guests at each of the 14 tables at the dinner.
34.
News of the investigation broke shortly after Jeffrey Katzenberg assisted Joe Biden with brokering the Chinese movie deal and Jeffrey Katzenberg had held a fundraiser for the Obama campaign.
35.
Jeffrey Katzenberg denied the existence of the investigation, saying that DreamWorks had never been asked for documents or to otherwise cooperate with an investigation.
36.
In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Jeffrey Katzenberg pledged $500,000 to the March for Our Lives gun-control demonstration.
37.
Jeffrey Katzenberg donated approximately $1.8 million to a PAC supporting Karen Bass's Los Angeles mayoral bid in 2022.
38.
In 2023, Jeffrey Katzenberg was named as one of the national co-chairs of Joe Biden's 2024 campaign for reelection as president.
39.
Jeffrey Katzenberg noted he would provide significant financial support for Biden's re-election.
40.
In December 2023, Jeffrey Katzenberg hosted a fundraiser and, at the time, dismissed concerns about Biden's age, instead referring to it as "his superpower".
41.
In 2024, Jeffrey Katzenberg was an advisor to and co-chair of the Biden reelection campaign.
42.
When Dodd reportedly asked him to intervene, Jeffrey Katzenberg declined, but "sought to soothe hurt feelings and lay the groundwork for a deal more friendly to Hollywood".
43.
Jeffrey Katzenberg's office contacted Obama and urged him to contact other studio chiefs in order to reaffirm their support.
44.
Jeffrey Katzenberg was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Ringling College of Art and Design in 2008, the first in the school's history.
45.
At the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Jeffrey Katzenberg was awarded an honorary Palme d'Or, the festival's highest prize.
46.
In 2008, Jeffrey Katzenberg founded the DreamWorks Animation Academy in partnership with Inner-City Arts, a Los Angeles-based art education nonprofit organization, to provide inner-city students with instruction in digital media production.