Director Steven Spielberg sort of deformalized his relationship with Paramount Pictures Monday, breaking away from his co-created DreamWorks and embarking on a new studio venture that will include a business partnership with Paramount.
Spielberg will join with Reliance ADA Group of India to start a new production company that will take the lead on about 15 to 20 DreamWorks projects, offering Paramount the opportunity to co-finance and co-distribute, Reuters reported.
At the same time, Paramount itself will take on 15 to 20 other projects under development at DreamWorks, which Spielberg's new company will have a similar option to co-finance and co-distribute. However, Spielberg is seeking out a new distribution partner, which could end up being the motion picture department of NBC Universal.
The move is not expected to affect the Transformers movie franchise, which will remain under the Paramount banner, nor Spielberg's upcoming project, "When Worlds Collide."
"We had a great run with the DreamWorks team both creatively and financially," Brad Gray, chief executive of Paramount, said. "In particular, it has been a true honor working closely with a storyteller of Steven's talent and stature."
Not making the move over are DreamWorks' other two partners. David Geffen is not joining Spielberg in the new venture, and Jeffrey Katzenberg remains head of DreamWorks Animation, which is not affected by the Spielberg deal.
The three founded the studio in 1994 with $500 million in seed money from Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft, producing some major hits including the Shrek animation series that competed heavily with Pixar -- another animation house started by Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs.
In 2006, with the company on the brink of bankruptcy more than once, according to Geffen, Paramount Pictures purchased the live-action portion of DreamWorks for $1.6 billion, including the assumption of $400 million in debt.
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Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
