Will Disney buy DWA? No! Universal did!

[Ben]

Good news! Fingers crossed!

[ShyViolet]

I knew it would make you happy, Ben!

[ShyViolet]

Some more on Shadow's development:

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... s.html?m=1

[Ben]

Well, not really "more" but it's good to know people are talking about it, even if it is just opinion pieces. Still, it's a shame Dindal isn't on it (whatever happened to his Baker Street picture?) since it would seem to fit him perfectly.

[ShyViolet]

Oh no....

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/ja ... ppointment

[Ben]

The numbers shouldn't exceed 300 from what I'm hearing, but you never know. It's a bit of a shocker to do this so soon after such a layoff not long ago, but it was clear it was coming. With the new heads of production, hopefully we'll see Katzenberg pull back and let people do their jobs so that DWA can grow back in stature. They need to build themselves back up before he keeps trying to sell it all off...!

[droosan]

I've heard local scuttlebutt whisper as many as 500 -- but that is likely colored by fear (and no one knows anything 'for sure'), so I'm hopeful your numbers are closer to accurate, Ben.

Regardless, the amount of people to be let go (many of them very talented & experienced) will likely be larger than the entire staffs of most remaining animation/VFX productions in L.A.

Unless something changes in the next couple of months, I expect I'll be 'laid-off' by my current employer in April. Job-hunting this summer is gonna be tough.

[ShyViolet]

Sorry to hear that, Droo.

[droosan]

Don't feel too sorry for me; the work I've been doing for the past few years tends to be 'seasonal'; it slows down every summer .. and (usually) picks back up by autumn. I've been able to plan ahead for it, and will enter into unemployment with a 'cushion' which should last most of the rest of the year (if necessary).

It's the folks who are thrust into unemployment unexpectedly (and who will not have much time to make such preparations, if they haven't already begun) that will find the roughest waters ahead.

[LotsoA113]

Droosan called it...500 employees are being laid off. Plus, DreamWorks is reducing it's output to just two features a year.

http://deadline.com/2015/01/dreamworks- ... 201355918/

[ShyViolet]

That's awful. Also other than Dragon, Panda and Croods I don't have much hope for those other pics.
(Especially Home and Trolls.)

[Dacey]

Honestly, I'm not sure why everyone seems to already be writing off Home as a "bomb." The trailer's been well-received by the audience whenever I see it in a theater.

[ShyViolet]

"Wacky" pairing (more like tired), lame jokes, potty humor. And not much of a real point to make.

[Randall]

The Home trailer just looks lame and tired, with sub-juvenile homour. But hopefully the actual film will be more than that.

Too bad about DWA employees, but two films a year should be more manageable creatively for them.

[Ben]

At Into The Woods a couple of weeks ago, Home got big, audible groans and "what the...?" looks and sounds, while Big Hero 6 and Cinderella were well received.

It's "ouch" for DWA staffers, but also for the company which is also about to see its north California offices shut down (with about half of that staff merged with Glendale)...a bitter pill for Katzenberg's pride to swallow. He's admitted to trying to get too big too soon while being forced to recognise that his core business, as much as he may want to buy up classic characters, get into TV and theme parks, is still producing one or two animated features per year.

The trick now, with this slimming down and reshuffles, is if they can bounce back. A thought struck me earlier on today...the big question DWA is facing now is not really whether they can bounce back, or whether someone will buy them, but the big what if they can't bounce back and the worst case scenario is that they simply have to shut down...

I can't see it getting to that point before other factors come into play, but it's a serious consideration now. They've kind of taken a few steps back to where every film needs to be a hit, and the reliance on sequels only underlines that. If the next two to three years are not kind to DWA, I can't see them being around the way we know them in around five or so...