The year 2014 was filled with ups and downs for one the leading animation studios in the world – DreamWorks Animation; this led to a domino effect of events, first many employees were asked to leave the facility to cut costs and bring in a more slimmer outfit of functioning.
The other consequence that it led was paid the CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, had to take a major pay cut. According to The Hollywood Reporter he took home $6.4 million, which was down 53 per cent from the $13.5 million he made a year earlier.
Katzenberg’s $2.5 million base salary didn’t change, but in 2013 he made $6 million via a non-equity incentive plan, while in 2014 he made zilch from that plan.
Shares of DreamWorks Animation dropped 37 per cent in 2014 amid layoffs and write-offs, and Katzenberg has taken the fall himself for perhaps focusing too much on acquisitions and expansion and not enough on the core business of quality, theatrical releases for family audiences.
In recent years DreamWorks Animation has taken write-downs on Penguins of Madagascar, Turbo, Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Rise of the Guardians, though its latest release, Home, is doing solid business thus far.
Earlier this year, the film company raised cash by selling its Glendale campus for $185 million and leasing back the 13-acre property.