Dream Works Animation to boost its television and digital presence

Dream Works Animation to boost its television and digital presence

Dream Works Animation

MUMBAI: The Californian Animation giant Dream Works Animation (DWA) is reportedly on the move to revamp and re-position itself as a television power. The company told analysts that it will produce 1,200 TV episodes over the next five years, which CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg says "will give us a significant footprint across the global TV landscape".

He commented that DWA is now on the path to becoming one of the biggest producers and distributors of television following the multi-year agreement with Netflix to create 300 hours of original content for the online streaming platform. DWA has also made a deal with Germany‘s Super RTL to make up to 1,100 half-hours of programming.

Katzenberg adds that the company should see $100 million in revenues from TV this year, about half of which will come from titles in the Classic Media library which include characters like Casper, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Mr. Peabody & Sherman and George of the Jungle Classic Media was bought last year by DWA.

Adding details to this, DWA also revealed that it is projecting at least $200 million in TV revenue per year with gross profits of around 30 per cent, close to what it sees from its films post 2015. Revenue from the Netflix and Super RTL deals won‘t vary depending on the performance of different titles.

The numbers don‘t include benefits from sales of licensed merchandise, the library value of shows, or progress from its recently acquired online video service AwesomenessTV. The company isn‘t ready yet to create a separate business line for television, but will consider the change.