Word: katzenberg
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Michael Eisner says he may have called Jeffrey Katzenberg a "little midget...
Last week, suddenly, peace broke out. Nearly five years after Katzenberg abruptly left Disney, where he had run the animation and live-action film units, and two years after he sued for what he saw as his rightful share of profits from the movies he shepherded there, the two sides settled. "Enough is enough!" Katzenberg was told by David Geffen, the DreamWorks partner who brokered the settlement with Disney board member Stanley Gold. "This time it's for real. It can get done, and therefore it should get done." It got done, early last week, at Geffen's Malibu beach...
Each side can be grateful it's over. Disney gets a public relations ogre off its back at a time when its fortunes are lagging. Also, it is spared the final phase of the trial, in which Eisner would have had to counter Katzenberg's estimate of future revenue by poor-mouthing the company's prospects. And Katzenberg gets a nice bundle--if not the $580 million he wanted. No dollar figure was disclosed, but the educated guess was around $250 million, including the $117 million Katzenberg has already received. The sum is to be paid within a year, giving...
...seen as a win or a loss. Katzenberg, paraphrasing Geffen's definition of a fair settlement, told TIME, "I'm disappointed that I didn't get what I thought I should, and they must be disappointed they paid more than they thought they should." Eisner accentuated the positive: "I'm satisfied this is behind us. Jeffrey deserved something because he was very much a part of the Disney renaissance. And in the end he's probably getting less profit participation than some of today's stars and directors...
...issue was Katzenberg's 2% share of royalties from Disney movies and their lucrative spin-offs in video, on CD and on Broadway. His team argued that these royalties could be virtually perpetual, as new markets and technologies opened. Disney was prepared to state that the big profits came only from the first cycle of theatrical and video release. But this suit was personal. Katzenberg often referred to Eisner as a father figure; Eisner had been his mentor for 19 years at Paramount and Disney. So he had to be stung by Eisner's offhand slur, in informal notes...