DreamWorks signs 5-Year deal with 20th Century Fox

DreamWorks Animation signs five-year deal with 20th Century Fox (Link)

                 DreamWorks animation, the studio behind hit animated franchises like "Shrek,""Kung Fu Panda" and "Madagascar," has signed a five-year deal with 20th Century Fox. 20th Century will begin to distribute its movies beginning next year. The relationship between 20th Century and DreamWorks began in 2011 when the Chief Executive of DreamWorks  Jeffrey Katzenberg sought to pay a lower fee and the Chairman Brad Grey Paramount formed a competitive animation unit at his studio. DreamWorks hired former Disney distribution President Chuck Viane last fall to help the studio on its options, including possibly distributing its own films. By this summer, the company abandoned the option of releasing its own films, it  focused on intense talks with Fox and Sony Pictures. Under the new agreement, DreamWorks will pay Fox 8% of revenue from box-office and DVD sales, this was the same fee that it paid Paramount Pictures. Katzenberg previously told his company's shareholders that he would seek a lower fee in a new distribution deal. Fox will receive a lower fee for the small,  growing business of digital distribution, including video-on-demand and download-to-own, plus DreamWorks will retain the right to distribute its movies on domestic television channels, this was a source of revenue that it previously shared with Paramount. DreamWorks will keep the rights to release its movies on TV in China as well. Katzenberg announced recently that he  plans to launch a DreamWorks family cable channel. DreamWorks last year signed a deal to replace HBO with Netflix as television partner in the U.S, Netflix will take over those duties in 2013. A factor in the new partnership is that Fox has an animation unit of its own, Blue Sky Studios, best known for the hit "Ice Age" franchise. The studio will have to carefully balance the interest of Blue Sky with DreamWorks in selecting the best release dates and dedicating the support of its marketing team. The first DreamWorks film to be released by Fox will be a caveman comedy named "The Croods,." This is scheduled to hit theaters March 22. 

                       If 20th Century Fox already has an animation company Blue Sky which released the "Ice Age" franchise, why do they need to deal with DreamWorks? I'm really getting mixed feelings about this because I don't think that  20th century needs DreamWorks, plus they don't get much profit from the DVD sales or Download-to-own. What really has got me thinking is whether Fox can handle DreamWorks and Blue Sky at the same time, can it handle the double duty of paying the bills and making films for both companies. Like I said, this really has me thinking. 20th Century leaving HBO for Netflix? That's not something I would have done. Netflix in my opinion is struggling to be "the-next-big-thing" streaming their movies on a poor service was a bad idea. HBO would have streamed their movies often, in HD and free of advertisements on your TV set. My other question that comes to mind is, Streaming in China? Well I guess you can do that, a little more revenue. How this impacts the industry? Well two new companies have "joined forces" to make the same movies that could have been done on their own. How this impacts me as a filmmaker? Well it looses my interests in ever thinking about working for ether two companies because one day the companies will soon ether leave each other or go bankrupt and then I'm bust and that's something I don't want to be in this economy!