Dreamworks Animation

DreamWorks Animation posted revenue of $725.2 million for 2009, which is up from 2008 ($650.1 million) but down from 2007 ($767.2 million), which is kind of strange given the company's new commitment to 3D, which started with last year's Monsters vs. Aliens and means, with the 3D surcharge, much higher ticket prices. (Monsters vs. Aliens underperformed at the box office and the studio quickly scuttled plans for a sequel.) Also, three floppy words - Shrek the Musical.

The net income for the year was $151 million, again up from last year ($142.5) but down from the year before that ($227.8).

This year should be better, with the release of the already extremely popular How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After just around the corner.

A recent press release stated that there'd be a sequel to Dragon too: "2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of How to Train Your Dragon which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation's next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013," said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation. "3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing Shrek Forever After, the final chapter in our beloved Shrek series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month."

[Two things of note about that shrink wrapped quote: One, even though Shrek Forever After may be the "last" Shrek movie, the financial filing says that there will be a Puss in Boots moving coming out next Thanksgiving. Isn't it a little disingenuous to call Shrek Forever After the last one when there will be a spin-off/sequel in a year? Also: I'd love to see a How to Train Your Dragon sequel too but Katzenberg isn't taking a little something called the Mayan apocalypse into consideration. 2012. Deal with it. John Cusack did.]

Their financial report is very interesting. I loved the description of why the stock is risky: "Our success is primarily dependent on audience acceptance of our films, which is extremely difficult to predict and therefor, inherently risky." It also gives you insight into their relationships with Paramount (who distributes their films theatrically) and Universal (responsible for their home video distribution), how they make their movies (including a handy chart which describes the development process) and what's on the horizon (apparently all those unanswered questions from Madagascar 2 will be wrapped up - Madagascar 3 is on the way!)

Also interesting is how the main man Jeffrey Katzenberg was paid for his troubles of providing expertly worded quotes for press releases: He wasn't paid a salary or a bonus but he had stock options and "award options" (whatever that means), which put his total earnings at $23,443,501. Not too shabby. Beats having to train dragons for a living.