Opinion
Katzenberg: Obama ‘not enamored’ of Hollywood
By: Jeff Dufour
Editor at Large/Columnist, "Yeas & Nays"
12/15/08 12:05 AM EST
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Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive officer of DreamWorks Animation and one of Los Angeles’ most powerful executives, said we shouldn’t expect the same relationship between Hollywood and Barack Obama as we saw with Hollywood and Bill Clinton.
“I think he appreciates Hollywood, but he’s not enamored with it,” Katzenberg told Yeas & Nays. “I don’t think it’s like the Clinton years. He’s a very different man.”
Why? “I don’t think he’s one scintilla starstruck,” Katzenberg said. “I think we’re all starstruck by him.” (Katzenberg would know: He raised $1.7 million for Obama’s campaign.)
And, yes, Katzenberg said he’ll be back here for the inauguration next month. “I’d love to be one of 4 million,” he said.
Katzenberg came to Washington on Friday as part of a promotional tour for DreamWorks’ “Monsters vs. Aliens,” which will be released in March.
Among other big-name actors, the film stars Stephen Colbert as president of the United States and Kiefer Sutherland as “Gen. W.R. Monger.” Katzenberg said actors love adding their voices to animated movies for several reasons, partly because it’s “incredibly liberating” for them: There’s no travel to set locations, makeup or costumes, and the time required is usually far less than a live-action film.
“Monsters vs. Aliens” is a 3-D production, which Katzenberg called the “next great revolution” in cinema. He predicted that within a few years, the industry would progress to do most films, if not all, in 3-D.
The animated feature concerns an alien invasion the government is powerless to stop, so it calls on monsters it has been secretly holding captive for 50 years.
“I know all of you in Washington would find it inconceivable that the government has a program that we don’t know about,” Katzenberg quipped.
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