ANIMATORS FOR HIRE

Katzenberg Begins Dreamworks Layoffs

Over 350 employees to be let go.

Not even Shrek can save the day now. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, tells The Hollywood Reporter that the first layoffs in the company’s history have begun. Citing the poor performance of the recent animated release Rise of the Guardians and the postponing of the planned flick Me and My Shadow, Katzenberg says the studio—previously behind such megahits as Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda—will have to let 350 of its 2,200 employees go by the end of the year. “These things are very, very difficult to do,” Katzenberg says. “I would say it’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do since we started DreamWorks.”