Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. plans to cut several hundred jobs, according to a person familiar with the situation, as the “How to Train Your Dragon” studio seeks to jump-start its slumping movie-making operation.

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Katzenberg is acting after a number of box-office disappointments, including “Turbo,” “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” and the lowest-grossing of the four “Madagascar” pictures. Talks with companies including toymaker Hasbro Inc. to sell Glendale, California-based DreamWorks Animation fell through last year.

The cuts will be deep. The number may exceed 350, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing a decision that hasn’t been announced. The company has about 2,200 workers in California, according to the Los Angeles Times, which reported the move earlier Monday. Katzenberg replaced the studio’s creative leadership this month, appointing veteran producers Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria as co-presidents of feature animation.

Matthew Lifson, a spokesman for DreamWorks Animation, declined to comment.

DreamWorks Animation has expanded into TV production and online video to diversify its revenue. Those efforts so far haven’t freed the company from a dependence on feature filmmaking.

While last year’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2” pulled in $618.9 million at the global box office, “Penguins of Madagascar,” released in November, generated worldwide ticket sales of $287.4 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Its three predecessors all topped $500 million.

DreamWorks Animation fell the most since 2004 in November, when the Hasbro discussions ended. Earlier in the year, people with knowledge of the matter said DreamWorks had discussed a sale to Japan’s SoftBank Corp.

DreamWorks Animation rose 3.9 percent to $22.16 on Jan. 16 in New York. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The shares fell 37 percent in 2014.