Nearly a year after embarking on plans to relaunch DreamWorks as an independent studio, Steven Spielberg finally has the financial means to greenlight his own movies.
DreamWorks said Monday that it had finalized the first phase of a long-in-the-works funding deal that paves the way for the production company to be fully operational.
The funds, which will enable DreamWorks to make 18 to 20 films over the next three years, include $325 million in bank debt and a matching equity investment from Spielberg’s 50 percent partner, India’s Reliance Big Entertainment. Additionally, as part of DreamWorks’ recent distribution deal with Walt Disney Co., the Burbank studio agreed to lend DreamWorks as much as $175 million to bankroll movies.
Although the $825-million total falls short of the $1.25 billion the director had originally sought, DreamWorks has achieved what many in Hollywood have been unable to do: secure new sources of film funding in financially treacherous times.
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