Dream Ideas for the New Studio in Town : It must have taken courage to leave Mickey Mouse and Michael Eisner to strike out on your own.

Jeffrey Katzen- berg

SKG Dream- Works

Hollywood, U.S.A.

Dear Mr. K:

Now that the media hype over SKG DreamWorks has quieted down a bit, now that you’ve scored those gorgeous deals with the Microsoft people, now that everybody wants a piece of the action, please allow me to offer my heartfelt and humble. . .

CONGRATULATIONS!

You did it, big guy! You kissed Disney goodby and, voila , created the hottest studio in town! Without creating a single product, SKG is a huge, stupendous success. And some people call a bunch of lawyers “the Dream Team.” Ha!

Most of Hollywood, of course, salutes you for pulling this off--and deservedly so. It must have taken courage to leave Mickey Mouse and Michael Eisner to strike out on your own. And then--it seemed like only minutes--you replaced that pair with Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Geffen! And you, of course, are the linchpin, the keystone of this glorious acronym.

But for all the credit you deserve, I would suggest that Mr. S. and Mr. G. are the biggest winners here. And you know why? Simply because they have you, Mr. K, as a partner.

I say this knowing that flattery will get me nowhere. You haven’t achieved such success falling prey to cheap tactics. I say it only because some people underestimate your value. They look at Mr. S’s box office genius and Mr. G’s billions and wonder what you bring to the table.

Obviously, Mr. S and Mr. G appreciate your value. Why, I can’t help but think of you every time I motor along the Ventura Freeway past the Disney lot. That catchy new animation building, the one with Mickey’s 85-foot conical sorcerer’s cap pointing to the heavens, makes me think of the studio wizard who shepherded “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” into existence. I think of it as the Jeffrey Katzenberg Memorial, because you, obviously, were Uncle Walt’s true spiritual heir, not that tall fellow who made $206 million last year.

Mr. Eisner may have a keen mind when it comes to money, but he obviously did not appreciate your true value, letting you slip away like that. It’s interesting that Mr. Eisner’s underling would wind up as a partner with Mr. S. and Mr. G., each of whom is worth far more than Mr. Eisner.

And it’s heartening that Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen would want to do business with your little start-up. When Allen put up $500 million of his own money--a considerable sum, even when Forbes estimates his worth at $3.9 billion--it gave me the warm fuzzies. And two weeks ago, when Gates announced that Microsoft itself was teaming with your studio to produce a new generation of Hollywood-style interactive software, it set my mind to racing: Just think of the adventure games and interactive stories we can create!

Did I say we ? Well, yes. I have to admit that is precisely the thought that occurred to me. And I must say, the notion took my breath away. It came from nowhere, as if by divine inspiration. I felt the heat go to my face, thinking of a mild-mannered newspaperman working with SKG DreamWorks.

Since that moment, I’ve been wrestling with my conscience. Should I persevere in my journalistic duty? Should I, as Clark Kent might say, fight for truth, justice and the American Way? Or should I heed the siren song of Hollywood--the temptation of wealth, glory and fabulous babes?

Mr. K, it wasn’t easy, but I’ve come to a decision. Yes, I am willing to entertain an offer from SKG DreamWorks. Now that you have the investors, you need the dreams. And that’s what I can bring to the table.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be prudent of me to disclose many of my ideas without a suitable contract. Allow me to offer a sample.

Say, for example, that taxpayers of a major metropolis are outraged by the escalating cost of a sensational murder trial involving a celebrity, whose fame is such that he is able to sell books and even sculptures of himself. The trial draws such TV ratings that even little known personages such as the judge, prosecutors and various witnesses become celebrities in their own right. The ratings have soared along with the cost to taxpayers.

Some politicians suggest that the media should pay to cover this news event. An interesting thought--and we should seize the moment. Since so many pols are pushing public-private partnerships as a way to save money, why not pursue a deal in which we privatize the public domain?

We could broadcast sensational news pay-per-view. Or we could keep it on TV and seek appropriate advertisers (Isotoner?). We could do product placement and maybe sell ad space on the judge’s robe. And because we own them, we could alter the stories for entertainment value. Imagine this trial as adventure game or an interactive mystery in CD-ROM. And once we open The DreamWorks Store, we could sell those little action figures.

Intrigued? Remember, this is just a sample.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Scott Harris

PS--That Eisner really is a piece of work, isn’t he? Last year I sent him two letters proposing the creation of “Eisnerland,” a theme park for grown-ups who wonder what it must be like to be so wealthy. If I do say so myself, it was a great idea--but Eisner never got back to me. How rude.