DreamWorks to Create Job Training Program

Officials from the DreamWorks SKG studios said Friday that they plan to create a job training program at their future home.

The announcement was prompted by a letter to DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg from City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who requested that the studio publicly commit to the Playa Vista Job-Link program, which city and studio officials said has been in the planning stages for about a year.

“We have been committed to the program for some time now based on our presumed occupancy of Playa Vista,” said Andy Spahn, head of corporate affairs for DreamWorks. He said he had assumed the announcement for the program would come once the studio’s ongoing negotiations with Playa Vista developers had been completed.

Galanter spokeswoman Niki Tennant said the city, DreamWorks, the Building Trades Union, the Irvine Foundation and other organizations hope to create a program allowing economically disadvantaged people of Los Angeles to be trained for jobs in the entertainment, multimedia and construction industries.