Moguls, movies and a company called DreamWorks

DreamWorks movie Shrek the Third

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Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

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The Men Who Would be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies and a Company Called DreamWorks

(

Houghton Mifflin

)

When DreamWorks was founded in 1994, it was the first new Hollywood studio in 60 years. Headed by director Steven Spielberg, music mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, and ex-Disney executive David Geffen, the company set out to build a media empire dedicated to talent and where employees didn't have titles. DreamWorks had its share of successes – American Beauty, Gladiator, Shrek. But it also had numerous, costly failures, and by 2005 the studio was sold to Paramount. In The Men Who Would Be King, reporter Nicole LaPorte tells the story of the company's flare-ups and failed ambitions.

When DreamWorks was founded in 1994, it was the first new Hollywood studio in 60 years. Headed by director Steven Spielberg, music mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, and ex-Disney executive David Geffen, the company set out to build a media empire dedicated to talent and where employees didn't have titles. DreamWorks had its share of successes – American Beauty, Gladiator, Shrek. But it also had numerous, costly failures, and by 2005 the studio was sold to Paramount. In The Men Who Would Be King, reporter Nicole LaPorte tells the story of the company's flare-ups and failed ambitions.

Guest:

Nicole LaPorte, author of The Men Who Would be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies and a Company Called DreamWorks (Houghton Mifflin). She is the West Coast reporter for the Daily Beast and a former film reporter for Variety