The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks [Kindle Edition]

Nicole LaPorte (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The rise and then the crash and burn of DreamWorks, created by three of the biggest egos in Hollywood—Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen—is a gripping saga of changing economic times. Wary of corporate inroads and catalyzed by Katzenberg’s troubled departure from Disney, the three had independently come to a point where they wanted to run their own show. In 1994, without even a name for their venture, they announced the formation of a company that would break the mold on corporate ownership of entertainment-making, respecting creativity above all else. Spielberg was coddled and cosseted as the ultimate artiste. Katzenberg, who headed the animation division at Disney, was motivated as much by vengeance against CEO Michael Eisner when he set about luring away Disney’s animators. Billionaire Geffen was looked on as the businessman who would bring together disparate parts of the company. What followed was a clash of multiple cultures and visions, within and outside of DreamWorks. LaPorte, a former film industry reporter for Variety, offers a deliciously detailed look at the trials, triumphs, and fumbles of DreamWorks—from the complicated story behind Shrek, a CGI pioneer, to the courting of stars Nicole Kidman and George Clooney and soothing of Russell Crowe. This unauthorized chronicle of DreamWorks will no doubt seal LaPorte’s status as persona non grata in Hollywood, but readers will love it. --Vanessa Bush

Review

"Want to know how business really works in LaLa Land?  Read this book"
--Liz Smith, wowOwow.com

"LaPorte's lenghty narrative is the definitive history of the studio, an achievement of dispassionate reporting in the genre of corporate decline-and-fall...Hollywood, with its penchant for sunny publicity and an obsession for secrecy, is a notoriously difficult business in which to uncover the truth...Most reporters are not up to the task.  LaPorte is...  The Men Who Would Be King will be required reading for anyone interested in the story of DreamWorks."
--L.A. Times

"A thrilling ride... The bumbling and infighting are just too good, and sad, to resist...  We're privy to some serious dirt.  LaPorte has clearly done her homework...  The sheer scope and depth of The Men Who Would Be King impresses.  No hissy fit escapes LaPorte's gaze.  Every time Geffen has a meltdown or A-list stars like Russell Crowe throw trantrums, LaPorte is there to capture it."
--Boston Globe

"Daily Beast contributor and former Variety reporter LaPorte penetrates the mysterious inner workings of DreamWorks. . . . LaPorte marshals an awesome body of research to vividly depict DreamWorks’ confused identity, the personality conflicts and ego clashes that raged behind the company’s friendly, low-key exterior . . . Behind-the-scenes glimpses at the productions of such signature DreamWorks films as American Beauty and Gladiator are wonderfully diverting Hollywood dirt, but the heart of the story is simple human ambition. Stories of Katzenberg’s toxic and litigious relationship with former boss and Disney honcho Michael Eisner, Geffen’s mission to destroy agent Michael Ovitz and the rivalry between DreamWorks Animation and Disney’s Pixar are fascinating for t...

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 823 KB
• Print Length: 517 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0547134703
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; None edition (May 4, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003L7822M
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,385 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Arts & Entertainment > Performing Arts
  • #18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Arts & Entertainment > Movies & Video > History & Criticism
  • #53 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Performing Arts

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and concise view of the rise and fall of what seemed the perfect company, May 9, 2010

By 

Michael A. Weyer - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks (Hardcover)

It's amazed me that Dreamworks hasn't spawned more books. The only one before was "The Dream Team" which was rather short. But this more than makes up for it as Nicole Laporte does an excellent job on the behind-the-scenes struggles of what seemed the perfect talent merger. She shows how right off the bat, Giffin was above things, only coming in to supply funds when needed while Spielberg's vision as a filmmaker didn't translate as well to the business side of things.

It's Katzenberg who's the real focus and Laporte does a great job showing the key problem: The man was far more interested in beating out Disney and sticking it to Michael Eisner than really doing his best to make Dreamworks successful. He became obsessed with "out Disneying Disney" in animation, backing flops like "Road to El Dorado" and the brilliant irony is that the one movie he didn't micromanage would be the company's biggest hit "Shrek." Laporte points at 2003's "Sinbad" as a turning point for the company as Katzenberg never really recovered from the animated movie he'd been championing becoming a total bomb.

While she can be a bit too in-depth (did we really need eight pages on "Mousehunt?") Laporte does a great job detailing the company's successes and failures. She moves from how "Gladiator" survived a chaotic production to become a huge hit to how the company poured millions into "Almost Famous" only to see it die at the box office. She nails their problems like Katzenberg producing way too many copies of "Shrek 2" on DVD among other spending items. And it's terrific reading her detailing the Dreamworks/Miramax feud that would become war at Oscar time.

The book details more of the final years of the company and how this once-powerhouse became a shell of itself sold to other studios right before the economic crunch. It's an incredibly detailed book that shines new light on the personalities involved and shows how even the biggest dreamers have a hard time dealing with the reality of Hollwyood. A must-have for any movie-making buff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's like an insider's account of DreamWorks, mostly very interesting, but sometimes a little long, June 16, 2010

By 

B. Wilson (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Nicole LaPorte has written the complete DreamsWorks account. It's the story of how director Steven Spielberg, studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, and billionaire music mogul David Geffen created DreamWorks, built the company on hype, and later sold the company to Paramount. LaPorte describes how these three kings were the last generation of the big Hollywood types like Goldwin and Mayer. Now Hollywood is mostly owned by New York conglomerates. This is the inside story of how these three partners with big egos ran the company and ran over people. LaPorte covers the war that Katzenberg declared on Disney, his former employer. It reveals the massive amount of money and talent as well as the failures and big spending that lead to the downfall. Nicole describes how the dream of being a huge multi-billion dollar, multimedia venture nearly came crashing down into bankruptcy with the financially disastrous animated film Sinbad. Sometimes there is so much detail you wonder whether Nicole was in the room with Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen. Sometimes the details make the story a little long.

Some of the stories are humorous. The initial DreamsWorks deals were for television shows. Yet Spielberg admitted his own track record in TV was lousy. His TV resume included shows such as Amazing Stories, Earth 2, and seaQuest DSV, an underwater series that critics called "Das Bomb." And Peacemaker, starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman was the first live-action film by DreamWorks. Filming in Eastern Europe had gone from bad to worse. People at DreamWorks had a saying for how Peacemaker was being made: "Fire, aim, ready!" Also, when Kidman was walking down the streets of Bratislava, people frequently mistook Clooney as Kidman's bodyguard--which really irritated Clooney. And in the movie Lemony Snicket, Jim Carrey had insisted on multiple takes--which amounted to nearly a mile of film wasted on one scene showing Carrey walking out a door.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look inside the dream machine, May 4, 2010

By 

Richard Rushfield (Los Angeles, C) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in HOllywood, this book is an amazing look inside the insanity of the movie business. And for anyone who isnt interested in Hollywood, its a breathtaking look at hubris on an enormous scale. A trio of moguls who, in tthe style of baby boomers, thought their own specialness would make things different just because it was them..But in the end, there was less to the specialness than met the eye. A must read!