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DreamWorks Film with ‘Korean Elements’ in Production

October 21, 2013

Jeffrey Katzenberg visited Everland, a major amusement park in Korea run by Samsung, on Saturday to watch “Madagascar Live!” DreamWorks and Everland co-produced the musical. (Yonhap)

By Yun Suh-young

DreamWorks Animation’s CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said Friday that his company is developing an animation feature with a “Korean element.”

While he didn’t want to give away too many details about what the future production was about, Katzenberg simply said it contain a historical element from Korea.

“There is a very specific story that comes out of a historical or maybe mythical Korean element, but we can’t share details at this time,” he told reporters Friday in downtown Seoul, before heading to the CJ Global Creative Forum held at Sejong University in Seoul. “Great stories could come from any part of the world and great story ideas are being discovered in Asia as well,” he said.

Katzenberg also said a “sizeable” portion of the television adaption of Turbo, DreamWorks’ recently released animated film, will be produced in Korea, marking the first time the company is bringing production to Seoul.

The DreamWorks CEO met with President Park Geun-hye earlier at Cheong Wa Dae in order to discuss methods for the company to begin utilizing elements of Korean history and ways for the animation company to collaborate with Korea’s television animation producers. Korean-American director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who directed “Kung Fu Panda 2” and “Kung Fu Panda 3,” was also present at the meeting.

At the CJ Global Creative Forum held Friday afternoon, Katzenberg met with Korean director Bong Joon-ho of “Snowpiercer” and discussed DreamWork’s pioneering role in the development of 3D films.

Katzenberg also visited Everland, a major amusement park run by Samsung, on Saturday and watched “Madagascar Live!”, a musical co-produced by DreamWorks and Everland. The musical, which made its debut in July last year, has become the most popular production Everland has ever released since its opening in 1976, attracting an audience of 800,000.