What if DreamWorks Pictures was founded in 1980 as The Geffen Film Company?

Changes

 * It would be founded by David Geffen (along with Geffen Records).
 * It will be known as The Geffen Film Company, Inc. (1980-1990), Geffen Pictures (1990-1994), DreamWorks Pictures (1994-present)
 * it's distribution arm would be named DreamWorks Distribution (1997-present)
 * It would be owned by General Electric (1990-2004) and NBCUniversal (2004-present)
 * DreamWorks distributed its films through Warner Bros. (1980-1997) and Universal Pictures (1997-2004) until NBCUniversal was formed and become a division of Universal Pictures.
 * DreamWorks would distribute the 1981 American supernatural horror film The Evil Dead in North America in 1982 rather than New Line Cinema in United States in 1983 in the real world.
 * DreamWorks would distribute the 1987 American comedy horror film Evil Dead II in North America with Rosebud Releasing Corporation.
 * DreamWorks would distribute the 1992 American comedy horror film Army of Darkness in North America rather than Universal Pictures in North America in the real world.
 * DreamWorks would distribute Richard Williams' animated movie The Princess and the Cobbler (released in North America & United Kingdom as The Thief and the Cobbler) in North America and select territories in 1994 rather than Miramax Films in North America in 1995 in the real world.
 * DreamWorks Animation will never spun off into a separate public company.

Info
DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film production company, and a division of NBCUniversal. It was founded on 1980 known as The Geffen Film Company.

The Geffen Film Company: original founding
Geffen founded the company along with Geffen Records in 1980, having recruited Eric Eisner as president, and distributed its films through Warner Bros. Geffen operated it as a division of Warner Bros. In 1982, The Geffen Film Company release it's first film, Personal Best.

Acquisition by General Electric
In 1990 The Geffen Film Company (renamed as Geffen Pictures) & Geffen Records (After a decade of operating through WMG, when its contract with the company expired) was sold to General Electric. The deal ultimately earned David Geffen an estimated US$800 million in stock and an employment contract that ran until 1995. Following the sale, Geffen Pictures operated as a division of General Electric, and will continue to distribute its films through Warner Bros., while Geffen Records was transferred to Geffen Pictures.

DreamWorks SKG
General Electric acquired Amblin Entertainment following Jeffrey Katzenberg's resignation from The Walt Disney Company in 1994. Katzenberg approached Steven Spielberg and David Geffen about renaming the studio, which had not been done in decades due to the risk and expense, but all three were very successful. They agreed on three conditions: They would make fewer than nine movies a year, they would be free to work for other studios if they chose, and they would go home in time for dinner. Geffen Pictures was renamed as DreamWorks SKG, which was later officially founded on October 12, 1994, while distributing its films through Warner Bros., with financial backing of $33 million from each of the three partners plus $500 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and $300 million from CJ Group heiress Miky Lee [ko]. Lee's CJ Group would acquire distribution rights to DreamWorks films in Asia except Japan. Their new studio was based at offices on the Universal Studios lot, in the same bungalow as Amblin Entertainment. Despite access to sound stages and sets, DreamWorks preferred to film motion pictures on location. Usually, however, the company would film in a soundstage or set in a major studio.

In December 1994, DreamWorks Television was formed after DreamWorks agreed to a $200 million seven-year television production joint venture with Capital Cities/ABC. The company was set up to produce series for broadcast networks, cable channels and first run syndication, with no first-look guarantee for ABC, but financial incentives favored the network. Their first show, Champs, was scheduled as a mid-season replacement for ABC. Dan McDermott was named the division's chief executive in June 1995. DreamWorks Television's first success was Spin City on ABC, the parent company of which was bought by The Walt Disney Company in February 1996. In 2002, the DreamWorks joint venture agreement with ABC ended. That agreement was replaced by a development agreement with NBC, with a first look clause. In 2013, DreamWorks Television merged with Amblin Television.

In 1995, traditional animation artists from Amblimation joined the new studio, which led to DreamWorks buying part of Pacific Data Images, a company specializing in visual effects, and renaming it PDI/DreamWorks. Both were software divisions and would merge later on. By then, DreamWorks had the traditional animators working for their animation department, and the computer animators worked on CG films. Amblimation would be shut down in 1997, leading the staff to join DreamWorks Animation.[citation needed] The same year, DreamWorks Interactive, a computer and video game developer and joint venture between DreamWorks and Microsoft, was founded. On February 24, 2000, Electronic Arts announced the acquisition of DreamWorks Interactive and merged it with EA Pacific and Westwood Studios to form EA Los Angeles, later Danger Close Games.[citation needed]

In June 1995, DreamWorks announced that it had signed a $1 billion deal with MCA Inc. (then parent company of Universal Pictures) to distribute its theatrical releases in other countries and its home video releases worldwide over 10 years, meaning that DreamWorks' distribution deal with Warner Bros. would set to expire in 1997 with the release of The Butcher Boy being released on July 13, 1997 in Ireland, February 20, 1998 in the UK & April 3, 1998 in the US as the final DreamWorks film distributed by Warner Bros. under their original distribution agreement. MCA also bought a 2% stake in the company for $54 million.

In 1996, the company's record label, DreamWorks Records, was founded, the first project of which was George Michael's album Older. The first band signed to the label was eels, who released their debut album Beautiful Freak that year. The record company never lived up to expectations, though, and was sold in October 2003 to Universal Music Group, which operated the label as DreamWorks Nashville.

In 1997, DreamWorks Pictures released its first three feature films, The Peacemaker, a film about terrorism; Amistad, Spielberg's first film for the studio about an African slave rebellion and the aftermath of the massacre; and Mouse Hunt, the studio's first family film about two brothers trying to fight a mischievous mouse.

In 1998, the United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lawsuit against DreamWorks for trademark infringement by Dreamwerks Production Group, Inc., a company mostly specializing in Star Trek conventions. The same year, PDI/DreamWorks produced its first full-length animated features, Small Soldiers, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, which were distributed by DreamWorks Pictures.

In 2000, DreamWorks was planning in building a studio backlot after buying 1,087 acres of land in the Playa Vista area in Los Angeles. It was to be complete with 18 sound stages, with many office buildings and a lake. There would also be new homes, schools, churches, and museums. The project was to be completed in 2001, but was cancelled for financial reasons. Starting in 1999, DreamWorks won three consecutive Academy Awards for Best Picture for American Beauty, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind (the latter two were co-productions with Universal Pictures). The same year, Go Fish Pictures, a division of DreamWorks with the objective to distribute art-house, independent and foreign films, was founded. The division experienced success with the anime films Millennium Actress (2003) and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), respectively, which led them to venture into releasing live-action films, with the release of The Chumscrubber. However, The Chumscrubber was a commercial and critical failure, which led DreamWorks to shut down the division in 2007 shortly after the release of the Japanese film Casshern.[citation needed] In 2002, DreamWorks signed a deal with In Demand.

NBCUniversal era (2004-present)
On August 2, 2004, DreamWorks Pictures was transferred to Universal Pictures after NBCUniversal was formed.

On March 17, 2006, NBCUniversal agreed to sell a controlling interest in the DreamWorks Pictures library that was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Films & Nickelodeon Movies to Viacom. The film library was valued at $900 million. The sale was completed on May 8, 2006.

In June 2008, it reported that DreamWorks was looking for financing that would allow it to continue operations, but as an independent production company, once its deal with Paramount ended later that year. Several public equity funds were approached for financing, including Blackstone Group, Fuse Global, TPG Capital and several others, but all passed on the deal given their understanding of the Hollywood markets. In September 2008, it was announced that DreamWorks closed a deal with Indian investment firm Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group to create a $1.2 billion stand-alone production company and end its ties with Paramount. In January 2009, Spielberg entered a licensing agreement with DreamWorks Animation to use the DreamWorks trademarks, logo, and name for film productions and releases.

On February 9, 2009, DreamWorks Pictures entered into a long-term, 30-picture distribution deal with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, by which DreamWorks' films would be released through the Touchstone Pictures banner, with Disney collecting a 10 percent distribution fee. The deal also included co-funding via a $175 million loan by Walt Disney Studios to DreamWorks for production and access to slots in Disney's pay television agreement, then with Starz. The agreement was reported to have come after negotiations broke off with Universal Pictures just days earlier. DreamWorks raised $325 million from Reliance Entertainment and an additional $325 million in debt in 2009. In August 2009, DreamWorks and Reliance signed a three-year, $825 million pact for up to six films a year.

DreamWorks' slate of films in 2011, I Am Number Four, Cowboys & Aliens, and Fright Night failed, while The Help, Real Steel and Spielberg's War Horse had success at the box office. This left DreamWorks so financially drained that by 2011, the company was seeking additional funding from Reliance. Reliance gave a $200 million investment in April 2012. Under the deal, DreamWorks Pictures scaled back production to three films per year and sought co-financiers on big budget films, such as 20th Century Fox, who co-financed Lincoln and Bridge of Spies. The company continued to have Disney distribute and market their films. In August that year, after re-negotiating their agreement with Disney, DreamWorks formed a deal with Mister Smith Entertainment to distribute its films in EMEA, while Disney would continue to distribute in North America, Latin America, Australia, Russia, and some territories in Asia.

In September 2015, it was reported that DreamWorks and Disney would not renew their distribution deal, which was set to expire in August 2016, with The Light Between Oceans being released in September as the final DreamWorks film distributed by Disney under their original distribution agreement. During that time, DreamWorks was in early negotiations with Universal Pictures to distribute its upcoming films. The contract allowing Spielberg to license the DreamWorks name and logo from Jeffrey Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation was set to expire on January 1, 2016, leading to media speculation that Spielberg would not renew the pact. Disney retained the film rights to the fourteen DreamWorks films it released, as well as acquiring the "DreamWorks II Distribution Co. LLC" copyright from DreamWorks and Reliance in December 2015.

On December 16, 2015, Spielberg, Reliance, Entertainment One, and Participant Media partnered to launch the content production company Amblin Partners, relegating DreamWorks to a brand for adult-themed films produced under the new company. In addition to DreamWorks, the new company also would produce films under the Amblin Entertainment and Participant banners. On the same day, Amblin Partners announced a five-year distribution deal with Universal, under which the company's films would be distributed and marketed by either the main Universal label or its specialty label, Focus Features. The Girl on the Train was the first film released under the new agreement, though a few films, like The Post and The Trial of the Chicago 7, were released by other distributors.

Primary owners and distributors

 * Warner Bros. (since 1982 for pre-1997 Geffen Pictures/DW Studios, LLC catalog)
 * Universal Pictures (since 1997 for post-1997 DW Studios catalog, released on home video since 2021 by Studio Distribution Services, LLC., a joint venture between Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)