Dreamworks and Paramount
This corporate coupling never got past the power-struggle stage. In 2006, Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, bought Dreamworks, the boutique movie studio formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Dreamworks produced a number of hits for Paramount, including Dreamgirls, Transformers and Tropic Thunder. But the Dreamworks crowd never clicked with Paramount chairman Brad Grey, whom Geffen, in particular, felt took credit for Dreamworks' successes. In September, Dreamworks announced an end to the brief and unhappy partnership, with a $1.5 billion deal to produce films with the Indian media conglomerate Reliance. In the end, the two studios amicably divvied up custody of the kids — some 40 film projects in various stages of development.