Jeffrey Katzenberg named Mipcom 2013 Personality of the Year

Katzenberg will accept the award on October 9, during a gala dinner for industry executives at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes. The same day, he will address the Mipcom audience in the Palais des Festival’s Grand Auditorium and share his perspectives on the television business as part of Mipcom ‘s Media Mastermind series of presentations.

Organised by Reed MIDEM, Mipcom will take place in Cannes from October 7-10.

Katzenberg co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen in 1994. The company prodcued films including three Best Picture Oscar winners - American Beauty, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind.

Since 2004, DreamWorks Animation has been a publicly-traded company and, under Katzenberg’s leadership, it has become one of the largest animation studio in the world, releasing 27 features to date and earning nine Oscar nominations and two wins for Best Animated Feature. Releases include the Shrek, Madagascar, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda franchises.

Prior to co-founding DreamWorks, Katzenberg served as chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, as well as president of Paramount Studios.

DreamWorks Animation recently announced a major expansion into television production and distribution, and committed to producing hundreds of hours of original animated series based on its films as well as the Classic Media library, which DreamWorks acquired in 2012.

Classic Media founders — former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman — now lead DreamWorks Animation’s international television business. In May, DreamWorks Animation acquired AwesomenessTV, a multi-channel network on YouTube.

Reed MIDEM CEO Paul Zilk said: “Jeffrey Katzenberg’s outstanding impact on the entertainment industry is internationally recognised, as he has brought exceptional films, both live-action and animation, to millions of people around the world.

“The acquisitions of Classic Media and AwesomenessTV, the recent groundbreaking deals with companies including Netflix and Super RTL, and DreamWork Animation’s continuing expansion into the television world, all demonstrate his clear vision of the future of entertainment.”