Katzenberg: 3-D Is the New Talkie

More from the American Magazine Conference: Fortune editor Andy Serwer is interviewing Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is mostly talking about his company's efforts in the 3-D arena. Katzenberg genuinely seems to believe 3-D is going to be the Next Big Thing is entertainment:

There have been two great revolutions in film. The first was when they went from silent films to talkies and the second was when they went from black-and-white to color. This, in my opinion, is the third great revolution.... When you finally see what we're trying to do, it's as big of a delta between a silent film and a talkie and a black-and-white and a color.... The first place you're going to see it is in a movie theater, but very quickly, you're going to see it in every device, in every sort of visual experience that you have.

He says Oakley is developing sunglasses that double as 3-D viewing glasses. He also says there is on the horizon a technology that will make special glasses unnecessary; that will be a major turning point.

Also: "Here's the thing that really pisses me off about 3-D. It actually will not make a crappy movie good.... If you don't tell a great story, it doesn't matter how many bells and whistles you throw at it....Unfortunately, it won't make bad movies good. I think it will make good movies great."

-Serwer asks about the Shrek musical. Katzenberg says it's a no-brainer: Dreamworks will spend $20 million to $25 million to get it onto Broadway, and a Broadway show that runs for five to ten years and spawns multiple productions can generate $500 million-plus. "When you think of businesses where you can invest $25 million and have 10, 20, 40-time return on it, there just aren't that many of those."

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