Universal Studios has officially announced that they will distribute the films made by DreamWorks, company owned and ran by Steven Spielberg and his partner Stacey Snider, the DreamWorks executives.

Universal Studios were chosen because they and Spielberg have a shared history. The widely-celebrated and renowned director worked with Universal since 1967 up to 2006, when he and his business partner sold their company, DreamWorks,
to Paramount Pictures.

Nevertheless, Universal Studios was not the only candidate for the distribution of DreamWorks’ productions. Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider also received a deal from the world-famous Walt Disney Company. Spielberg opted for Universal Studios because of his familiarity with the company and he had an overall good, homey feeling after closing the deal. According to Snider, a DreamWorks movie will be up for distribution next year, and an 8% distribution fee will go to Universal Studios.

Spielberg and Universal Studios have entered cinematography history since the beginning of their collaboration, starting with hit thriller movie “Jaws”. Snider also has some memories regarding Universal Studios, as she ran the movie operation department before moving to DreamWorks in 2006.

The deal, however, entails some sad news for Spielberg and Snider. For instance, David Geffen, a partner to the two executives and a member of the DreamWorks team for 14 years left the company. Spielberg announced he was aware of Geffen’s intention to leave for at least a year and a half.

DreamWorks managed to hit a balance between commercial productions and works of art. Two well-known examples of strikingly different, yet comparable by success movies are American Beauty - Best Picture in 2006 and the animated comedy Shrek, which earned $267 million only in the U.S. in 2007.