STEVEN SPIELBERG - SPIELBERG AMBLIN' ON HOME

As was widely predicted, Steven Spielberg is returning to Universal Studios, where he began his career as an unpaid intern in the 1960s (after first sneaking into the studio by, as he said, "looking important,"). Under a seven-year deal, Universal will distribute movies produced by his DreamWorks company and financed by India's Reliance entertainment conglomerate. He'll be joined by DreamWorks' CEO Stacey Snider, but David Geffen, who reportedly negotiated the deals with Reliance and Universal and the exit from Paramount, will be leaving the company. Spielberg acknowledged that the Walt Disney Company had also made him an attractive offer to distribute the six DreamWorks films that he has said the company will produce annually. He told today's (Tuesday) Wall Street Journal , "It was a tough decision because I love the whole legacy of the Walt Disney Co. ... But when it came down to my final decision, it was about my feeling that it was right to return to the lot that gave me my first chance to be a director." Although Paramount has distributed DreamWorks' movies since 2006, Spielberg kept his offices on Universal's lot. "Even coming through the gate this morning actually felt different," he told today's New York Times . "I felt better. Less like a squatter." And in an interview with USA Today , Snider added "It was really a decision not about terms or money, but 'where do we belong?' Steven and I felt the most comfortable there." Snider also has a long history at Universal, having spent nine years there as a top executive.

14/10/2008