Nightmare for DreamWorks? (The AM Law Daily)

Among the similarities between his creation and the DreamWorks character that Gordon cites in his complaint: both giant pandas hang out with red panda sidekicks who use chopsticks in connection with kung fu fighting.

Gordon also claims that the similarites extend to other plot elements and settings. Portions of both the movie and Gordon’s illustrated literary works take place in "The Valley of Peace," a fictional land in ancient China. Gordon also notes that while his panda is supported by a group of five fighting animals known as the "Five Fists of Fury," Kung Fu Panda protagonist Po is accompanied by a group called "Furious Five" that is composed of the same five animals: a tiger, a monkey, a crane, a mantis, and a snake.

This on top of the 2010 lawsuit filed by another man whith the same Zen-Bear idea:

Self-described "writer-producer-teacher-philosopher" Terence Dunn ... claims that he originally pitched the idea of a "spiritual kung-fu fighting panda bear" to DreamWorks studio execs back in November 2001. Dunn's kung-fu bear was "adopted by five animal friends in the forest (a tiger, a leopard, a dragon, a snake and a crane), whose destiny is foretold by an old and wise sage, Turquoise Tortoise, and who comes of age and fulfills his destiny as a martial arts hero and spiritual avatar."

I guess this just goes to show that there really are no original ideas - I mean, what are the chances? Two guys, on opposites sides of the country, both come up with this idea? (Hmmm, you know, the guy in LA went to Harvard, and the other guy lives in Boston. I wonder if they ever crossed paths?) Either way, DreamWorks certainly has its hands full.
Read the full article here.

The Vanity Fair 100 | The New Establishment 2010 (Vanity Fair)

This year Vanity Fair anoints [Mark Zuckerberg} as our new Caesar. He rules from the imperial capital of Palo Alto, California, the Rome of our nascent millennium. In this, the 16th annual ranking of the 100 most influential people of the Information Age, V.F. has also heaped some new honors on that other prince of Palo Alto, Steve Jobs, now that his Apple is worth even more than those great conquerors Google and Microsoft.

I can't say I'm surprised to see Zuckerberg and Jobs at the top of the list, However, if I had my druthers, their order would be reversed - I love Apple and am just lukewarm on Facebook - but since this isn't my list, who am I to argue? To whet your whistle, here's where just a few of the many industry's folks landed on the list:

# 4 - Rupert Murdoch - News Corp.
#12 - Brad Bird, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton - Pixar/Disney
#20 - Johnny Depp
#29 - Jon Stewart
#55 - Ryan Murphy
#75 - Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
#81 - Seth MacFarlane
#92 - Harvey & Bob Weinstein
#93 - Nikki Finke

See the full list here.

The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company Called DreamWorks, by Nicole LaPorte (NY Times)

“Jealousy wasn’t the only emotion Spielberg generated in those close to him. He also aroused feelings of protectiveness.” Her book is as much about the envious, ambivalent feelings with which insiders greet everything Spielberg does as it is about the Musketeer-like unity that Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg displayed throughout the fraught years of their historic venture.

Sounds like the above quote is about the most interesting observation in the book, which gets a resoundingly negative review from the NY Times. Guess we can take this one off our lists of things to read.
Read the full review here.

DreamWorks 3.0 Has Arrived -- But What Is It? (The Wrap)

Unshackled from their unhappy Paramount home, and beginning a more simple life as a pure-play movie-production house, DreamWorks officials brim with the kind of hope that can only be found at a studio that hasn’t been around long enough to see anything flop.

A quick read about the "new" DreamWorks, but unfortunately, it doesn't actually answer its own question. Is it simply a fresh start? Focus? Or just being away from Paramount?
Read the full article here.