DreamWorks Animation Reviews

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Smart, motivated people. Free lunch & breakfast. First run movie screenings. Lots of booze on hand. Sharing of knowledge. Internal classes/learning opportunities. Lots of parties. A world class product for the most part.

Cons – Very competitive even within departments. Too director driven- if you get a bad one to work with morale is greatly affected and nothing can be done about it. Weak producers don't do anything to push directors to stick to schedules. Constant story issues that affect schedules and morale. Layoffs.

Advice to Senior Management – There is a big disconnect between what execs think of as current technology and processes versus what is really happening in production. It seems they have buzzwords and shareholders in mind way more than those doing the work in the trenches.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time

Pros – Friendly co-workers. Free food, snacks, partys.

Cons – Pay is low, compared to other similar jobs at other companies.

Advice to Senior Management – Pay market value.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation as an intern for less than a year

Pros – - supervisors and coordinators were always willing to teach and invest in interns
- trusted with some major, real world experience tasks, such as notes in dailies and driving with linux
- Free lunch and breakfast
- Lots of focus on team building and community, and had lots of events such as parties, group lunches etc.
- weekly exposure to high level executives, etc. in Q&A sessions
- Amazing work environment/people to work with

Cons – - currently no career opportunities due to layoffs; a little unstable
- Unpaid in Fall and Spring Semesters

Advice to Senior Management – - Make internship paid

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Wonderful campus makes this easily the most relaxing place to work.
The management is generally well organized and proficient. Jeffrey Katzenberg (CEO) seems to care about the employees inasmuch as any CEO can.. He is frank, usually, with information and tries to reward employees for a job well done.
Overall, DreamWorks has the best ratio of "nice" people to work with.
Also, the base pay is about 20% below industry standards, but they try to compensate through bonuses, free breakfasts and lunches and lots of gifts, incentives, etc. (free screenings, art classes, parties, free art books and DVDs when a movie releases, and the union health and pension plans are outstanding).

Cons – There is a bit of a problem with some of the mid-level management. Although there are many good managers, there are a few who run unchecked and make life miserable for those they manage. A good 360 degree review process would greatly help alleviate this issue.
Also, in recent month, the whole stability aspect of DreamWorks has been compromised by large amounts of layoffs.
The path for moving into supervision roles is unclear and seems marked more by politics than accomplishment.

Advice to Senior Management – Once you implement a complete review process which makes everyone accountable to those both above and below, then you'll have a much happier and more efficient production process.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Super smart people that are fun to work with
They invest a lot in training and continuing education
Great environments with lots of perks like free breakfast and lunch

Cons – This is a Hollywood company, in many ways. Expect employment contracts and occasional layoffs (though DWA has fewer than most in the industry).
You're working in a fun environment on a cool product, so if you're a techie you're not going to make as much as you will at a tech company.
Crunch time for a film means working 6 day weeks for the last several months of a production, though if you're not directly on a film you'll have a more normal schedule.

Advice to Senior Management – Do 360-degree reviews for everyone in management on a regular basis.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation

Pros – I was a production intern here. The company really makes an effort to involve you in the work. There are also a lot of awesome opportunities with guest speakers and networking to learn about other parts of the company

Cons – Some days could be a bit slow

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Great working environment. Friendly staff. Ability to learn from peers both on the production and artistic side of the studio. Production is open to coordinators changing departments in order to get a wide range of experience throughout the pipeline.

Cons – Instability of some projects and growth opportunities vary based on project status.

Advice to Senior Management – Talk with all members of every department to get a sense of what they would like out of the company just as the company asks of them.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation

Pros – Free lunch & breakfast, On-site doctor's office, Awesome people~

Cons – Currently unstable industry, outsourcing is starting to affect people in us

Former Employee – worked at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Opportunity to work with new technology. You work for a company with high name recognition. You can expand your career connections. Very nice perks! Free lunch and breakfast. You get to see movies in the development process You get movie credits. You meet very interesting people. You get exposed to new technology from other companies such as HP and Microsoft.

Cons – Low salary compared to other companies. Overwhelmed with mundane work. It can be very stressful at times. Little possibility to move to a higher pay bracket. Workload is not distributed appropriately

Advice to Senior Management – Increase pay rate. Management needs to improve accountability. Need to provide a true path for advancement

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at DreamWorks Animation full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Great creative and collaborative environment w/ excellent benefits and perks. The employees make the culture and it varies slightly between campuses.

Cons – Career development is severely lacking, no checks and balances and/or goals tracking in management training, high performing and over achievers are not compensated accordingly for their contributions, company is large - difficult to get noticed, too much focus on technology and less on being creative and good storytelling.

Advice to Senior Management – Nurture creativity & innovation by sponsoring personal and/or group projects. Politics can get ugly if you're not in the right clique. (This is true of any large company.)

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company