Jeffrey Katzenberg

Katzenberg was born in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of Anne, an artist, and Walter Katzenberg, a stockbroker.[2] He attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, graduating in 1969. When he was 14, Katzenberg volunteered to work on John Lindsay's successful New York mayoral campaign. He quickly received the nickname "Squirt" and attended as many meetings as he could.[3]

United States President Barack Obama presenting the 2013 National Medal of Arts to Katzenberg

Katzenberg is a longtime supporter of Barack Obama. Reportedly "smitten" by Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Katzenberg pledged his full support to Obama in 2006 if he decided to run for president.[32] During his campaign, Obama praised Katzenberg for his "tenacious support and advocacy since we started back in 2007."[33]

Katzenberg has been an avid fund-raiser for Obama, doing so while much of Hollywood was still supporting the Clintons. His fund-raising prowess has reportedly allowed him to become an "informal liaison" between Hollywood and the White House.[32] Katzenberg co-hosted a fund-raiser for President Obama at the home of actor George Clooney in May 2012. Katzenberg said that the event raised almost $15 million, which would make it the most profitable presidential fund-raiser in history.[34] It was reported that Obama campaign officials were not happy about some of the requests that Katzenberg had made. In particular, they were bothered that Katzenberg, who reportedly had made himself "indispensable to Obama", required that the President spend time talking at each of the 14 tables.[32]

When the details of Oriental DreamWorks emerged, Jennifer Rubin noted that the Obama Administration's potential involvement in the deal would not be an issue if not for Katzenberg's May fund-raiser for Obama and his "huge campaign donations."[35] It was reported that Katzenberg was Obama's top "bundler", who, along with Andy Spahn, had collected at least $6.6 million in combined donations for both of Obama's campaigns.[36] In an MSNBC interview about the donations, Nicholas Confessore noted Katzenberg's desire to build movie studios in China, saying that he would need help from the Obama administration to get this done and that "[e]veryone has interests at stake."[37] Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation suggested that Katzenberg's long history of financial support for Obama may have influenced the movie deal being "fast-track[ed]" by the White House, noting that DreamWorks Animation "never registered to lobby the federal government."[38]

It was reported that Obama arrived in Los Angeles on October 7, 2012, where he joined Bill Clinton at Katzenberg's Beverly Hills home for a private meeting with several deep-pocketed Democratic donors. Obama's campaign indicated the meeting was to thank supporters, but some members of the campaign finance committee said that it involved the pro-Obama PAC Priorities USA Action. Members of the White House press corps who had traveled to California with Obama were kept in the garage of Katzenberg's mansion and one reporter called the meeting "unusual".[39] Katzenberg, who had previously donated $2 million to the pro-Obama PAC Priorities USA Action, donated an additional $1 million in October 2012.[40] He donated $1 million to the Super PAC Priorities USA, which supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.[41] In October 2016, he hosted a $100,000-per-person fund-raiser at his Beverly Hills residence with President Barack Obama as the main attraction.[42]

In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Katzenberg pledged $500,000 to the March for Our Lives gun-control demonstration.[43]

The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation in April 2012 into accusations that Katzenberg had bribed Chinese officials in an effort to obtain distribution rights, as Joe Biden was negotiating a deal to increase film quotas.[33][44]

Katzenberg took a leading role in pushing the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA); Hollywood reportedly saw piracy as "an existential threat". When the White House announced its opposition to the bill in January 2012, Chris Dodd, the former Senator and head of the Motion Picture Association of America, the film industry's lobbying organization, contacted Katzenberg to obtain more information about the president's plans. When Dodd reportedly asked him to intervene, Katzenberg declined, but "sought to soothe hurt feelings and lay the groundwork for a deal more friendly to Hollywood". Katzenberg's office contacted Obama and urged him to contact other studio chiefs in order to reaffirm their support. Obama would take the advice, making Katzenberg one of the few Hollywood executives working on brokering a compromise with Silicon Valley.[32]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in September 2012, that the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award would be presented to Katzenberg at the Oscar ceremony in 2013, in acknowledgment of his role in "raising money for education, art and health-related causes, particularly those benefiting the motion picture industry."[45]

During the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, the jury awarded Katzenberg an honorary Palme d'Or, the festival's highest prize. Katzenberg compared the distinction to the earlier Academy recognition.[46]

Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg in 2010

Katzenberg married Marilyn Siegel, a kindergarten teacher, in 1975. They have twin children, Laura and David, born in 1983.[47] David is a television producer and director.[48][49]

Katzenberg and his wife have been highly active in charitable causes. They donated the multimillion-dollar Katzenberg Center to Boston University's College of General Studies, citing that the school gave their two children the "love of education."[50] They also donated the Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Center for Animation at the University of Southern California.

In addition to serving as Chairman of the Board for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Foundation, Katzenberg sits on the boards or serves as a trustee of AIDS Project Los Angeles, American Museum of the Moving Image, California Institute of the Arts, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Geffen Playhouse, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and The Simon Wiesenthal Center. Together with DreamWorks Animation, Katzenberg founded the DreamWorks Animation Academy of Inner-City Arts in 2008. In recognition of his efforts, Katzenberg received the 85th Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2012 American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards Presentation[51] on December 1 at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.[52]

Katzenberg has an estimated worth of US$900 million (2016)[53] and is reported to have donated over $3.5 million in political contributions since 1979: 33% ($1.171+ million) to Democrats, 66% ($2.33+ million) to special interest groups without party affiliations, and less than 1% ($7,000) to Republicans.[54]

He was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Arts from Ringling College of Art and Design on May 2, 2008.[55]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeffrey Katzenberg.

• Jeffrey Katzenberg at IMDb