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| Caption: Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO and co-founder of DreamWorks Animation, speaks during a World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit in Hainan, China, Thursday. Courtesy of WTTC |
By Yun Suh-young
HAINAN, China ― Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO and co-founder of DreamWorks Animation, said travel is a source of inspiration for his works during the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit here Thursday.
In reference to the upcoming Indian movie he is producing, Katzenberg said it was inspired by his recent trip to the Asian country.
"Great inspiration can come from any place and many of them have come from our travels. Recently we went on this amazing trip to many parts of India, from Rajasthan to Varanasi.
"It's one of the most immersive and extraordinary places to travel and to see a totally different set of flavors, colors, tastes, smells and values. Everything about that world is amazing, different, unique and inspiring," said Katzenberg.
"We're now doing a movie I hope that's going to celebrate the culture of India. It's kind of a Bollywood musical loosely inspired by the Ramayana story which is probably one of the most important pieces of literature in India."
He said many of his filmmakers travel for inspiration.
"We send filmmakers on research trips to get inspiration to see what the real world looks like. Everything we do in animation is from our imagination. Inspiration comes from many places," he said.
Katzenberg himself is a frequent traveler with "a manic way of traveling," according to his longtime friend Geoffrey Kent, chairman and CEO of the travel company Abercrombie and Kent who interviewed Katzenberg during the forum.
"Travel is a huge part of my life. I probably fly 700 to 800 hours a year," said Katzenberg.
But he doesn't sleep during his travels, he said.
"Sleep is for when you finish the trip. I just want to see as much as I can. I have two gifts my parents gave me which are: I function fine on five hours' sleep and, second, I've been able to train myself to get my clock on wherever I'm going so I never get jetlag."
He also revealed some of his unique tips for travelling such as not eating inside an airplane and going to the gym after arriving at his destination.
Speaking of China, he said he has visited the country every month for the past few years.
"I've been to China every single month for the last two and a half years because it's a place of incredible opportunity right now," said Katzenberg.
"We have enough characters and stories to create a unique, new kind of theme park experience. We're building an animation studio in the middle of Shanghai called ‘Dream Center.'
"We've been working on it for a year and a half and are just about ready to unveil it. It's about a million square feet and will offer a six-hour experience. It can operate 52 weeks a year, not weather-dependent. It will be an immersive, unique, new way of looking at theme parks."
The animation company will co-produce "Kung Fu Panda 3" at the Shanghai studio, due to open within the next two years, with Chinese partners.
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