Last November, Jeffrey Katzenberg asked Jim and Stephanie Graziano to head up production for DreamWorks' new television animation division. While the offer was not surprising, given the Graziano's track record, what was surprising is how readily they accepted. After all, their company, Graz Entertainment, noted for such hit shows as X-Men and The Tick, was one of the hottest studios in town.

Stephanie Graziano. © Graz Entertainment

DreamWorks Television Animation is the newest and so far least clearly defined of DreamWorks SKG, Hollywood's newest super studio. The division's mandate extends beyond only television to also include direct-to-video productions and interactive animation. The operation itself falls under the aegis of Steven Spielberg, whose previous TV efforts in collaboration with Warner Bros. (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, etc.) helped revolutionize broadcast animation. Spielberg was known for his hands on involvement in these shows, which is likely to continue in the new venture. (In addition, former Disney Television Animation President Gary Krisel has been brought in to oversee the whole operation.)

Stephanie Graziano explained that, "We had three previous offers to buy the studio, but none of them made any sense. DreamWorks was the first case where we were offered things that we were lacking as a small studio. There was also the fact that it was a startup, which is always exciting, and that we could work together. That was really a big part of it."

Despite being one of Hollywood's most successful animation couples, Jim and Stephanie Graziano have not been able to work together as much as they would like. In fact, Jim had just returned to Graz after a three year stint at Universal Cartoon Studios when DreamWorks came along. Their longest stint together was not at Graz, but at Marvel Productions, where they met (in 1984) and married (in 1988)--he was Senior Vice President of Production and she worked under him as a producer.

Jim Graziano.

Why Would We Even Want to Do It
People often ask us," Stephanie says, "about how we work together, or why we would even want to do it. But we really are at our best working together. We actually have different mind sets, but they end up complementing each other."

She explains that, "I come from the creative side, while Jim comes more from the technical end. So, in trying to find solutions to problems, we realize that not every person is the same. Some artists are better dealt with in a creative fashion, while others are better dealt with in a technical fashion. What we try to do is weigh these situations and decipher which direction would be more appropriate."

This difference also translates into different strengths vis-à-vis their roles at Graz. "When we started Graz," Stephanie notes, "we opened it with three work for hire series. I did all of the administrative work and Jim actually ran the studio. At that point, because it was really a function of his getting the production going, it was perfect. After the first six months, when he went to Universal and I took over the studio, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. The company had reached a point where it needed to start going after other properties and production deals. And that isn't what he does. Jim really does more of the day-to-day management and talent recruiting, while I'm better at making acquisitions and trying to build relationships with distributors and creators."