Walter F. Parkes
Walter F. Parkes "is a motion picture producer, writer and former studio head. For the last fourteen years he has been associated with DreamWorks Pictures, which he ran from its inception in 1994 until 2005. A three-time Academy Award nominee as both producer and screenwriter, his most recent movies include The Kite Runner and Golden Globe-winning Sweeney Todd. Other films produced or executive produced by Walter include, the Men In Black series, Gladiator, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Ring, The Terminal, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Road to Perdition, A. I., Deep Impact, Twister, The Legend of Zorro, and Amistad. Walter graduated from Yale College cum laude in 1973, and then studied communications and documentary film at Stanford University where he began his first feature length film, a documentary about the rebirth of the Nazi party in America, The California Reich. The film was nominated for an Oscar and was a special selection at the Cannes Film Festival. His next film, WarGames, in collaboration with Lawrence Lasker, garnered a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar nomination, and was followed by several more collaborations, including Sneakers and Awakenings, a Best Picture Oscar nominee in 1990.
"In 1994, Walter was named president of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and later that year, he and his wife and business partner Laurie MacDonald were tapped to help create the DreamWorks SKG motion picture studio. As the studio’s president, Walter, in partnership with Laurie MacDonald, oversaw development and production of all DreamWorks’ film projects, including, for only the second time in the history of the Motion Picture Academy, three consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners: American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind -- the latter two in partnership with Universal Studios Other critical and commercial successes produced during their tenure include: Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, Robert Zemeckis’ What Lies Beneath, Adam McKay’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Michael Mann’s Collateral, and Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-winning drama Saving Private Ryan, which was the top-grossing film domestically of 1998." [1]
- Network Member, Global Business Network
- Trustee, Starlight Children's Foundation [2]
- Advisory Board, Liberty Hill Foundation [3]
