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DreamWorks Signs With Disney - Khan Manka, Jr. - The Chairman's Blog

DreamWorks Signs With Disney

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steven_spielberg.jpgSo my old drinking and snorting buddy Steven Spielberg signs with Disney to distribute all DreamWorks movies going forward - big fucking deal.  Manka Bros. will survive.  We've survived 90 years in this cut-throat-eat-your-young business and we'll survive another ninety.  It's going to take more than being shunned (and betrayed) by a director who's best film was 34 years ago to bring us down.   [Note to Bob Iger:  You can't just spend your way to success - one day you'll have to learn to develop your own fucking intellectual property.] 

The Manka Bros. Theatrical Group is the most well-positioned in the business.  DreamWorks would have been a nice addition, but certainly it's not something we desperately needed. 

I know many of you on the inside (hello - David Chang) are wondering what happened and why Manka Bros. was unable to get the deal done when it seemed so sure last week.  And for all you entertainment bloggers who missed the scoop, here's what happened.

tonga hut_small.jpgIn the early 1970s, Stevie S. and I were both just young punks in Hollywood.  My father, Harry, was the old-man-son-of-a-bitch head of Manka Bros. and I was the bass player and songwriter of King Khan - a band that was way ahead of its time (still is).  Stevie had just directed a TV episode of "Owen Marshall:  Counselor at Law" (starring Lee Majors and Arthur Hill) and felt his career was going nowhere.  The two of us used to hang out in a bar called The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood.  It was a great, dark, kitchy place with Easter Island heads on the wall, etc.  We had some great drunken times there and would sit from morning until night playing the same songs over and over on the jukebox.

Well, after the DreamWorks deal fell through with Universal, I decided to call my old friend and invite him out for a day of drinks at The Tonga Hut (thinking that the trip down memory lane might convince him to sign with Manka Bros. and become our main supplier of theatrical content).  To my surprise (and the fact that he only has one kidney), he accepted.  We met last Tuesday morning at The Tonga Hut.  The bar hadn't changed a bit. 

I ordered what used to be "our usual" - a shot of the house vodka (Gordon's) and the cheapest beer they had (Pabst Blue-Ribbon).  Five minutes later... we got another round and the conversation began.  As we ordered round-after-round, things really got interesting.

I don't want to go on too long (as I have several important meetings today).  I will continue this in Part 2 - tomorrow and go into our shocking conversation.

khan_jr1_small.jpgKhan Manka, Jr. - Chairman & CEO - Manka Bros. Studios - The World's Largest Media Company

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3 Comments

John Perry said:

Having DreamWorks on the studio lot would have been amazing. But - I think, you're right - we don't really need them.

John Perry - MBS Comedy Development

Hollywood Producer said:

This Tonga Hut intrigues - especially if there are moguls that hang out there. I may have to make a pilgrimage to the North part of Hollywood.

Molly Glover said:

I know that bar. It's dark in there. You wouldn't be able to recognize a mogul if you saw one.

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About Khan Manka, Jr.
Khan Manka, Jr.Khan Manka, Jr. assumed the title of Chairman of the Board of Manka Bros. Studios - The World's Largest Media Company - following his father Harry Manka's death in 1976. Before that he was the member of several Southern California rock bands.



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