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Another Katzenberg Cash-In

Hollywood boss to host $25,000-per-ticket fundraiser for POTUS in October

Jeffrey Katzenberg / AP
September 19, 2012

The CEO of the DreamWorks Animation SKG film studio, Jeffrey Katzenberg, plans to host an Oct. 7 fundraiser for President Obama, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Tickets will start at $25,000.

Katzenberg is Obama's largest donor, having raised at least $6.6 million for the president since 2007, according to the New York Times. He is also one of the largest donors to the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA, which ran the widely condemned ad suggesting that Republican nominee Mitt Romney was somehow responsible for a woman's death by cancer.

The Free Beacon has extensively reported on how the Obama administration influenced deals to open Chinese markets to American films and expand Dreamworks operations in China. Katzenberg's recent investments in China include a $350 million animation studio and a $3 billion "entertainment district" in Shanghai.

Vice President Joseph Biden was instrumental in the trade deal that opened China to additional U.S. films.

The Obama administration in Feb. invited Katzenberg to a State Department event where he met incoming Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who Katzenberg said personally approved the DreamWorks studio deal. He also attended a luncheon for Xi at the vice president's residence. Xi then flew to Los Angeles where the two moguls had lunch and concluded the negotiations.

The S.E.C. announced in April that it was opening an investigation into whether film studios, including DreamWorks Animation SKG, bribed Chinese officials as part of the deal to open Chinese markets to more U.S.-made films.

The Obama campaign also announced Wednesday that, prior to the Katzenberg event, teenage dream Katy Perry, a California gurl, would perform at a "30 Days to Victory" fundraising concert at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.

Ms. Perry is likely to be wide awake during her performance, though it is unknown whether she will kiss a girl.

Published under: Democratic Donors