Wecompeteforaudiencesbasedonanumberoffactors,manyofwhicharebeyondourcontrol. Despite a general increase in movie theater attendance, the number of animated and live-action feature films released by competitors, particularly the major U.S. motion picture studios, may create an oversupply of product in the market, and may make it more difficult for our films to succeed. In particular, we compete directly against other animated films and family oriented live-action films. Oversupply of such products may become most pronounced during peak release times, such as school holidays, national holidays and the summer release season, whentheater attendance has traditionally been highest. Although we seek to release our films during peak release times, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to release all of our films during those times and, therefore, may miss potentially higher gross box-office receipts. In addition, a substantial majority of the motion picture screens in the U.S. typically are committed at any one time to only 10 to 15 films distributed nationally by major studio distributors. If our competitors were to increase the number of films available for distribution and the number of exhibition screens remained static, it could be more difficult for us to release our films during optimal release periods. ThemarketforCGanimatedfilmsisrelatively new,andtheentranceofadditional film studios into the CGanimatedfilmmarketcouldadverselyaffect ourbusiness in several ways. CG animation is a relatively new form of animation that has been successfully exploited by a limited number of movie studios since the first CG animated feature film, Toy Story, was released by Pixar in 1995. Because there are currently only a few studios capable of producing CG animated feature films, there are a limited number of CG animated feature films in the market each year, a fact that may enhance their popular appeal. If additional studios were to enter the CG animated film market and increase the number of CG animated films released per year, the popularity of the CG animation technique could suffer. Although we have developed proprietary technology, experience and know-how in the CG animation field that we believe provide us with significant advantages over new entrants in the CG animated film market, there are no substantial technological barriers to entry that would prevent other film studios from entering the field, and in 2004 both Sony and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced plans to do so. Furthermore, advances in technology may substantially decrease the time that it takes to produce a CG animated feature film, which could result in a significant number of new CG animated films or products. The entrance of additional animation companies into the CG animated feature film market could adversely impact us by eroding our market share, increasing the competition for CG animated film audiences and increasing the competition for, and cost of, hiring and retaining talented employees, particularly CGanimators and technical staff. Oursuccess depends on certain key employees. Our success greatly depends on our employees. In particular, we are dependent upon the services of Jeffrey Katzenberg. We do not maintain key person life insurance for any of our employees. We have entered into employment agreements with Mr. Katzenberg and with all of our top executive officers and production executives. However, although it is standard in the motion picture industry to rely on employment agreements as a method of retaining the services of key employees, these agreements cannot assure us of the continued services of such employees. The loss of the services of Mr. Katzenberg or a substantial group of key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition. Ourscheduledreleases of CG animated feature films will place a significant strain on our resources. We have established multiple creative and production teams so that we can simultaneously produce more than one CG animated feature film. As of March 2005, we have theatrically released four CG animated feature films and five non-CG animated feature films and have limited experience sustaining the ability to produce and release more than one CG animated feature film at the same time. Due to the strain on our personnel from the effort required to produce a film and the time required for creative development of future films, it is possible that we will be unable to consistently release two CG animated feature films per year. In the past, we have been 25
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