Last Tuesday, Viacom chief executive Philippe P. Dauman spoke at an investment conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. He praised his company's acquisition of DreamWorks and said of that company's co-founder, "Now, we have Steven Spielberg in the house as part of the deal. He's currently working on 'Indiana Jones,' a Paramount movie, which is releasing next year. We're doing everything possible to make him happy."

But Dauman also referred to speculation that Spielberg and his DreamWorks partner David Geffen would exit the company when their contracts expire late next year, saying that the financial impact on Paramount and Viacom "would be completely immaterial" in the event of their departure.   

 Although DreamWorks' successes have been good for Paramount, Spielberg and Geffen are said to be displeased with the scant credit they've received within Viacom.

The day after the conference, Jeffrey Katzenberg responded to the slight by calling Spielberg "a national treasure" and suggesting that "calmer heads need to prevail here."

By Thursday, Paramount Pictures chairman Brad Grey had acknowledged that the deal with DreamWorks "really accelerated our turnaround" and said he had "the greatest respect for the creativity of Steven Spielberg and the entire DreamWorks team, as well as the immense entrepreneurial business skills of David Geffen."

Perhaps calmer heads have prevailed.