CREATORS OF A MEDIA COLOSSUS

^2DreamWorks' founders are doing what many of us would like to claim we have done at least once in our life: pursue a dream."

Jane Applegath Scottsdale, Arizona

Your article focused on the true spirit of what men of resources, like David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg, are attempting to do and can do [BUSINESS, March 27]. They have a vision that is directed by the energy of hoping and the solace of dreams. They are determined to please those who must write the checks, but intend to stay in control of the helm.

Jon Ulmer Chicago AOL:JULMER

On with the show! Not so. DreamWorks SKG, the Big Three, call them whatever you like, is simply another U.S. monopoly in the world of film production. Where does this leave the independent European movie producers of tomorrow? Who will be giving them the zillion-dollar checks they need to compete in the very American-dominated world arena?

Rachael Young London

I'm sickened by the small-minded denizens of Hollywood who secretly wish SKG failure. As one who's currently emerging on the feature-film scene, I have nothing but excitement and best wishes for DreamWorks. This company is the culmination of greatness, in both a business and a creative sense.

Lance Mazmanian Henderson, Nevada Via America Online

DreamWorks SKG could become a nightmare if there are creative differences among the trio. The result could be similar to what happened when Katzenberg dramatically departed from the Walt Disney Co. One important difference is that the trio will be competing with other entertainment firms in Hollywood. These companies have been in business long enough to know the environment well. However, the director (Spielberg), the musician (Geffen) and the animator (Katzenberg) will not realize the threat that other companies pose until they are fully operational. The three will go their separate ways after establishing DreamWorks. But for now Hollywood is at the mercy of three men, each of whom is having a mid-life crisis.

Robert Martin Donaldson New Albany, Ohio

It is ventures like Dreamworks or, on another scale, the revival of Germany's Babelsberg Studios that inspire the imagination of thousands of writers, filmmakers and animators and keep them awake at night, thinking up new projects. At least five films have recently been made in Babelsberg, and three more are in production, a remarkable feat for a European effort many considered doomed from the start. In a best-case scenario, DreamWorks could be an oasis within Hollywood, a place where agents and dealmakers would not prevail over talent; it could forever change the way the industry is run. So SKG, forget the naysayers, build that dream studio of yours, and may the force be with you!

Olga Ramos-Reymann Kronberg, Germany

I was shocked to read in your article that DreamWorks TV employee Gary David Goldberg directed the movie Bye, Bye Love. My husband Sam Weisman directed that film.

Constance McCashin Weisman Beverly Hills, California TIME regrets the error.

The three upstarts who run the DreamWorks venture earned their fame and fortune through their risk-taking creative genius. It can be argued that there was no danger in making a Jaws or Raiders of the Lost Ark or producing a Guns N' Roses album, but those in the industry are notorious for always looking at things in retrospect. Take those successes nobody expected, like Forrest Gump. Creating great entertainment, whether film, TV or music, is best when it goes against the grain.

Marc Mattson Hickory Hills, Illinois AOL: MrlysGhost

Will dreams ever cease to become reality? Not as long as there are visionaries to pursue them. DreamWorks' founders are doing what many of us would like to claim we have done at least once in our life: pursue a dream. Umpteen naysayers are quick to cry of impending doom. The odds, they say, are nearly impossible. So what? Risk and reward have always gone hand in hand. All of us wish good luck to DreamWorks!

Jane Applegath Scottsdale, Arizona

As actor Tom Hanks suggests, Holly wood has good reason to root for the failure of Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen. They are indeed dangerous men-dangerous to Tinseltown's status quo. However, if their lofty goals are realized, the DreamWorkers can then paraphrase Lawrence of Arabia's bold declaration: "This we did."

L. Robert Morris Ottawa

SPOTLIGHT ON PRO-LIFERS

Your story "The Rhetoric of Terror" is yet another example of the endless coverage of fringe lunatics who claim to be part of the pro-life movmement [SOCIETY, March 27]. In fact,the real pro-life movement, which represents millions of Americans, has been deeply saddened by the killings that have occurred at abortion clinics in the past 1 1/2 years. Profiling people who seek to justify murder as being representative of the pro-life movement not only disregards the true pro-life view but also encourages violence.

Michele Arocha Allen Communications Director National Right ot Life Committee Washington

TOTE THAT GUN

Those who oppose requiring licenses for carrying concealed weapons [GUN CONTROL, March 27] should be made to answer one question: If the police cannot protect us, why object if we attempt to protect ourselves?

Jack M. Lipsman Las Vegas

The U.S. is totally losing control of handguns. Guns should be banned and destroyed forever. Why shouldn't they be prohibited, when people are getting shot by them?

Albert Tseung, age 12 New York City

FOCUS ON THE KURDS

The Kurds, a populace of about 25 million people, live under the yoke of Turkey, Iran and Iraq [March 27]. When they take up arms seeking autonomy from Tehran or Baghdad, they are called freedom fighters by the U.S. Administration, and at present the U.N. protects them in Iraq. When they fight for autonomy within Turkey, they are called terrorists; the U.S. seems to approve of the genocide perpetrated by the Turkish army, even within Iraqi territory; and Germany expels Kurdish refugees to Turkish prisons, famous for their brutality, to face certain torture and perhaps death. Americans and Germans should hide their faces in shame; the torch of liberty has gone out.

Constantine M. Melengoglou Holargos, Greece

THUMBS-UP ON DOCUMENTARIES

In writing about Oscar nominations for Best Documentary Feature Films [SHOW BUSINESS, Feb. 27], Richard Corliss listed several documentaries that the Academy did not nominate, including The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl. The fact is that this documentary was never even submitted to the Academy for consideration. Corliss further misstates that I was chairwoman of the Documentary nominating committee, implying that something other than merit was involved in the nomination of the documentary Maya Lin, which I co-produced. I am not the chair of the committee; it is headed by Walter Shenson. The fact that Maya Lin was awarded the Oscar shows that it was nominated on its merits. Corliss quoted film critic Roger Ebert [as seeing the nomination of Maya Lin as "logrolling"], but it should be noted that after screening Maya Lin, Ebert said it "deserved to be nominated."

Freida Lee Mock Santa Monica, California

VIVID CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Charles Krauthammer in his piece "Hiroshima, Mon Petit" [ESSAY, March 27] argues that we do a disservice to children when we introduce them tothe real world in books like this year's Caldecott Medal winner, Smoky Night, a picture book about the Los Angeles riots. We publishers, however, feel strongly that we would be doing children a disservice by pretending that the world is rosy and cozy. Youngsters of the '90s do not live in a tooth-fairy world. We feel that children are better prepared for life todya when books provide them the opportunity to question, to discuss and to begin to understand the real world. A doog children's book on a difficult topic not only presents the reality of the problem but also provides hope and some direction toward solution.

Diane D'Andrade Editor of Smoky Night Harcourt Brace San Diego

I am not convinced that reading about the "underside of life" is always inappropriate for young children. When I was seven years old (more than a half-century ago), Make Way for Ducklings and Peter Churchmouse were my favorite books, and the troll under the bridge was the scariest thing in my second-grade reader. At that time, I read in LIFE magazine how Americans who survived the Bataan death march were forced by their Japanese captors to beat fellow prisoners until they died. We may underestimate children's capacity to handle the truth. My lifelong abhorrence of cruelty and violence is anchored in that early exposure, through reading, to the real world.

Frederick Ivor-Campbell Warren, Rhode Island

As an eighth-grade social-studies teacher whose course covers World War II, I have used both Hiroshima No Pika and Faithful Elephants in my classes. I agree with Krauthammer that these works are not appropriate for the very young children that their picture-book format usually addresses. However, I feel that these books can be important tools in my class. At age 13 or 14,many of my students are beginning their first study of the Second World War. These books can lead to discussions about points of view, especially when youngsters have studied Pearl Harbor and the Bataan death march. Like Krauthammer, I do not want childhood to end too quickly, but at least these two books have helped me teach about some disturbing moments in history. Keep them out of the hands of seven-year-old, but don't disregard them entirely.

Laura M. Atwell Katonah, New York

CORRECTIONS

In the Cyberspace special issue, we incorrectly referred to a settlement-house organization that offers Internet services to inner-city residents [Spring, 1995]. The correct name of the organization is the United Neighborhood Houses, which is the umbrella organization for 37 New York City settlement houses.

Our report on flooding along the Pajaro River [CALIFORNIA, March 27] stated that the residents blamed the preservation of the habitat of the endangered Santa Cruz long-toed salamander for preventing local officials from improving water flow. There is, however, no evidence that this salamander is even in theriver, and flood-control projects have not been postponed for its benefit.