DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY

[wabbott]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walt-disney-company-webcast-annual-210000341.html

The Walt Disney Company to Webcast Its Annual Meeting of Shareholders​

Business Wire
Mon, March 27, 2023 at 4:00 PM CDT


BURBANK, Calif., March 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The annual meeting of shareholders of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), including remarks by management regarding the Company, will be available live via webcast at www.disney.com/investors beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET/ 10:00 a.m. PT on April 3, 2023. The webcast presentation will be archived.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Disney Eliminates Its Metaverse Division as Part of Company’s Layoffs Plan

Mickey Mouse has left the metaverse.

Walt Disney Co. DIS 1.64%increase; green up pointing triangle has eliminated its next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences unit, the small division that was developing metaverse strategies, according to people familiar with the situation, as part of a broader restructuring that is expected to reduce head count by around 7,000 across the company over the next two months.

Headed by Mike White, a former Disney consumer-products executive, the division was tasked with finding ways to tell interactive stories in new technological formats using Disney’s extensive library of intellectual property, the people said.

All of the team’s roughly 50 members have lost their jobs, the people said. Mr. White remains at the company, although what his new role will be is unclear.

Mr. White couldn’t be reached for comment.

Disney’s former chief executive, Bob Chapek, hired Mr. White in February 2022, telling employees in an internal memo at the time that the goal was to “create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories.”

Mr. Chapek, who was succeeded as CEO by Robert Iger in November, had described the metaverse as “the next great storytelling frontier.”

Plans for Disney’s metaverse strategy remained sketchy a year after the division was created, although the company had hinted that the new technology might have applications in fantasy sports, theme-park attractions and other consumer experiences.

Mr. White was also involved in an effort last year to design a membership initiative that in some ways resembled Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime program, which would integrate customer data across multiple Disney platforms, including streaming service Disney+, online retail operations and smartphone apps that visitors to Disney’s theme parks use to purchase food, merchandise and other products.

That effort has also been abandoned, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Iger has been bullish about the metaverse. Last year, he invested in and joined the board of Genies Inc., a technology startup that sells tools allowing users to create elaborate online avatars for use in the metaverse.

Disney is under pressure from investors to make deep cuts to nonessential businesses. Last year, the company hired consultants from McKinsey & Co. to help find cost-cutting opportunities, a move that angered some top content executives.

In February, Disney announced it would make $5.5 billion in cuts and cut about 7,000 jobs as part of a broader restructuring plan. Economic headwinds, stiff competition in streaming and dwindling revenues from cable TV and the cinematic box office have pressured many big media companies.

Slow growth in the popularity of the metaverse has frustrated tech companies that have bet on new entertainment formats. Meta PlatformsInc., the parent of Facebook and Instagram, has shifted billions in resources to the metaverse, only to find low user demand and widespread confusion among users about how to use the technology.

A Meta spokesman has said the company’s metaverse efforts were always intended to be a multiyear project. He said it is easy to be a cynic about the metaverse, but that the company continues to believe it is the future of computing.

 

[New Mouse]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-layoffs-bob-iger-memo-1235361315/

Disney Layoffs Start This Week, Bob Iger Tells Employees As 7,000 Cuts Loom

There will also be a "larger" round of layoffs in April, and a third round before summer. "There will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward," the CEO told staff in a memo.

March 27, 2023 9:05am PST

The layoffs at The Walt Disney Co. will start this week.

In a memo to employees Monday, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company will now begin the process of notifying impacted staff, with two more rounds of cuts planned in the next couple of months.

Iger said in February that the company would shed 7,000 jobs as the company restructures around three core divisions: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Parks, Experiences and Products. The cuts are “necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our business,” Iger wrote on March 27, adding that senior leaders have been evaluating their operational needs since he announced the cuts.

Iger said in his memo that a second round of layoffs planned for April will be “larger” than the round this week, with “several thousand” cuts set to take place at that time. A third round of cuts will take place “before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target.”

“For our employees who aren’t impacted, I want to acknowledge that there will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward. I ask for your continued understanding and collaboration during this time,” Iger added. “In tough moments, we must always do what is required to ensure Disney can continue delivering exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now, and long into the future.”

Iger returned as Disney’s CEO in November, with his successor and predecessor Bob Chapek departing after only about two and a half years on the job.

“The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period,” Disney’s board chair Susan Arnold said at the time.

In his first move after taking over, Iger ousted Chapek lieutenant Kareem Daniel, who ran the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution Division, which was responsible for essentially all of the company’s non-parks revenue. Iger subsequently said that DMED would be shuttered so that strategic decision-making and financial responsibility could return to the creative divisions.

Dana Walden and Alan Bergman were tapped to oversee Disney Entertainment, with Jimmy Pitaro continuing to lead ESPN, and Josh D’Amaro running the parks and products division.

It is not immediately clear what impact the cuts this week will have on Disney’s corporate structure, or which divisions will be impacted, though the three rounds are expected to involve essentially every division of the company.

Iger’s memo on March 27 is below.

Dear Fellow Employees,

As I shared with you in February, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our overall workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs as part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our business. Over the past few months, senior leaders have been working closely with HR to assess their operational needs, and I want to give you an update on those efforts.

This week, we begin notifying employees whose positions are impacted by the company’s workforce reductions. Leaders will be communicating the news directly to the first group of impacted employees over the next four days. A second, larger round of notifications will happen in April with several thousand more staff reductions, and we expect to commence the final round of notifications before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target.

The difficult reality of many colleagues and friends leaving Disney is not something we take lightly. This company is home to the most talented and dedicated employees in the world, and so many of you bring a lifelong passion for Disney to your work here. That’s part of what makes working at Disney so special. It also makes it all the more difficult to say goodbye to wonderful people we care about. I want to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to every departing employee for your numerous contributions and your devotion to this beloved company.

For our employees who aren’t impacted, I want to acknowledge that there will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward. I ask for your continued understanding and collaboration during this time.

In tough moments, we must always do what is required to ensure Disney can continue delivering exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now, and long into the future. Please know that our HR partners and leaders are committed to creating a supportive and smooth process every step of the way.

I want to thank each of you again for all your many achievements here at The Walt Disney Company.

Sincerely,
Bob

Sounds like a swell guy. So glad
They brought him back.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.marketwatch.com/article...utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&tesla=y

Disney Drops Metaverse Hopes. The ‘Next Storytelling Frontier’ Is Out of Favor.
March 28, 2023 at 6:31 a.m. EDT
By

Adam Clark​

Walt Disney is turning its back on the metaverse. It’s another example of a company scaling back its ambitions for the much-hyped technology as investors demand evidence of tighter cost control.

Disney (ticker: DIS) is cutting around 50 people, or almost all of the employees, in its next-generation storytelling and consumer experiences unit, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. That was the unit set up to explore the kind of interactive storytelling enabled by the virtual world of the metaverse.

Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Barron’s about the cuts early on Tuesday. Shares were broadly flat in premarket trading.

While the cuts are only a fraction of the 7,000 jobs that the company intends to start eliminating this week, it’s a telling reversal on prospects for the metaverse, which former Disney CEO Bob Chapek hailed as the “next great storytelling frontier” only last year.

Executives aren’t making those kinds of claims nowadays, as markets reward signs of efficiency rather than grand ambitions.

Even Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META) has made cutbacks in its Reality Labs unit, its hardware and metaverse division, as it continues to lose billions of dollars on the technology.

That doesn’t mean the metaverse is dead. Analysts at S&P Global Market Intelligence predicted in a recent report that the technology will generate more than $52 billion in annual revenue by 2027.

However, it does mean the range of companies which can convince investors they should be investing in the metaverse is likely to narrow. S&P Global said video games will drive 41% of the annual metaverse revenue in its forecast, with hardware, commercial software and services, e-commerce and advertising as other key areas.

For now, Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Luke Skywalker and Iron Man look to remain stuck in their regular fictional universes.

 

[wabbott]

Late last year, I thought about this metaverse thingy, and wondered if Bob Paycheck had bought in to the geek-verse idea that all human interaction in the future ("In the year 2525, if man is still alive...") would be via artificial intelligence or some such other lunacy. And then he would be lured into thinking that expensive parks, attractions, cast members, etc., where people actually can personally interact would be obsolete, and the company should head in the metaverse direction.

Surely not, I thought.

We all complain about crowds at the parks, and for sure it is a taxing thing sometimes, but what of the alternative?

One morning mrs. wabbott & I were on our morning walk, and I asked her how would she like if we had the WDW or DLR/DCA all to ourselves with no other guests, just us. Her almost instant reply, "That wouldn't be any fun!"

Indeed. The human animal is hard-wired to be social. We HAVE to have each other. I was reminded of a Walt Disney quote where he said something like "Wait 'till the people get here. That's when the magic will begin"

I figured out where I heard that and it was in a video where a cast member was giving a tour of Walt's apartment above Main Street Fire Station in DLR. It's at about 6:30 in the video.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.thewrap.com/disney-layoffs-jeffrey-epstein-vp-of-corp-comms/

Disney Layoffs: Jeffrey R. Epstein, Longtime VP of Corporate Communications and Spokesperson for D23 Fan Club, Among the Ousted (Exclusive)

Epstein spearheaded the D23 Fan Club and D23 Expo

Drew Taylor | March 28, 2023 @ 2:14 PM PDT

Jeffrey R. Epstein, a vice president of corporate communications for Disney and the man who spearheaded the official Disney fan club D23, was among those laid off this week, TheWrap has confirmed.

Previously working under Zenia Mucha, the feared and respected former senior executive vice president and CCO (otherwise known as the “Director of Revenge”), Epstein is perhaps best known as the spokesperson for D23 – an official Disney fan club that included a quarterly published glossy magazine and, eventually, an official fan convention known as D23 Expo, held every other year in Anaheim, California. Stephen Clark initially developed the concept and the current president of D23 is Michael Vargo.

The last D23 Expo event was held in 2022, having its schedule thrown off by the pandemic. Epstein additionally co-hosted a D23-themed podcast, “D23 Inside Disney,” along with Oh My Disney’s Sheri Henry.

News of the ouster came from six separate sources with knowledge of the situation.

In addition to D23, Epstein co-founded the popular Gay Days at Disneyland, an early and pioneering LGBTQ+ outing that was eventually endorsed by the company. The first event was held in 1998 and drew 2,500 people; by 2021 it drew 30,000 daily visitors and was a fully prepared weekend full of activities like screenings, lectures and celebrity guests.

In recent years, he gained notoriety and a following on social media for repeatedly asserting that he’s not that Jeffrey Epstein, referring to the late convicted sex offender and financier. He also cultivated a strong relationship with many Disney fans, having been one for many years himself, even hosting an early YouTube series for the company called “Disney Geek.”

Epstein’s dismissal was part of companywide layoffs that impacted Elizabeth Newman, VP of Development who was based at 20th Television while overseeing Creative Acquisitions for Disney Television Studios; Mark Levenstein, SVP Production for Hulu; Jayne Bieber, SVP Production Management & Operations for Freeform; and nearly the entire Disney metaverse team.

This week marks the first wave of layoffs initiated by CEO Bob Iger, with as many as 7,000 employees (or, in Disney terms, “cast members”) being let go from every echelon of the company, with additional layoffs coming in the weeks and months ahead.

Upcoming D23 events include a walk through Marceline, Missouri, the inspiration behind Main Street U.S.A. and Walt Disney’s hometown; the premiere of Disney100: The Exhibit in Munich; and an anniversary screening of “Return of the Jedi” in London.

The status of another D23 Expo remains up in the air. It will theoretically happen in the fall of 2024 but there hasn’t been an official announcement yet.

 

[wabbott]

https://thedigitalinsider.com/the-metaverse-is-quickly-turning-into-the-meh-taverse/

The Metaverse Is Quickly Turning Into the Meh-taverse

By Meghan Bobrowsky
March 29, 2023 5:30 am EDT

The metaverse that was the hot thing in tech less than two years ago has cooled.

Walt Disney Co. has shut down the division that was developing its metaverse strategies, The Wall Street Journal reported this week. Microsoft Corp. recently shut down a social virtual-reality platform it acquired in 2017. And Mark Zuckerberg, who renamed Facebook to Meta Platforms Inc. to signal his seriousness about the metaverse, focused more on artificial intelligence on an earnings call last month.

Meanwhile, the price for virtual real estate in some online worlds, where users can hang out as avatars, has cratered. The median sale price for land in Decentraland has declined almost 90% from a year ago, according to WeMeta, a site that tracks land sales in the metaverse.

Meta’s name change in October 2021 spurred excitement about metaverse experiences, products and platforms. But slow user adoption, driven in part by expensive hardware requirements and glitchy tech, and deteriorating economic conditions have put a damper on expectations the metaverse will drive meaningful revenue anytime soon.

“What many people are coming to realize is that this transformation is farther away,” said Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist and author of a book about the metaverse.

Tech companies have been slashing jobs and abandoning projects deemed nonessential. Mr. Zuckerberg, who championed the metaverse as the next iteration of the mobile internet a mere 18 months ago, dubbed 2023 “the year of efficiency.” His company laid off 11,000 employees in the fall and said this month that it would cut a further 10,000 positions and various projects, including some that are based in its metaverse division, the Journal previously reported.

“A lot of companies and businesses understandably feel like if they need to reduce head count or spending overall, this kind of category would seem to be a pretty easy target,” said Scott Kessler, a tech-sector analyst at research firm Third Bridge Group Ltd. Investments into artificial intelligence promise returns in the nearer term, he added.

“All these things that are going on, related to AI, seem to be able to be used and leveraged now,” he said. With the metaverse, “no one knows when you’re going to reach critical mass.”

Even at the height of the metaverse craze, some tech executives were less enamored with online realms. “I want to try and work on technologies that bring people’s heads up—get them to enjoy the real world,” David Limp, senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon.com Inc., said at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival last year.

Meta has spent billions of dollars trying to build out the metaverse since changing its name. But its flagship app, Horizon Worlds, struggled to gain and retain users within the first year after the renaming, according to internal documents viewed by the Journal. Sales of its Quest 2 virtual-reality headsets, which are used to access Horizon Worlds and other virtual-reality apps, were also down in the most recent quarter, the company said.
Mr. Zuckerberg isn’t walking away from the metaverse, signaling that it remains a long-term focus for the company after AI. “The two major technological waves driving our road map are AI today and, over the longer term, the metaverse,” he said last month.

On that call, “AI” was mentioned 28 times. The word “metaverse” was mentioned on just seven occasions. Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.


The pivot at Disney comes amid its recent leadership change and restructuring. Chief Executive Robert Iger returned to the company in November and has started slashing costs. The company last month said it plans to cut 7,000 jobs and reduce costs by $5.5 billion.

Mr. Iger succeeded Bob Chapek as CEO, who in early 2022 appointed the leader of the division that explored metaverse strategies. At the time, Mr. Chapek told employees that the goal was to “create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories.”

Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft also bet big on the idea of online digital realms, though struggled with implementing that vision. In addition to shutting down AltSpaceVR, the company’s work on augmented-reality headsets was plagued by problems, the Journal reported last year. The company has since restructured the HoloLens team and trimmed its budget, the Journal has reported.

Microsoft didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Smaller companies such as Decentraland and the Sandbox where users have been able to buy virtual land and build their own worlds have seen some of the most success so far. But even so, land sales are down. The median price per square meter in Decentraland has dropped from about $45 a year ago to $5, according to data from WeMeta, the firm that tracks the sales.

A spokesperson for the Decentraland Foundation, which oversees the platform, said land sales aren’t indicative of user growth. The Sandbox didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite a broad reduction in metaverse engagement, the online realms can still draw eyeballs. Decentraland, which saw a 25% decline in active users from November to January, is seeing an uptick this week from Metaverse Fashion Week, an event where brands such as Dolce & Gabbana and Tommy Hilfiger are participating, according to DCL Metrics, a site that tracks users in the digital realm.

“It is obvious that hype around the metaverse has receded. But we should not mistake this for a lack of progress,” said Mr. Ball, the venture capitalist who is bullish on the metaverse. “Change isn’t that fast.”

 

[RivShore]

Getting rid of some really high priced people:

https://seekingalpha.com/news/39523...s-off-marvels-perlmutter-as-part-of-cost-cuts

Disney reportedly lays off Marvel's Perlmutter as part of cost cuts​

Walt Disney (NYSEIS) is parting ways with Ike Perlmutter, the colorful former chairman/CEO who sold Marvel Entertainment to Disney and tried (unsuccessfully) to shake up the Disney board last year.

Disney laid off Perlmutter as part of its campaign to cut 7,000 jobs and save $5.5B in costs.

Perlmutter was told by phone that Marvel Entertainment, the consumer product-focused unit run separately from Marvel Studios, was redundant and would be folded into other business units, the NYT reported.

And while Disney is slashing jobs to pivot to the current macro environment, Perlmutter had also become a bit of a thorn in the board's side: He pushed hard last fall to get activist investor Nelson Peltz on the company's board, having contacted leadership six times from August to November in support of the move.

With that unsuccessful, Peltz launched his own proxy battle to join the board - a fight he abandoned when returned CEO Bob Iger unveiled a restructuring in February.

Disney's also laid off Rob Steffens (co-president of Marvel Entertainment) and the unit's chief counsel, John Turitzin; Marvel Entertainment President Dan Buckley will remain and report to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.

Perlmutter had famously sold Marvel to Disney for $4B in 2009.

 

[BrianL]

Getting rid of some really high priced people:

https://seekingalpha.com/news/39523...s-off-marvels-perlmutter-as-part-of-cost-cuts

Disney reportedly lays off Marvel's Perlmutter as part of cost cuts​

Walt Disney (NYSEIS) is parting ways with Ike Perlmutter, the colorful former chairman/CEO who sold Marvel Entertainment to Disney and tried (unsuccessfully) to shake up the Disney board last year.

Disney laid off Perlmutter as part of its campaign to cut 7,000 jobs and save $5.5B in costs.

Perlmutter was told by phone that Marvel Entertainment, the consumer product-focused unit run separately from Marvel Studios, was redundant and would be folded into other business units, the NYT reported.

And while Disney is slashing jobs to pivot to the current macro environment, Perlmutter had also become a bit of a thorn in the board's side: He pushed hard last fall to get activist investor Nelson Peltz on the company's board, having contacted leadership six times from August to November in support of the move.

With that unsuccessful, Peltz launched his own proxy battle to join the board - a fight he abandoned when returned CEO Bob Iger unveiled a restructuring in February.

Disney's also laid off Rob Steffens (co-president of Marvel Entertainment) and the unit's chief counsel, John Turitzin; Marvel Entertainment President Dan Buckley will remain and report to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.

Perlmutter had famously sold Marvel to Disney for $4B in 2009.

I hate to like someone losing their Job (though Ike will be fine), but this shakeup has been needed for a long time. Ike is notoriously difficult and his little fifedom was siloed, even from those making the MCU movies adter Ike and Feige clashed. I hope this will trickle down and mean BIG changes for Marvel Comics.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/business/media/disney-marvel-ike-perlmutter.html

Disney Lays Off Ike Perlmutter, Chairman of Marvel Entertainment​

Brooks Barnes

The move was part of a company cost-cutting campaign and came after Mr. Perlmutter was part of an unsuccessful attempt to shake up Disney’s board.
March 29, 2023, 11:37 a.m. ET

Isaac Perlmutter, the famously frugal Marvel Entertainment chairman who unsuccessfully worked to shake up the Walt Disney Company’s board in the past year, has been laid off as part of a cost-cutting campaign.

Disney confirmed the move. Mr. Perlmutter, 80, was told by phone on Wednesday that Marvel Entertainment, a small division centered on consumer products and run separately from Marvel Studios, was redundant and would be folded into larger Disney business units, according to two Disney executives briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive personnel matter.

On Monday, Disney started to eliminate 7,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its global total, as part of $5.5 billion in cuts intended to improve Disney’s financial results and position the company for streaming-fueled growth.
Mr. Perlmutter, known as Ike, could not immediately be reached for comment.

An irascible and unrelenting executive, Mr. Perlmutter has been a distraction inside Disney for more than a decade — most recently when he pushed for a friend, the activist investor Nelson Peltz to join the Disney board. Mr. Perlmutter contacted Disney board members and senior Disney executives six times from last August to November to push for Mr. Peltz to join the board, according to a securities filing. When he was rebuffed, Mr. Peltz started a proxy battle to put himself on the board, saying he would cut costs, revamp Disney’s streaming business and clean up the company’s messy succession planning.

Mr. Peltz withdrew in February, when Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, unveiled a restructuring and the cost cuts, along with the likely restoration of Disney’s dividend.

Since then, Mr. Perlmutter’s future at Disney has been a topic of water cooler debate inside the company, with most employees concluding that his days were numbered. On Wednesday, Disney also laid off Rob Steffens, co-president of Marvel Entertainment, and John Turitzin, chief counsel for the division.

A Disney spokesman confirmed the job eliminations at Marvel Entertainment, but declined to comment further.

---

What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.

Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment, will remain and report to Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios. Previously, Mr. Buckley reported both to him and Mr. Perlmutter.

Mr. Perlmutter sold Marvel to Disney in 2009 for $4 billion. He gained control of the superhero company in the late 1990s and greatly expanded its merchandising business by licensing properties like X-Men and Spider-Man to movie studios.

Mr. Perlmutter’s involvement with Marvel as a whole has greatly diminished over the years. He has not been involved with Marvel movies since 2015, when a feud with Mr. Feige over costs related to “Doctor Strange” boiled over. (Mr. Perlmutter wanted to fire Mr. Feige; Mr. Iger overruled him.) Mr. Perlmutter lost oversight of Marvel television shows in 2019.

By the end, Mr. Perlmutter’s job was limited to businesses like comics publishing, which generates $40 million to $60 million in sales annually, according to analysts. (To contextualize, Disney had about $83 billion in total revenue in 2022.) He was also involved in Marvel game licensing, certain consumer products and superhero arena shows. Marvel Entertainment was based in New York.

Disney arguably allowed Mr. Perlmutter to keep a fief long after it made financial sense to do so. He is a significant Disney shareholder, and there was a sense of obligation: Without him, Disney would not have Marvel.

Mr. Perlmutter’s zealousness for corporate frugality in service of profit is well known in the entertainment business. In one particularly vivid example, he used to pluck paper clips out of garbage cans at Marvel offices for reuse. People at Marvel still talk about the time he suggested serving potato chips at a movie premiere to save catering costs.

To closely monitor activities at Marvel offices, Mr. Perlmutter at one point installed at least 20 cameras. Disney ripped them out several years ago.

Mr. Perlmutter’s soreness over Mr. Iger’s decision to take away oversight of Marvel moviemaking has also been well known. In February, when Disney thwarted the proxy battle, Mr. Iger appeared on CNBC and was asked about Mr. Perlmutter’s involvement in the shake-up effort. Did a feud perhaps fuel it?

“Well, you’d have to ask Ike about that,” Mr. Iger said. “But let’s put it this way: He was not happy about it. And I think that unhappiness exists today.”

 

[Cfabar1]

https://www.thewrap.com/disney-layoffs-jeffrey-epstein-vp-of-corp-comms/

Disney Layoffs: Jeffrey R. Epstein, Longtime VP of Corporate Communications and Spokesperson for D23 Fan Club, Among the Ousted (Exclusive)

Epstein spearheaded the D23 Fan Club and D23 Expo

Drew Taylor | March 28, 2023 @ 2:14 PM PDT

Jeffrey R. Epstein, a vice president of corporate communications for Disney and the man who spearheaded the official Disney fan club D23, was among those laid off this week, TheWrap has confirmed.

Previously working under Zenia Mucha, the feared and respected former senior executive vice president and CCO (otherwise known as the “Director of Revenge”), Epstein is perhaps best known as the spokesperson for D23 – an official Disney fan club that included a quarterly published glossy magazine and, eventually, an official fan convention known as D23 Expo, held every other year in Anaheim, California. Stephen Clark initially developed the concept and the current president of D23 is Michael Vargo.

The last D23 Expo event was held in 2022, having its schedule thrown off by the pandemic. Epstein additionally co-hosted a D23-themed podcast, “D23 Inside Disney,” along with Oh My Disney’s Sheri Henry.

News of the ouster came from six separate sources with knowledge of the situation.

In addition to D23, Epstein co-founded the popular Gay Days at Disneyland, an early and pioneering LGBTQ+ outing that was eventually endorsed by the company. The first event was held in 1998 and drew 2,500 people; by 2021 it drew 30,000 daily visitors and was a fully prepared weekend full of activities like screenings, lectures and celebrity guests.

In recent years, he gained notoriety and a following on social media for repeatedly asserting that he’s not that Jeffrey Epstein, referring to the late convicted sex offender and financier. He also cultivated a strong relationship with many Disney fans, having been one for many years himself, even hosting an early YouTube series for the company called “Disney Geek.”

Epstein’s dismissal was part of companywide layoffs that impacted Elizabeth Newman, VP of Development who was based at 20th Television while overseeing Creative Acquisitions for Disney Television Studios; Mark Levenstein, SVP Production for Hulu; Jayne Bieber, SVP Production Management & Operations for Freeform; and nearly the entire Disney metaverse team.

This week marks the first wave of layoffs initiated by CEO Bob Iger, with as many as 7,000 employees (or, in Disney terms, “cast members”) being let go from every echelon of the company, with additional layoffs coming in the weeks and months ahead.

Upcoming D23 events include a walk through Marceline, Missouri, the inspiration behind Main Street U.S.A. and Walt Disney’s hometown; the premiere of Disney100: The Exhibit in Munich; and an anniversary screening of “Return of the Jedi” in London.

The status of another D23 Expo remains up in the air. It will theoretically happen in the fall of 2024 but there hasn’t been an official announcement yet.

Wonder if this means D23 will be scaled back or eliminated.

 

[wabbott]

Wonder if this means D23 will be scaled back or eliminated.

I wouldn't imagine. Isn't that a dues-paying group where you can get different levels of membership for different prices? If I lived in Cali in the greater LA area, I might consider a membership for studio tours, etc.

 

[BrianL]

I wouldn't imagine. Isn't that a dues-paying group where you can get different levels of membership for different prices? If I lived in Cali in the greater LA area, I might consider a membership for studio tours, etc.

There is a "free tier" but it doesn't get you much. You can still attend events, but of course you pay to go to those. I only joined the free tier to get that sweet early Disney+ 3 year offer. That's over and done though and other than some emails I don't get anything. The events are VERY popular - I doubt they will scale those back at all.

 

[wabbott]

This is a Los Angeles TV station

https://ktla.com/news/disney-lays-off-multiple-high-ranking-employees-during-first-wave-of-job-cuts/

Disney lays off multiple high-ranking employees during first wave of job cuts
by: Iman Palm
Posted: Mar 29, 2023 / 11:24 AM PDT

The Walt Disney Co. has laid off multiple high-ranking employees during the first round of its planned job cuts, a move that will reduce the company’s workforce by 7,000 jobs or 3%.
So far, Disney has laid off:

• Isaac Perlmutter, the former Marvel Entertainment chairman. The New York Times reported that Perlmutter’s departure comes after he unsuccessfully tried to help Nelson Peltz, an activist, investor and personal friend, join the Disney board. Perlmutter sold Marvel to Disney for $4 billion in 2009.
• Rob Steffens, the former co-president of Marvel Entertainment, was also laid off, Variety reported.
• John Turitzin, the former chief counsel to Marvel Entertainment
• Jeffrey R. Epstein, the former vice president of corporate communications for Disney and spokesperson for Disney’s official fan club, D23, was laid off, The Wrap reported,
• Elizabeth Newman, the former vice president of Development and head of the Creative Acquisitions department at for Disney Television Studios.
• Mark Levenstein, the former head of post-production at Hulu.
• Jayne Bieber, the former senior vice president of production management and operations at Freeform
• The entire Disney metaverse division, the Wall Street Journal reported.

On Monday, multiple media outlets reported that Disney CEO Bob Iger sent out a memo explaining that the company will begin notifying employees “whose positions are impacted by the company’s workforce reductions.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirms that company’s planned job layoffs will begin this week
Disney is expected to do two more rounds of job cuts, with the largest one happening in April. The job cuts are expected to conclude by the beginning of summer.

Deadline reported that The April job cut wave has been described as the “big one” or a “bloodbath” because that’s when a large number of people would be laid off.

Iger initially announced the news of the layoffs on Feb. 8. The loss of 7,000 jobs would represent a 3% reduction of the company workforce. The layoff news came as Disney enacted a company-wide plan to reduce costs by $5.5 billion.

All company divisions, including theme parks, are expected to be impacted by the planned labor reduction. The company’s theme park division includes the Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Disney cruise lines, and its international parks.
Disney workforce cuts to affect all company divisions, including theme parks
In addition to the planned job cuts, Disney has also instituted a hiring freeze, implemented under previous CEO Bob Chapek following a dismal earnings report.

When Iger returned to his old position as Disney’s top executive, he announced during a town hall meeting that the freeze would remain in place.

 

[OKW Lover]

Walt Disney (NYSEIS) is parting ways with Ike Perlmutter, the colorful former chairman/CEO who sold Marvel Entertainment to Disney and tried (unsuccessfully) to shake up the Disney board last year.

Color me not surprised

 

[wabbott]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/disney-layoffs-extend-streaming-jobs-china

Disney layoffs extend to streaming jobs in China: report​

Ken Martin
The first round of layoffs at The Walt Disney Company were not just stateside, but extended to the Far East as well.

The entertainment giant has laid off more than 300 employees in Beijing who worked on its streaming services, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The cuts are part of a cost-cutting and restructuring plan that began this week and will involve the loss of 7,000 jobs.

The China layoffs focus on technology employees who were working in areas of Disney’s streaming services.

Disney has made streaming a focal point of its business.
Disney operates several streaming services including Disney+, which is available in much of the world except for mainland China, as well as ESPN+ and Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ Hotstar in Asia.
At the end of 2022, Disney+ had 161.8 million subscribers, Hulu had 48 million; and ESPN+ had 24.9 million.
The company has been under pressure to control costs and aims at reaching profitability for its streaming business by September 2024.
The service has reportedly lost nearly $10 billion since its 2019 launch.
Robert Iger returned as Disney CEO in November after the removal of Bob Chapek.

The company announced it would make $5.5 billion in budget cuts and reduce head count.

 

[wabbott]

https://en.pingwest.com/w/11542

Hulu reportedly cuts 90% of staff at Beijing office
3/2923

US streaming service provider Hulu reportedly conducted a massive layoff at its Beijing office on Wednesday, affecting about 200 employees.

On multiple social media platforms, including lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu and workplace platform Maimai, users who claimed to be Hulu employees in Beijing said they were affected by the mass layoffs.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Chinese business news outlet 21st Century Business Herald said that 200 people had been laid off, equivalent to 90% of the total workforce in Hulu's Beijing office.

Although the company does not have any streaming-related operations in China, its Beijing team, established in 2007, focuses on R&D and provides technical support to the US office.

Its strong reputation for work culture, compensation, technology and benefits has made it a highly sought-after employer in China's competitive job market, thus attracting the best talent in China, such as those graduating from top universities.

The layoffs at Hulu are likely part of Disney's broader cost-cutting measures. Disney, which gained a controlling stake in Hulu following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, announced on Monday that it will begin laying off staff starting this week.

The US theme park giant's streaming business grew quickly during the pandemic, but as the golden age ended and inflation forced the company to focus on profitability, it had to cut costs along with the rest of the major corporations.

“We have made the difficult decision to reduce our overall workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs as part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated, and streamlined approach to our business,” Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, wrote in a memo.

In February this year, when announcing the layoff plan for the first time, the CEO stated that the streaming business led by Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ will stop losing money in 2024.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b...nior-producers-cut-disney-layoffs-1235363886/

Disney Layoffs Hit ABC News, Kim Godwin Reorganizes Leadership Team
ABC News is cutting 50 roles as part of the larger Disney cuts.
March 30, 2023 8:11am PDT
By Alex Weprin

The Disney layoffs have hit ABC News.

The broadcast news division has laid off approximately 50 people as part of the company’s planned cuts, with ABC News president Kim Godwin reorganizing her senior leadership team. Godwin announced the changes in a note to staff Thursday morning.

“Throughout the company, teams are being impacted by the downsizing that was announced several weeks ago, including our own ABC News family. While these actions are never easy, they are a necessary step to ensure we’re on solid footing for the years ahead as we chart a sustainable, growth-oriented path forward for the entire organization,” Godwin wrote. “While this is a difficult time for all of us – particularly those directly affected by these tough decisions – it’s important to remember that together, we are resilient, and will emerge from this period of transition stronger than before.”

The new structure will see Katie den Daas become VP of newsgathering; Derek Medina adding oversight of talent strategy, production operations and business affairs; and Stacia Deshishku adding oversight of investigative and enterprise reporting, as well as booking.

As part of the changes a number of senior ABC News staffers are leaving the company, including senior VP of newsgathering Wendy Fisher; senior VP of talent Galen Gordon; VP of talent Mary Noonan; VP of corporate communications Alison Rudnick; senior executive producer Chris Vlasto; executive editorial producer Heather Riley and Los Angeles bureau chief David Herndon.

The cuts are a continuation of the layoffs announced by CEO Bob Iger on Monday, with a first round taking place this week, a larger round coming in April, and a third round before summer begins.

In addition to ABC News, Disney also cut its TV production and acquisitions teams, shuttered the company’s nascent “metaverse” division, and folded Marvel Entertainment int other parts of the company, letting go of Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter in the process.

Read Godwin’s memo, below.

Colleagues,
Throughout the company, teams are being impacted by the downsizing that was announced several weeks ago, including our own ABC News family. While these actions are never easy, they are a necessary step to ensure we’re on solid footing for the years ahead as we chart a sustainable, growth-oriented path forward for the entire organization.

While this is a difficult time for all of us – particularly those directly affected by these tough decisions – it’s important to remember that together, we are resilient, and will emerge from this period of transition stronger than before.
To that end, I’d like to share some key changes to our structure:

• Katie den Daas, who has been leading our London bureau, will now be vice president of Newsgathering, overseeing the domestic and international teams, including bureaus worldwide, the desks, and NewsOne. Reporting into Katie will be Michael Kreisel, who will manage the domestic bureau chiefs (except for the DC bureau) and NewsOne, which will continue to be headed by Al Prieto; Jonathan Greenberger, who will lead the DC bureau and political coverage; and Kirit Radia, who will oversee the London bureau, all other international bureaus and teams worldwide. In the coming weeks, Katie will transition from London to New York, and we will name a new London bureau chief soon.
• Effective immediately, our Business and Operations team will expand to include Talent Strategy, Production Operations, Business Operations and Business Affairs. All will report to Derek Medina, EVP, ABC News.
• Our investigative and enterprise reporting units, which include Medical, Business, and Climate, will join the linear shows and Special Events, reporting to Stacia Deshishku, executive editor and SVP of News. Additionally, ABC’s extensive bookings resources will now roll up to Stacia.

Like you, I have come to trust and rely on the expertise and dedication of Katie, Derek, and Stacia, and I am grateful to count them among my senior leaders. All other reporting lines will remain the same.
In the coming days and weeks, we will share additional information about these teams and our plans.

Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge the work and legacy of our departing staff members. Not only are they our colleagues, they’re also our friends who will always be a part of the proud history of this esteemed organization. On behalf of the entire ABC News family, thank you for your service and professionalism.

We are truly privileged to work alongside so many smart, talented, and creative people. This is a team like no other – and it’s because of you that ABC News is #1.

Kim

 

[wabbott]

https://deadline.com/2023/03/disney-fires-chief-compliance-officer-in-layoffs-1235313008/

Disney’s Chief Compliance Officer Out Amid Layoffs
By Jill Goldsmith
March 29, 2023 1:12pm PDT

Disney has let go SVP and Chief Compliance Officer Alicia Schwarz, Deadline has learned, amid a major retrenchment at the company.

Her role will be absorbed by Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez. She joined the company in 2014 as principal counsel, later serving as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, as well as Global Deputy Chief Compliance Counsel.

The corporate compliance function oversees compliance with Disney’s global ethics and standards of business conduct and manages regulatory compliance with anti-corruption and trade law.

Disney under chief executive Bob Iger is in the midst of a sweeping overhaul that includes rounds of layoffs – the first starting this week – in a push to cut billions in costs against an uncertain background for media and the broader economy.

All told, the cuts will target 7,000 staffers. As Deadline reported, an initial exodus is related to a consolidation of production operations across Disney TV Studios, Hulu, Freeform and FX and the shutdown of the studio operation’s Creative Acquisitions department. A unit set up by ousted chief executive Bob Chapek to explore Metaverse projects was disbanded, as was the former CEO’s DMED division (Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution).

New names are emerging daily. As Deadline and others reported earlier today, Isaac Perlmutter from Marvel Entertainment was also shown the door.

Among top execs, Mark Levenstein, SVP Production for Hulu, and Jayne Bieber, SVP Production Management & Operations for Freeform are leaving, as is Elizabeth Newman, VP of Development who was based at 20th Television while overseeing Creative Acquisitions for Disney Television Studios.

All three of the company’s divisions – Parks, Experiences and Products; Entertainment; and ESPN — are likely to be impacted. The upcoming second round of cuts is expected to be the deepest.

“In tough moments, we must always do what is required to ensure Disney can continue delivering exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now, and long into the future,” Iger wrote in a memo to staff Monday.

Disney is holding its annual meeting of shareholders next week.

 

[wabbott]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hollywood-turns-page-metaverse-disney-130000061.html

Hollywood Turns the Page on the Metaverse – and Disney Just Got the Memo | Analysis​

Owen Thomas
Thu, March 30, 2023 at 8:00 AM CDT

Tech famously has a hype cycle documented by the Gartner research firm. It’s as follows: An innovation triggers inflated expectations, followed by a peak of enthusiasm, a trough of disillusionment and a slope of enlightenment. As far as Hollywood is concerned, the metaverse is deep in the trough.

The latest sign is Disney’s elimination of a 50-person metaverse team championed by former CEO Bob Chapek earlier this week. But far from being an indicator of things to come, Disney is on the trailing edge of studios letting disappointing VR experiments quietly expire or peter out in obscurity.

Riding the curve​

Peak VR enthusiasm among the entertainment industry arrived in 2017, with a mix of fear of getting left behind and greed for the money to be made: Unfailingly optimistic researchers projected a $95 billion market for VR hardware and media by 2023. That year, Imax and Warner Bros. announced a slate of three VR experiences including “Aquaman” and “Justice League” as the studio’s digital chief, Thomas Gewecke, hyped the technology’s potential at conferences.

Paramount announced a deal with Oculus, the VR startup the then-Facebook Inc. bought in 2014 for $2 billion. Fox made a VR game to go with “The Martian.”

Theaters got in on the action, too. AMC invested $10 million in a startup, Dreamscape, with the promise of establishing six locations for immersive experiences in the U.S. and U.K. Regal and other chains opened VR centers with Imax.

The rush didn’t last. By late 2018, Imax closed its virtual reality arcades and pulled back generally from the market. The AMC-Dreamscape deal produced two locations, one in Columbus, Ohio, and the other in Eaton, N.J. Gewecke, Warner’s VR evangelist, left the company in 2020. By 2022, Paramount’s VR ambitions had dwindled to licensing out “Top Gun: Maverick” to Dave & Busters for a VR arcade game.

Sundance canceled its groundbreaking New Frontiers program for 2023, citing the need for a “process of reimagination.” The film festival had long played a critical role in popularizing VR: a 2012 exhibition, “Hunger in L.A.,” helped inspire Palmer Luckey to start Oculus.

A technology in search of a market​

Even as Hollywood retrenched, in Silicon Valley, passion for VR ran unchecked. The most notable sign was Facebook’s decision in 2021 to change the name of the company to Meta Platforms. Meanwhile, Apple quietly pursued a mixed-reality headset project as its next big hardware category.

But even in tech’s heartland, skepticism grew. By 2022, Meta executives were openly questioning its multibillion-dollar losses on Reality Labs, as the division built around Oculus is now known. As Apple’s headset grew nearer to production — it could reportedly be released as soon as June — the company experienced rare internal dissent over the project, according to the New York Times. With reason: The headset might cost as much as $3,000, which could set it up to be an expensive “bomb,” Bloomberg Apple watcher Mark Gurman wrote in January.

All the while, consumer interest never matched the industry’s passion for the technology. The pandemic might have seemed like a prime opportunity to plug in and disconnect, since actual reality didn’t have a lot going for it. But after a jump in 2021, VR headset sales fell 2% last year to $1.1 billion, according to the NPD Group — a far cry from the near-$100 billion market once forecast. Only one in seven households even had a VR headset in 2022, according to Parks Associates. That limited reach means limited appeal for mass-market entertainment distributors.

Sheer lack of interest may be the biggest factor holding VR back. A Parks Associate survey found that among consumers who hadn’t tried VR, 47% said the reason they hadn’t bought VR equipment is that they saw no use for it. Among those who had tried it, 37% cited the same reason. Far fewer people cited cost, discomfort or a lack of content as a barrier, suggesting that the problem with virtual reality can’t be solved merely by improving the technology or throwing money at creatives to build more VR experiences.

An uncertain future

If any Hollywood player has a shot at making VR happen, it’s Sony. The company released a new PlayStation VR headset in February, priced at $549.99. Sony Pictures is releasing a “Ghostbusters”-based VR game for the PSVR 2 and Meta’s Quest 2 headset this year. Sony reportedly expects to ship 1.5 million of the second-generation headsets by March 2024, disputing a Bloomberg report that it had cut production in response to disappointing preorders.

The biggest threat, though, may be the shifting priorities of media and tech companies. Wall Street is pressuring studios to rein in their streaming losses, leaving little room to fund more theoretical investments in technologies like VR. And artificial intelligence has largely displaced VR as the new buzzword in tech investing circles. Even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has declared that AI should be a new focus for the company — as the company’s mass layoffs hit the formerly sacrosanct Reality Labs.

The hype cycle next predicts a slope of enlightenment, a period in which companies and consumers grapple with what’s realistically possible with a given technology. It’s possible that a technology that required strapping on a headset as well as a battery pack or offboard computer might always have been inherently limited. Even Neal Stephenson, the science-fiction author who coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash,” is skeptical about people wearing goggles for hours at a time. We already have the devices needed to access the metaverse, he recently told Vox’s Peter Kafka: They’re called smartphones and televisions.