BRERALEX
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- Mar 8, 2001
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Entertainment - Reuters/Variety Industry
Report: Disney's Animation Chief May Leave
32 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The head of The Walt Disney Co.'s animation group, Thomas Schumacher, may leave his job in June, but stay with the company's theatrical stage unit under a new contract, according to a newspaper report.
The Los Angeles Times on Saturday said the 14-year Disney veteran, who has worked on animated hits ranging from 1994's "The Lion King" to this summer's "Lilo and Stitch," is looking for a deal that will keep him involved in the theater wing that has produced shows like "Beauty and the Beast."
Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha was not immediately available to comment on Sunday, but she told the Times that Schumacher "is having conversations with the company as to what he will be doing, and added, "these are ongoing negotiations."
Schumacher became head of the animation group in 1999 after his boss, Peter Schneider, was promoted to run all of Disney's movie-making unit. Schneider has since left to become a Broadway producer and been replaced by current studio boss Dick Cook.
During Schumacher's tenure, the film animation industry has undergone steep cutbacks in jobs and salaries after Disney's 1990's successes like "Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid" sparked competition that created new jobs and boosted pay.
Disney's animation ranks have shrunk from 2,200 employees to about 1,200 over the past two years, and about 200 more jobs are expected to be trimmed by May, according to the Times.
Schumacher also has overseen Disney's partnership with Pixar Animation Studios Inc., which has sparked huge computer animated hits like the "Toy Story" movies, "A Bug's Life" and last year's monster hit, "Monsters, Inc."
That business, too, has come under increased competition in recent years following the Disney/Pixar success. Rival DreamWorks put out major hit "Shrek," 20th Century Fox had "Ice Age" and Paramount Pictures had "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius."
Disney and Pixar have three more computer animated films on their slate starting in May 2003 with underwater adventure "Finding Nemo."
For nearly a year, talk has circulated in Hollywood and on Wall Street about whether the two companies will renew their collaboration when it expires after the next three movies.
Currently, Pixar makes the movies, and Disney markets and distributes them. They split profits on a 50/50 basis.
Pixar chief Steve Jobs (news - web sites) reportedly wants to strike a deal that if two continue collaborating, Disney would receive only a distribution fee, according to the Los Angeles Times. Such a deal would be similar to one filmmaker George Lucas (news) has with 20th Century Fox for the "Star Wars" movies.
SO ANYONE KNOW HOW BAD/GOOD THIS IS gonna be?
Report: Disney's Animation Chief May Leave
32 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The head of The Walt Disney Co.'s animation group, Thomas Schumacher, may leave his job in June, but stay with the company's theatrical stage unit under a new contract, according to a newspaper report.
The Los Angeles Times on Saturday said the 14-year Disney veteran, who has worked on animated hits ranging from 1994's "The Lion King" to this summer's "Lilo and Stitch," is looking for a deal that will keep him involved in the theater wing that has produced shows like "Beauty and the Beast."
Disney spokeswoman Zenia Mucha was not immediately available to comment on Sunday, but she told the Times that Schumacher "is having conversations with the company as to what he will be doing, and added, "these are ongoing negotiations."
Schumacher became head of the animation group in 1999 after his boss, Peter Schneider, was promoted to run all of Disney's movie-making unit. Schneider has since left to become a Broadway producer and been replaced by current studio boss Dick Cook.
During Schumacher's tenure, the film animation industry has undergone steep cutbacks in jobs and salaries after Disney's 1990's successes like "Lion King" and "The Little Mermaid" sparked competition that created new jobs and boosted pay.
Disney's animation ranks have shrunk from 2,200 employees to about 1,200 over the past two years, and about 200 more jobs are expected to be trimmed by May, according to the Times.
Schumacher also has overseen Disney's partnership with Pixar Animation Studios Inc., which has sparked huge computer animated hits like the "Toy Story" movies, "A Bug's Life" and last year's monster hit, "Monsters, Inc."
That business, too, has come under increased competition in recent years following the Disney/Pixar success. Rival DreamWorks put out major hit "Shrek," 20th Century Fox had "Ice Age" and Paramount Pictures had "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius."
Disney and Pixar have three more computer animated films on their slate starting in May 2003 with underwater adventure "Finding Nemo."
For nearly a year, talk has circulated in Hollywood and on Wall Street about whether the two companies will renew their collaboration when it expires after the next three movies.
Currently, Pixar makes the movies, and Disney markets and distributes them. They split profits on a 50/50 basis.
Pixar chief Steve Jobs (news - web sites) reportedly wants to strike a deal that if two continue collaborating, Disney would receive only a distribution fee, according to the Los Angeles Times. Such a deal would be similar to one filmmaker George Lucas (news) has with 20th Century Fox for the "Star Wars" movies.
SO ANYONE KNOW HOW BAD/GOOD THIS IS gonna be?
