Record-Breaking Memorial Weekend 2013! ‘Fast & … 
Cannes: Un Certain Regard Winners Include ‘The … 
SAG-AFTRA Sued For Witholding Foreign Residuals And … 
Harvey Weinstein Closes Prolific Cannes With Deals For … 
Cannes: Competition Movies Divide Critics; How Much Do … 
Zach Braff Ends $3+M Kickstarter Campaign 
Fox Unscripted TV Czar Mike Darnell To Exit 
NBC Sets Oklahoma Tornado Benefit Concert For May 29 
Cannes: Directors’ Fortnight Honors ‘Les … 
SHOCKER: Tom Cruise Exits ‘Man From … 
A+E Rebuild: BBC’s Jana Bennett To Run Bio And LMN … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Hannibal’ Hits Low, … 
‘Katie’ Shakeup: Rachel Miskowiec Replaces … 
Hammond On Cannes: French Hero Jerry Lewis On His Return To … 
Cannes: Another Jewelry Heist? $2.6M Necklace Missing After … 
Hammond On Cannes: Leo DiCaprio’s Moon Trip Tops … 
Specialty B.O. Preview: ‘Before Midnight’, … 
2012-2013 Season Network Rankings: CBS Sweeps In Final … 
Full 2012-2013 TV Season Series Rankings 
TOLDJA! Paramount Pocketing $190M From Disney For Marvel … 
‘Good Morning America’ Hits 19-Year Viewership … 
It won’t be a good day on the Disney lot. Today, the studio will tell just under 200 staffers that they are being laid off. Deadline told you this was coming, as part of a restructuring effort, with most of those layoffs coming in theatrical and home video distribution. The fact that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides just crossed the $900 million mark in worldwide gross doesn’t change that studio brass felt a restructuring was needed. Fox, Paramount and Lionsgate have also been streamlining their operations and laying off staff as well.
Loading ...
Who needs human workers? All studios need is big fat CEOs, with zillion dollar bonuses, and a few actors. Everything else can be handled by robots from Japan. Laid off workers can pay to see the movies with their food stamps, further fattening the CEOs’ bonuses.
Pirates 4 billion dollar global gross… minus at least a 200 million dollar loss on Mars Needs Moms…plus the weakening DVD market…equals 200 plus pink slips.
Sorry, pal. That is NOT the reason.
It’s because that 200-foot yacht COULD BE a 300-footer.
And we all know this.
Like they couldn’t have waited until Friday, and let people finish out the week?
No actually I heard they were following the Office Space protocol and just stopped paying them without even giving them notice. There thinking was that things would just “work themselves out.”
I have a meeting on the Disney lot today. Should I wear black? Should I bring flowers? Should I postpone my pitch until it becomes the Happiest Place on Earth again?
Hey Jimmy, get a life. You’re an a-hole. Hope your meeting rotted in hell.
Very sad. How about they ax some people in development to even things out? You know, the idiots that think that Tron 3 is a good idea?
Home video’s been declining for a while, yet all the studios just decided that right now was the optimal time to lay off their staffs? Were they all waiting for a competitor to make their layoffs first so they didn’t look as bad? I can’t shake the feeling that there’s some kind of perverse collusion at work here.
Fire two people, give their work load to one person.
That dedicated worker now does the work of three people for no pay raise and no greater benefits, although they get the bonus of their health care premiums going up every year.
Welcome to the new economy!
But, wait, maybe more tax breaks will create jobs?! Probably true, as this was literally the lead-off statement from every Republican candidate in the debate two nights ago. Because those have worked so well over the last 30 years.
Btw, 80% of American CEO’s took pay raises in 2010. Fact.
Truth-o-meter,
You do know that we have a Democrat President and Democrat controlled Senate, with a Democrat control House until five months ago? GE paid $0 in taxes… and Immelt is Obama’s friend.
Look at Robert Iger’s political donations… all to the (D).
Exactly.
Well said.
Spot-on “Truth!”
This is just shameful. When Toppers of all the studios and media outlets are getting big fat paychecks, those who have actually done the work are getting “laid off”. Disney must lay off workers because they can’t afford them? Or in doing so is it that their bottom line (PROFIT) gets bigger? If the jobs of these workers are no longer needed, then why not offer these employees the opportunity to train and work with the company in another capacity. I doubt that that thought was ever discussed. Bad kharma dudes. Bad.
This is a crude estimate but let’s say the 200 laid off employees averaged a conservative $35K/ year. Let’s double that to cover the cost of benefits and let’s triple that because, why not. That’s $42M.
Disney’s CEO made $30M. Last year. Oh but don’t worry he made $50M in 2008.
Right wing free market rationalization in 3…2…
There’s no right wing rationalization. I think it is wrong. I just don’t think a big Federal Government is the answer… look at our “Government that spends a lot” economy right now. Not really working for us.
But I bet you that CEO who made $30M… he’s probably a Democrat.
Disney’s CEO is a Democrat.
Nancy Pelosi’s wealth grew by 62% last year while 9% of the U.S. population was unemployed. She makes policy. Have a problem with that?
If you think there is a fundamental difference between democrats and republicans you are all fooling yourselves.
Just as their theme park tickets go up in price. Annual passes have risen as much as $40.
I am as sorry as anyone for the jobs that are being lost, but this (and by “this” I mean the various studio layouts mentioned on the site in the last week) has been a long time coming. The studios are not running lean enough crews in big departments like Home Entertainment and Theatrical, and things have been bloated for far too long. I say this as someone who has been a part of these studio layoffs in the recent years.
The real travesty here is the level these cuts are most likely going to take place at. Hard working directors, managers, coordinators and assistants are going to be let go, making these department even more top heavy with executives who don’t know the day to day workload yet don’t have the decision making authority.
Disney lost way more than $200 million on Mars Needs Mom. $150 million was the production budget alone. Once you add in advertising and distribution; Disney lost closer to $300 million once all was said and done.
Mars Needs Moms also happens to be that rare film that was blessed with an IMAX release that not a single person came out for.
With the steep drop off in home video sales, this was unfortunately just a matter of time. What would be ideal would be to transition people into digital distribution… but that would mean the studios would actually have to have some clue about getting their product to customers via the web. Netfilx killed Blockbuster and it has put a serious dent in the the home video departments at the majors. Funny thing is the execs and CEOs still seem to be doing alright.
Just FYI – the layoffs are not just happening in home video and distribution. They are on the studio side but across other groups including legal.
Here is the deal..Disney has been structured to be a studio that has released 12-15 of their own films per year. Now, they will be lucky to make 5-6 on their own. The rest come from a pipeline that has live action films from Dreamworks, Comic tentpoles from Marvel and finally, Pixar delivering 2 big animated films per year. The company is overstaffed and this cutback has been a longtime coming.
DreamWorks, Marvel and Pixar do not distribute their product. BV/Disney is distributing for them.
These layoffs represent a consolidation of job responsibilities to get rid of the overlap which heretofore existed due to all of these label purchases Iger has been making.
yes, that’s true. But all of those films go through the marketing/distribution areas.
Unless my calculator is broken 35K*3*200=21million so you can double it again if you like.
“…Funny thing is the execs and CEOs still seem to be doing alright.”
And this is where our system is wrong. “Fail upward”, and enjoy the grand compensation on your way there. Disgusting.
How can this place be called the Happiest Place On Earth when they make millions and just ruin the lives of hundreds of people I think they should throw Bob Igar in the middle of the street and run his %&# over with a mickey mouse car. He’s truly a pathetic peron with no heart and soul. Karma baby!!! Watch and see! Hate to be him and his puppets.
I have a solution…. maybe next time Disney can produce great TV and Theatrical programs and they won’t have to cut anyone.
From an inside source, the number are closer to 250 than just under 200.
I was one of those casualties today, and I have to say, I have a workload UP THE KAZOO as does my boss (an exec) who also got the axe. We work our asses off and EVERYONE we deal with knows it. Lots of overtime; the whole nine yards. We handle a very specialized type of work for more than half a dozen Disney entities. I find it curiously fascinating, though, that there are those who RARELY produce and RARELY on a consistent basis, shop online all day, post on Facebook at least half the day, take 2-hour mani/pedi lunch breaks, go to the gym for 2.5 hours (YEP!), sit on the phone and fight with their spouses and kids at larger than life volumes, and despite all that, they were not given the axe. It’s unbelievable, infuriating, hurtful. But wait! There’s more!…
Those of us who were laid off today were told that we’re “allowed” (REALLY?? “allowed”?!?!) to stay and work for two more months. (Uh huh… Let’s help keep Disney empire going even though we’ve been canned. REALLY?!) After those two months are over we will get a severance which will be rolled into our income which the government will consider a bonus (yep “BONUS”) and then we’ll be taxed heavily on that. WOW, DISNEY!! Thanks! What a gift! Gee, THANKS, MOUSE-FREAKING-HOUSE!! Thanks!! What a fantastic thing to do!! Here’s to yuh, a-holes!!!!! Thanks for that gift Walt! Really. THANKS.
it has been my work experience that they lazy and inept fail up and those that actually do work are unappreciated and punished. Not just Disney. DEFINITELY don’t ever work for the govt! Worse there than anywhere else.
it is a sad week at Disney – is it just Home Entertainment and Distribution that got hit? does anyone know if other departments have been affected?
It is very sad. I worked there for many years (got the ax this year). I enjoyed (almost) every minute, and I’d do it again if the opportunity came. I know it’s fun to bag on the Studios but aside from one or 2 Machiavellian execs, Sr management at Disney are good, sharp people, including Rich. He knows the Studio is/was bulging in the middle. Given discs are not hip and we all want free or 99 cent downloads, a fitness regime was necessary. I just hope they stabilize soon. This has been an ongoing process for the last 2 years and the uncertainty has been killing morale and productivity.
Why can’t people see it as a company doing what it must do to save everyone else’s job. Cut 200 now to save the rest of the company later or don’t do anything and become GM. I work in the film industry on the production side and being laid off is a fact of life; in fact, I was suppose to be working 14 weeks but I am to be cut after only working 3 wks. If you want to make things political – consider that a mass majority of film industry (execs, DGA, SAG – all the people you’re slamming) are huge democratic supporters. If corporate welfare is bugging you? Then the film industry has blood one it’s hands. What’s the first thing a production company asks – What kind of State Incentives can we get? They shop states for welfare/incentive packages. Canada started it and Louisiana and Georgia have perfected it. I can’t blame them (producers) for finding the best deal, that’s their job. But I do have a problem that they take issue with other industries getting tax breaks – ie oil, coal, etc. Because it doesn’t fit their “whatever”. Don’t cast stones from a glass house. Further more, if people must be laid off – it’s better that 200 go than a whole company. It doesn’t take a genius to see the writing on the wall for home distribution anyhow – especially with today’s prevailing attitude, “why buy it, when I can steal it from limewire”. People hold no value towards music or film/video.