"It's a Bloodbath": Layoffs Under Way at Disney - Hollywood Reporter
"It's a bloodbath." That's how two longtime Disney staffers have described the wave of layoffs happening at the company Thursday.The staff reductions are taking place in Disney's General Entertainment Content unit, overseen by Peter Rice, and Dana Walden's Walt Disney Television division, including ABC and studio 20th Television.On the studio side, Dan Kupetz — who joined 20th TV in January to fill the void created by longtime studio co-chief Howard Kurtzman's retirement — was also let go.That gave greater content control to studio leaders, including Rice, while handing Daniel oversight of distribution, ad sales and such other business functions as budgets.
ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke was tapped to oversee 20th TV, bumping Carolyn Cassidy to the No.
Still to be determined is if Disney will merge creative development teams — i.e., heads of current, drama, comedy and so on — into one larger group that oversees all content and could effectively end the age-old process of getting notes from both the studio and network side.
Such a move would position Disney similar to the changes that have taken place this year at NBCUniversal, which centralized business functions under Frances Berwick and entertainment content under Susan Rovner.NBCUniversal continues to have its studio counterparts, with separate leadership of Universal Television and Universal Content Productions.
Thursday's layoffs are the latest to come at Disney, which like other entertainment titans, is under tremendous financial pressure as a result of the novel coronavirus.Other Disney brands, including ESPN, have also been impacted by layoffs as the pandemic touches every corner of the entertainment sector and upends Hollywood's old way of life