Bob Iger Says Succession “At The Top Of The List” Of Things He’s Focused On At Disney

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

A Disney spokesperson has confirmed to Deadline that Ike Perlmutter is out at the company. Note, Permutter oversaw the consumer products division of Marvel, and isn’t part of the Kevin Feige-led Marvel Studios.

looks to eliminate 7,000 jobs in multiple rounds of layoffs that kicked off this week, in what CEO Bob Iger calls part of a “strategic realignment.”Rob Grosser, a longtime third-party Marvel security consultant who is also considered to be Perlmutter’s fixer, is also out according to 2 insiders with knowledge of the situation.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Grosser had assisted in the investigation of media leaks at Marvel before, which included the incident in 2012 when the website Latino Review had revealed information about Marvel’s plans to release its first “Guardians of the Galaxy” film before it was officially announced. In an email that was posted on the same site, Grosser referred to Latino Review as a “fanboy” website.“My name is Rob Grosser and I am an independent security consultant working for Marvel.

Disney’s announcement earlier this year that another sequel to “Frozen” was in the works came as a surprise — not just to fans, but to the Oscar-winning songwriting team responsible for the franchise’s songs such as “Let It Go” and “Into the Unknown”.

Disney has eliminated a small business unit focused on exploring the metaverse, part of its initial efforts to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 employees.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As part of a companywide cost-cutting effort, Disney has axed its cross-divisional Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences group, which encompassed the Mouse House’s metaverse ambitions. The elimination of Disney’s Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences group, led by company veteran Mike White, affects about 50 employees, Variety confirmed. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. A Disney rep declined to comment. The shutdown of Disney’s metaverse group came Monday with the first wave of the company’s move to slash 7,000 jobs under interim CEO Bob Iger, which is part of its attempt to reduce $5.5 billion in costs. Following this week’s layoffs, there will be a larger second round of cuts next month, Iger told employees in a memo Monday. A final round of layoffs will hit “before the beginning of summer,” according to Iger.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Disney will begin layoff notices this week for more than 7,000 staffers whose positions will be eliminated as part of a deep cost-cutting effort that will be felt across all of the company’s key divisions. Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed Monday morning in a memo to employees that the layoffs will come in three waves, starting today. Iger disclosed the plan to significantly cut Disney’s overhead with massive staff reductions on Feb. 8. The cuts are expected to hit across the board and hit senior management levels as well as lower-level executives. “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,” Iger wrote. “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.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed the first of three rounds of layoffs is starting this week as the company looks to reduce its workforce by about 7,000 employees.

Victoria Alonso was overwhelmed.   The veteran Marvel Studios executive and producer of the nominated film “Argentina, 1985” was stopped on the red carpet, posing for photographers assigned to capture top executives on Hollywood’s big night. But something shocked her.   “Look at this! Two women!” Alonso said of the female photographers hired for the gig (as in most corners of Hollywood, women are outnumbered by men on the photo line). Emotional, Alonso insisted the pair put down their cameras and pose for a photo with her in front of a giant Oscar statuette. As they all smiled, she told them, “We’ve worked so hard to get here, and we’re not going anywhere.”  

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Sonia Coleman, a 15-year Disney veteran, is taking on a new role as head of human resources. The Mouse House named Coleman as senior executive vice president and chief human resources officer of the Walt Disney Co., effective April 8. She most recently has served as SVP of human resources for Disney Entertainment and ESPN. Coleman takes over the the top HR job at Disney from Paul Richardson, who is leaving the company after more than 15 years. As head of HR, Coleman will report directly to Bob Iger, who is serving as interim CEO for a two-year term. Coleman will oversee Disney’s HR strategy, global talent acquisition, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, organizational design and cultural development, employee education and development, compensation and benefits, HR operations and technology, and global security.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Disney CEO Bob Iger is touting “newness” when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The executive appeared at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference and questioned whether or not Marvel needs to continue churning out multiple sequels for individual characters. His comments arrived amid critical and box office disappointment for the most recent MCU tentpole, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” “Sequels typically worked well for us,” Iger said at the conference. “Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance? Or is it time to turn to other characters?” Not only is “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” one of the worst-reviewed Marvel films in history (its 48% on Rotten Tomatoes nearly matches the record-low “Eternals” score of 47%), but the film dropped a massive 69% at the box office in its second weekend, marking the second-biggest drop in MCU history. “Quantumania” currently stands at $420 million worldwide and $189 million domestically. While these grosses are higher than the first two “Ant-Man” movies, they’re also underwhelming considering “Quantumania” kicks off Phase 5 of the MCU and introduces the new Thanos-sized villain of the franchise in Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conquerer.

Bob Iger returned as CEO of Disney last November, and since his return, the company’s mantra has been “stick with what works.” Last month, Iger put that into practice when he announced sequels to the “Toy Story,” “Frozen,” and “Zootopia‘ franchises. But what isn’t working at Disney recently? THR reports that Iger doesn’t like how expensive making films and shows has gotten, with Deadline adding that franchises like “Star Wars” and Marvel may see some shifts because of that.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has revolved around a core group of character for years now. However, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger is suggesting that will change in the coming years.

Returned Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that fans had a right to be irked as theme park ticket prices crept higher under the previous regime, and said it wasn’t the best way to manage the brand.

Disney CEO Bob Iger says the company is still being “very careful” with developing Star Wars feature films in the wake of Solo‘s soft box office, while Marvel is also getting a rethink in terms of how many sequels characters get.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bob Iger, just over three months back as CEO of Disney, discussed major organizational changes he’s made at the company — and his optimism about making streaming, particularly Disney+, a profitable piece of the empire. “I’m generally bullish on streaming as a great consumer proposition, as a really robust platform to deliver high-quality content,” Iger said, speaking Thursday at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. But “we have to better rationalize our costs” and “obviously we have to attract more subs.” In addition, he said, “In our zeal to grow global subs, I think we were off in terms of our pricing strategy, and we’re starting to learn more about it.” Iger also said Disney overall had a “disconnect” between what it was spending on content and how it was monetizing that — and that the company needs to become “more judicious” about content investment.

Lachlan Murdoch, in his first public comments about a defamation lawsuit against Fox News that’s been grabbing headlines, said he believes the network is even handed and the “noise” is more reflective of the nation’s divided politics than anything else.

Showtime has been going through downsizing and recalibration since the November ouster of longtime CEO David Nevins and the premium network’s inclusion in Paramount Media Networks President Chris McCarthy’s portfolio. There have been layoffs, series cancellations and an executive restructuring as McCarthy articulated the plans for the network, which will soon be rebranded as Paramount+ with Showtime. They include multiple TV universes built around some of Showtime’s biggest series, including multiple Dexter and Billions offshoots.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Though Showtime is being rebranded into Paramount+ With Showtime, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish says the Showtime brand is alive and well and more projects based on the cable channel’s most iconic series, including “Ray Donovan,” are in the pipeline for the integrated platform. “We’re not just doing that streaming, we’re doing that linear as well,” Bakish said during a Morgan Stanley-hosted investor conference. “So come sometime this year, when you turn on Showtime linear, it’s going to be Paramount+ With Showtime. And it’s what I call a win-win-win. It’s a win for consumers, because the product is going to be fundamentally better than Showtime. You’re going to get ‘1923’ on it, you’ll get ‘Tulsa King,’ as part of your Showtime subscription. It’s just going to be a bigger, broader product. We fundamentally believe in a broad thesis. So that will work at the consumer level and as part of that, we’re leaning into the Showtime franchises. So you could think about the slate as smaller, which will be less expensive, but also really giving the people what they want — which is more Showtime, maybe more ‘Dexter,’ maybe more ‘Ray Donovan,’ and really leaning into that. And we have some exciting plans there.”

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