Disney Finishes Laying Off 7,000 Employees

Ryan Murphy looks to be heading back to Disney.

Ryan Murphy is racing back to his old stomping grounds, and in the process of re-joining longtime collaborator Dana Walden under a new overall deal at Disney. The decision to reunite with Walden — now the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment — comes five years after Murphy ankled 20th Century Fox TV for a rich deal at Netflix that was reportedly valued at the time at between $250 million-$300 million. That deal came right before Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and Walden, who at the time was Fox Television Group chairman-CEO. There had been speculation that Murphy and Walden might join forces as partners in their own production venture, before Murphy moved to Netflix and Walden shifted over to Disney.

EXCLUSIVE: APA’s Head of Music Bruce Solar is among a few music agents who are leaving the agency. A replacement for Solar will be announced shortly.

Thursday and repeated his claim that routine vaccinations cause autism. That prompted Dr.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer At long last, Netflix has revealed the first footage of its highly anticipated sci-fi epic from “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss — their first large-scale project at the streamer since signing a mega overall deal in 2019 — and Alexander Woo. Based on the book series by Cixin Liu, the eight-episode drama, which recently wrapped production, will launch in January 2024. Per Netflix’s logline for the sci-fi series, “A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before their eyes, five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor In another shocker for the Walt Disney Co., Christine McCarthy is stepping down from her role as executive VP and chief financial officer and will take a family medical leave, Disney said Thursday. Kevin Lansberry has been named interim CFO for the media giant as of July 1. “Christine McCarthy is one of the most admired financial executives in America, and her impact on The Walt Disney Company during 23 years of dedicated service cannot be overstated,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said. “Christine has served as a key strategic anchor during a period of great transformation, and she and I have discussed her desire to ensure an orderly and successful CFO succession in advance of the company’s transition to its next chief executive officer. She is stepping down from her CFO role as she takes family medical leave, but has graciously offered to move into an advisory position to assist her successor in assuming the duties she has so expertly handled these many years.”

The impact of the ongoing writers strike on the talent agencies continue. APA has laid off a number of assistants. Junior agents, primarily in the lit department, which is the most affected by the work stoppage, have been asked to share assistants, sources tell Deadline.

https://t.co/27ETuDLLf1— P!nk (@Pink) June 12, 2023My grandfather is spinning in his grave. https://t.co/Qb5lV9ChbF— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) June 12, 2023The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement: “We are aware of these groups that aim to agitate and incite people with antisemitic symbols and slurs.

K.J. Yossman “Lord of the Rings” owner Embrace Group has unveiled a dramatic company restructure including the appointment of a new COO, a new CSO, studio closures and lay-offs. “Today we announce a comprehensive restructuring program that will enable us to realize untapped potential in Embracer Group and better optimize the use of our resources. Across the group, we are now initiating multiple actions to strengthen our cash flow generation and leverage our portfolio of IPs to become a stronger company and setting out on a stable future to build even greater games to the benefit of gamers and fans across the globe ”, said Lars Wingefors, CEO and co-founder of Embracer.

reported the news for The New York Times.. “At the end of this process, we will have more than 100 beat reporters on teams.”Coverage of the NFL and English Premier League will remain similar because those stories attract a lot or interest from readers.

The Los Angeles Times announced newsroom layoffs today for the first time since biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the paper in 2018. The cuts include 74 positions, representing about 13% of the total newsroom headcount.

Reddit is joining a growing list of tech companies contracting due to the bumpy economy, telling workers it plans to lay off 5% of employees and scale back new hiring.

Wall Street Journal broke the news, revealing that Reddit’s laying off employees and looking to cut down on costs in an effort to break even next year. Furthermore, the company’s previous projections of hiring 300 people by the end of 2023 have been slashed down to 100.A Reddit spokesperson declined to share the original memo but confirmed WSJ’s reporting in response to TheWrap’s request for comment.Other tech companies reduced their staff earlier in 2023, including Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Reddit, the internet community discussion powerhouse, is cutting 90 jobs, laying off about 5% of its total employee base, as it restructure operations to position itself to break even in 2024. The job cuts were announced by Reddit CEO Steve Huffman in an email to staffers Tuesday. “We’ve had a solid first half of the year, and this restructuring will position us to carry that momentum into the second half and beyond,” Huffman wrote. Along with the layoffs, Reddit is reducing its hiring plans for the rest of 2023 to about 100 additional employees (previously it expected to hire 300). Reddit currently has around 2,000 employees worldwide.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Vice TV is once again expanding its “Dark Side” franchise with a new spinoff that should hit close to home for millennial audiences in particular: “Dark Side of the 2000s.” Premiering July 18 at 10 p.m., the 10-episode season will cover aughts subjects including the radio wars between Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony, “TRL,” the rise of TMZ, Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen’s “Two and a Half Men” conflict, “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” “The Bachelor,” Siegfried & Roy and men’s lifestyle magazines, or “lad mags.” Per its official logline, “From outrageous shock jocks to record breaking reality TV, and the rise of celebrity gossip to the downward spiral of a child star, ‘Dark Side of the 2000s’ delves into the decade’s untold histories, revealing dark secrets and personal insights from the people who witnessed it all first hand.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is undertaking a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division, laying off about 200 staffers. Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s VP, head of podcast business, announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Monday that was shared publicly. The 200 employees represents about 2% of the audio streamer’s worldwide workforce. The layoffs come after Spotify cut 6% of its total headcount earlier this year and saw the exit of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who had previously headed Spotify’s podcast business “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better. However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter. As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”

2ND UPDATE, 5:20 PM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis today won a victory in his legal skirmishes with the Walt Disney Company — but not for the reasons he wanted to.

With the announcement of three new Star Wars movies being made coming from Celebration, Fans are asking the big questions. When it was said that Rey would be getting another movie for her story many were surprised. With how much the Sequels divided the fandom it seemed like a low blow by Disney to add more wood to that fire.

Jordan Moreau Nearly a year after he was fired from Disney by former CEO Bob Chapek, Peter Rice has set a film and TV production deal with A24, Variety has confirmed. It’s his first major move after he was ousted. A24, hot off a leading nine Oscar wins with “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Whale” this year, will co-finance film and TV projects with Rice. The deal is non-exclusive, and projects under the agreement will be backed by Rice via A24’s banking relationships. The projects will be for global distribution theatrically and on major streaming platforms. “I am incredibly excited to be an independent producer and could not be more thrilled to begin that journey in partnership with A24,” Rice said in a statement. “They have built Hollywood’s most vibrant, fearless, and creative studio. The fact that they made it out of whole cloth in a decade is a testament to their exquisite taste, razor-sharp business acumen, and infectious enthusiasm for creativity and artists. I have been blessed to work with so many amazing creators as an executive and cannot wait to start producing provocative, meaningful, and entertaining movies and TV shows with creators I admire and respect.”

Having seen his 2024 White House bid embarrassingly misfire on the launch pad last week, Ron DeSantis is once again being mocked by both the Walt Disney Company and Donald Trump for his luckless battle with the Mouse House.