Disney Layoffs: 20th Digital Studio Folding, D23 Team Downsizing

J. Kim Murphy Bob Chapek, the former Disney CEO who was abruptly ousted from the company last November, is among a group of executives facing a lawsuit claiming violations of securities law for allegedly providing misleading statements and omissions about Disney+ and its subscriber growth. The case, filed by Local 272 Labor Management Pension Fund on May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, also names former Disney executive Kareem Daniel and current CFO Christine McCarthy, as well as the Walt Disney Co. itself, as defendants. The document states that the case seeks a lead plaintiff and judicial determination for a class action suit representing Disney shareholders from Dec. 10, 2020 to Nov. 8, 2022.

Long rumored but never confirmed, a new app that combines Disney+ and Hulu content is finally on the horizon. Bob Iger made the announcement during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, suggesting that the new app will be on the market by the end of 2023.“I’m pleased to announce that we will soon begin offering a one app experience domestically that incorporates our Hulu content via Disney+, while we continue to offer Disney plus Hulu and ESPN plus as standalone options.

were expecting Disney to report earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $21.7 billion. Disney shares closed Wednesday at $101.13 per share, down 1% today and 13.7% YTD.

EXCLUSIVE: Adrian Martinez (Renfield) has booked a supporting role opposite Rami Malek in Amateur, the new thriller that James Hawes (Slow Horses) is directing for 20th Century Studios.

. It started with , which has accrued over five million views. The video, which is soundtracked to the song “Remember You Omnichord” by Mars Bars, features still shot after shot of Disney princesses: Ariel from ; Aurora from Sleeping Beauty; Belle from Beauty and the Beast; Snow White from *Snow White—*each with their nose ringed in red.

Pregnant Paris Fury took her six children to Disneyland Paris with husband, Tyson Fury, and shared exactly how she packed for the large family. The mum-of-six, soon to be seven, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share highlights from the family's trip to Disneyland Paris over the bank holiday weekend.The family travelled by Eurostar, wore matching outfits and posed in Disney-themed hats during their fun-packed trip. Beaming in a post with husband and heavyweight boxing champion Tyson, Paris wrote in the caption: "Adults are only kids grown up anyway."- Walt Disney.

Elizabeth Olsen and husband Robbie Arnett are enjoying a day out together.

on the video, which scored 5.3 million views since it was posted last month.A TikToker known as Robin Reaction also shared a clip last year making a similar argument. The creator claims that some of the earliest princesses barely had a nose at all, at least when the animated beauties were viewed head-on.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America West will begin picketing Tuesday afternoon outside of Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros., and the other major studios in Los Angeles, after a strike was called on Monday night. The Writers Guild of America East, based in New York, put out a schedule for the “first two weeks of picketing,” which will begin on Tuesday at the Peacock NewFront on 5th Avenue. The WGAE also plans to picket outside Netflix headquarters in New York on Wednesday. The WGA called a strike Monday night, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced that negotiations had concluded for the day without a deal. The current three-year contract expires at midnight on Monday.

Angelique Jackson Time to brush up on the 5 D’s of “Dodgeball” — “dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge” — because a sequel to the 2004 hit comedy is officially in the works. Vince Vaughn is returning to star in the sequel, which is in early development at 20th Century Studios.

internal and external protests by LGBTQ employees and their allies — to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. “State leaders have not been subtle about their reasons for government intervention,” the company writes in the lawsuit. “They have proudly declared that Disney deserves this fate because of what Disney said.

The string of media layoffs continues. Amazon is the latest company to trim its ranks with a round of staff reductions across Amazon Studios and Prime Video. About 100 of the divisions’ 7,000 employees are impacted. The list is not believed to include high-level content executives.

Team, In response to the current market conditions and business realities facing VMG and the broader news and media industry, we are moving forward on some painful but necessary reductions, primarily across our News business. We are transforming VICE News to better withstand market realities and more closely align with how and where we see our audiences engaging with our content most.

Carole Horst For 50 years, it’s been a safe place for storytellers – musicians, animators, directors, writers, artists of all kinds – to learn, grow and thrive. As CalArts celebrates its golden anniversary, it also faces the future head-on.  Broad trustee emeritus Tim Disney, whose great-grandfather, Walt Disney, laid the foundation for what is now a world-class arts school, says that CalArts was founded with very large-scale, utopian ideas by Walt Disney. “Disneyland and CalArts were very grand things,” Disney says, adding that Walt died before the school opened and that his grandfather, Roy Disney, “had the very hard job” seeing the plans through. “His commitment was a very beautiful thing.” 

EXCLUSIVE: 20th Century Studios has acquired Naughty, an original feature pitch from Siena East (Clone High) conceived as a starring vehicle for Amber Midthunder (Prey), multiple sources tell Deadline.

While most of Disney’s CinemaCon presentation was dominated by expected Disney fare like “The Little Mermaid,” “The Haunted Mansion,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Elemental,” there was still time spent on films from formally-Fox and formally-Fox Searchlight. Taiki Waititi and Iain Morris’ long-gestating “Next Goal Wins” stars Michael Fassbender as Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen’s efforts to lead the American Samoa national football team to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It also stars Oscar Kightley, David Fane, Beulah Koale, Uli Latukefu, Rachel House, Kaimana, Rhys Darby, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss.

EXCLUSIVE: As Disney cuts 4K staffers across the conglomerate in a goal to reach $5.5 billion in savings, Deadline has learned that on the feature side, those being laid off were largely comprised of mid-level and coordinator staffers.

we exclusively reported that Trevor Kelley, an executive at Disney+, was also let go as part of the layoffs. Statistical guru Nate Silver will also be leaving ABC.More meetings are being held throughout the afternoon at various Disney business units; one source said that layoffs have been happening every 30 minutes today.

Disney’s widespread layoffs are not going quite as deep at ESPN as in other parts of the empire, but the roster of those departing does include at least one high-ranking exec: Russell Wolff, GM of ESPN+.

lose a total of 50 staffers throughout the entire layoff process. The spokesperson declined to disclose how many ABC News employees were impacted in the current wave.