Mooky Greidinger, CEO Of Regal Parent Cineworld, On Stage At CinemaCon; Thanks Regal Managers

Bob Chapek, Former CEO 2022 Chapek compensation: $24.2M/ -25.5% Bob Iger, CEO 2022Iger compensation: $15M/ -67.3% Median employee compensation: $54,256 Chapek pay ratio to median employee: 446 So long, Mr. Chapek! It was a rocky time atop the Magic Kingdom for the Disney chief, who was booted from his post in November just months after the company’s board renewed his contract. During Chapek’s tenure Wall Street soured on Disney’s spending on its streaming service, to say nothing of a near employee revolt over his stumbling response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Perry Sook, CEO of The CW parent Nexstar, said the network’s deal this year to broadcast the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit has led to talks with “everyone” in the vibrant sports rights marketplace.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told lawmakers on Tuesday that the “right thing to do” is to make sure that content owners “get significant upside benefit” from artificial intelligence technology that has raised new concerns over copyright and compensation.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts addressed the company potentially selling its 33% stake in the streamer. “I think it’s more likely than not,” Roberts said. “I’m pretty certain if and when we sell our Hulu stake, it’ll be for more than what we have, and in fact, that’s contractually certain.”Disney currently owns 67% of Hulu with with Comcast’s NBCUniversal holding a minority stake.

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.

Chicken Soup For The Soul, owner of Redbox, Crackle and Screenvision and the self-described largest purveyor of content to” value-conscious consumers,” saw sales soar to $110 million in the first quarter from $29 million. TVOD revenue is picking up, CEO Bill Rouhana told Wall Streeters, a precursor to a run on Redbox movie kiosks given the improved Hollywood pipeline.  

To paraphrase Neil Young, Bob Chapek is gone from Disney but not forgotten.

Fox unveiled its 2023/24 programming slate this morning and the writers strike was front and center.

Elon Musk will no longer be Twitter’s CEO.

“Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” wrote Elon Musk today on the platform. He then dropped another bombshell — considering the frathouse that is tech’s top leadership — that the company’s new leader would be a woman.

My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.As noted in his tweet, Musk will not be leaving Twitter entirely; he will instead transition to executive chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops (system operations).More to come…

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk claims he’s hired someone to replace him as CEO of Twitter. But for now, the tech tycoon isn’t revealing who that is. “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter,” the mega-billionaire tweeted Thursday. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.” Back in December, Musk said he would step aside as Twitter’s chief executive once he found “someone foolish enough” to take over the role. Even then, however, the billionaire will retain control of the social network and remain closely involved in running it. Musk closed a $44 billion deal for Twitter in October 2022, but he’s since said he now values the company at less than half that — at $20 billion.

Stockholders have expressed serious displeasure with 2022 executive compensation at Warner Bros. Discovery led by CEO David Zaslav, according to the result of a vote at the annual meeting Monday that was filed with the SEC today.

Disney chief executive Bob Iger weighed in on AI today, staying general but calling the battleground technology good for Disney’s business, but disruptive.

combined into one app offering by the end of the year on Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger has suggested that the future of the hybrid subscription/ad-supported streamer remains in the hands of rival Comcast. Under a 2019 put/call agreement, Disney can buy out the NBCUniversal parent’s 33% minority stake in Hulu as early as January 2024 – and Comcast can require that Disney do so.

William Earl Disney CEO Bob Iger criticized Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s political moves in Florida on the company’s May 10 Q2 earnings call. The business-political feud was brought up as a result of a shareholder asking about the parks in Florida while there are political battles with the governor. “Regarding Florida, I got a few things I want to say about that bill,” he said. “First of all, if the case that we filed last month, made our position and the facts very clear, and that’s really that this is about one thing and one thing only and that’s retaliating against us for taking a position about pending legislation. And we believe that in us taking that position we are merely exercising our right to free speech. Also, this is not about special privileges or a level playing field or Disney in any way using its leverage around the state of Florida.

McKinley Franklin editor Larry Poland, the founder of Mastermedia International, died on May 3 in Illinois after suffering a stroke. He was 83. Poland founded Mastermedia to serve as “a trusted voice of faith to the mainstream media leaders.” Mastermedia teams in Hollywood and New York cultivate relationships with industry pioneers through conversation, consulting and support. The organization provides research and consulting on reaching America’s Christian market, working with executives from major networks and movie studios. Poland grew up in Ohio and devoted his life to Christian service through obtaining a higher education, international volunteer service and pursuing consulting with entertainment industry leaders. He graduated from Wheaton College with a Bachelors in sociology, and was a was a previous director of the Agape Movement, an international volunteer service organization under Campus Crusade for Christ, Intl.

As the Writers Guild of America strike moves into its second week, the chief executive of Endeavor, Ari Emanuel, said, “We completely support our clients in this situation. There are real issues that have to be addressed. We support our clients as they navigate these.”

Following a four year focus of launching and overseeing the growth of company, Sister co-founder Stacey Snider is stepping down as CEO of the company and stepping into a creative advisor role for the company as well as an independent producer. Having served four years in the role and led the company through its launch and initial growth phase, Snider will remain a shareholder and creative leader in the business and will shift to a creative and advisory role for the Group.

Brent Lang Executive Editor In a leadership shakeup, Sister Global CEO Stacey Snider is stepping down from her role at the media company. It’s a surprise move given Snider’s high profile, her extensive relationships throughout the entertainment industry and the fact that she was prolific in getting projects off the ground during her nearly four years (many of them overlapping with the pandemic). But Snider will remain involved as a creative advisor to the company. As part of that arrangement, she will also serve as an independent producer and will remain in charge of the Los Angeles office’s TV and film slate. She will continue to be a shareholder in Sister. The change is effective immediately. Elisabeth Murdoch, who is also the company’s executive chair, will assume CEO duties on an interim basis until Sister hires someone to take over Snider’s operational role.