Mouse House-cleaning
Disney lifts Aviv and Zoradi as Jacobson exits studio
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The layoffs, which had been expected (Daily Variety, July 12), will consist of roughly 325 international staffers and 325 in the U.S. Of the Stateside employees, cuts will be across the board, with home entertainment being hit the hardest. Other departments that will receive pinkslips include theatrical marketing and distribution.
Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook on Tuesday also confirmed that the studio will reduce its annual bigscreen output to 10 live-action and animated films, along with two or three Touchstone pics. The studio averages close to 18 pics a year currently. Sources said that cuts to the studio's production groups will not be significant. Also likely to remain unaffected are Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pixar Studios, Miramax Films, Buena Vista Music Group and Buena Vista Theatrical Prods.
On Tuesday, Disney also announced the restructuring of several business units under two umbrellas: Buena Vista Worldwide Marketing & Distribution and Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment.
Mark Zoradi has been named prexy of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group and will oversee worldwide distribution and marketing of all Disney and Touchstone Pictures films, while Robert Chapek has been named prexy of Buena Vista Worldwide Home Entertainment, overseeing worldwide distribution and marketing of all the studio's films on home entertainment platforms.
Jim Gallagher has been named prexy of Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, upped from his post of senior veep creative services.
With Cook, Aviv and Zoradi, the studio becomes the second (after Universal) in which marketing vets are in top slots.
Aviv will be charged with overseeing live-action development and production. He most recently was chief creative officer, a position created for him in April 2005. Prior to that, he served as prexy of Buena Vista Pictures Marketing since November 2000. However, Aviv has been vocal about his development and production interests following the success of "National Treasure," for which he received story and executive producer credit.
"Oren is an amazing talent and has been a key player in reshaping our Disney films with many, many successes," Cook said. "In fact, 'National Treasure' was a winning, original idea which he conceived and realized on film. In his new role, we look forward to capitalizing on his great taste as well as his creative vision."
In a statement Tuesday, Jacobson said, "The studio is undergoing a major reorganization, and there simply isn't room for everyone in the new structure. I love the company and it has been a great honor to be part of building the Walt Disney brand."
Her exit arrived as the studio is riding high on the record-breaking success of the second installment of its "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. It also came months after she had reupped for three more years -- and coincidentally happened on the same day that her partner gave birth to the couple's child.
She is also a key figure in Michael Bamberger's tell-all book, "The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on A Fairy Tale," which officially is released Thursday, the day before Warner Bros. Pictures launches "The Lady in the Water."
The pic had been developed by Jacobson for Disney (home to the director's four previous films) before she and Shyamalan disagreed on the creative direction.
Shyamalan cooperated with Bamberger on the book, which doesn't ever criticize the filmmaker but blasts Jacobson -- who has long been known as a straight shooter who can be blunt in her business dealings -- for her creative and dealmaking tactics.
The book is known to have stung Jacobson, who has long prided herself on her relationship with filmmakers including Shyamalan. In her statement, Jacobson mentioned those relationships. "I've had the opportunity to work on films that I love, with filmmakers I admire and colleagues I adore. I'm sorry to go but I am proud of what I've left behind, a vibrant movie studio with major franchises and thriving relationships with some of the most talented filmmakers in the world."
The book intends to paint Jacobson as a villain, but many in Hollywood have reacted against the book and its depictions, creating a groundswell in favor of her.
She spent six years as prexy of BVMPG and has been with the studio since 1998 when she joined from her position as a senior production exec at DreamWorks. During her Disney tenure, she saw successful rollouts of such pics as "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Freaky Friday," "The Princess Diaries," "The Sixth Sense," "Signs," "Bringing Down the House" and "Sweet Home Alabama." However, her tenure also saw such costly disappointments as "The Alamo," "King Arthur," "A Lot Like Love," "Casanova" and "Annapolis."
Partially because of the performances of latter pics, Cook told Daily Variety in April that Disney would be moving away from genre fare like edgy actioners or adult pics and moving toward a slate almost exclusively comprising Disney-branded family entertainment.
Aviv will now be leading that charge. In addition to "National Treasure," he received story and exec producer credit on "Rocket Man." He joined the studio in 1991 as veep creative services and was later promoted to senior veep and creative director. Prior to Disney, he was director of special projects for Cap Cities/ABC.
