Credit: Inside The MagicThe first round of Disney layoffs is commencing this week, where the Walt Disney Studios plans to release up to 7,000 employees companywide by the start of the summer season. What comes as a surprise is who Disney fired in the initial first round of layoffs. Disney Entertainment aims to shake things up by eliminating Hulu and Freeform executives.
Related: Disney Is Pulling Out of the Metaverse
Why Are Disney Layoffs Happening in the First Place?
In the first round of layoffs, Bob Iger (Disney CEO) plans to consolidate their production operations across the entire TV studio, Hulu, Freeform, FX, and the studio operation’s Creative Acquisition department shutdown. For the first round of layoffs, announced earlier this week, Disney released their plan to phase them throughout three rounds, ending the final round before this summer.
The reason behind these layoffs is that the Walt Disney World Company and Disney CEO Bob Iger want to save $5.5 billion companywide. The mass layoffs are an effort to reduce the company’s workforce to implement strategic realignments, including critical cost-saving measures needed to create a more effective and structured approach to their business plan.
Related: Disney Confirms Major Layoffs Will Affect Parks
Who Did Disney Layoff First?
Senior Vice President of Production for Hulu Mark Levenstein, and Jayne Bieber, Senior Vice President of Production Management and Operations for Freeform, are among the first to get laid off by the Walt Disney Company. Another executive recently laid off is the Vice President of Development for 20th Television, overseeing Creative Acquisitions for Disney Television Studios, Elizabeth Newman.
Newman joined Fox 21 Television Studios towards the end of 2019 as VP of Development at Touchstone Television, where she worked on projects like Hulu’s popular television series Dopestick (2021).
Bieber was a 14-year Disney veteran who began as a Disney Channel (Disney TV Studios) producer before becoming VP and eventually SVP of Production Management and Operations for Freeform.
Levenstein has been on Hulu’s leading production team (Hulu Originals) since the beginning of 2019. Before his role at Hulu, he worked on projects as SVP of Production at Paramount Pictures and VP of Production at HBO.
Credit: Inside The Magic
Related: Disney Announces New HR Chief as Company Prepares For Massive Layoffs
Which Area Does Disney Seem to Be Consolidating?
It appears that Production (Walt Disney Television) is one of the main areas Disney wants to consolidate. A record number of TV companies have combined operations across multiple divisions in the past few years. However, the job cuts will also hit Disney’s media and distribution division, including Parks and Resorts, CNBC, and ESPN.
As more news is released, you can bet on Inside The Magic to accurately and responsibly report these layoffs in the coming days.
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