Bob Iger’s redrawing of Walt Disney Co continues

Found this quite lengthy article from the LA Times. They talk about all the house cleaning Bob Iger is doing at Walt Disney Co, and the vision he has with Disney, Marvel, and Dreamworks.

I’m assuming that the giant pillars of the Seven Dwarfs are still atop the Team Disney building, but hearing the news Tuesday that Oren Aviv has been ousted as studio production chief, I’m getting the feeling that everything else at Bob Iger’s Mouse House is up for grabs these days. Since Iger ousted studio chief Dick Cook and installed Rich Ross as his replacement in early October, Iger and the former Disney Channel president haven’t lost any time in reshaping the studio’s executive hierarchy.

Miramax chief Daniel Battsek got the ax first, followed by Disney Motion Picture Group chief Mark Zoradi, who was followed out the door by film marketing chief Jim Gallagher. In another surprise move, Disney home video chief Bob Chapek, who was viewed by some insiders as a midlevel bureaucrat, was made head of all film distribution, from theaters to VOD and home video, clearly with an eye on moving ahead with Iger’s cherished idea of shrinking the windows between theatrical release and various home video options.

In an even more unusual move, Iger announced in November that two other top Disney execs would suddenly be switching jobs, with theme parks chief James Rasulo becoming chief financial officer and Disney CFO Thomas Staggs taking control of the $12-billion theme park division. Now there is talk that one of the leading contenders to replace Aviv is Susette Hsiung, head of production at the Disney Channel, who has worked closely with Ross since coming over from a previous job at MTV Asia.

So what does this all mean?

First, it’s an incredibly clear sign that Iger is reinventing his studio without any real concern for industry tradition or what the town, much less the top creative talent at the studio, thinks about the new executive lineup. For years, Cook was able to run Disney with autonomy, keeping Iger and his new ideas about distribution and branding at bay. But now, as one industry pal said Tuesday morning after hearing the news of Aviv’s ouster, “it’s like the Huns are sacking the crusaders’ castle.” Anyone viewed as a Cook loyalist is being ushered out the door.

The changes are also a sign that Iger is moving ahead with his plans at turning Disney into a brand factory, with Pixar, Marvel, Jerry Bruckheimer and DreamWorks all on board as brand vehicles to provide movies that can be exploited by the Disney marketing and distribution machine. It’s why many industryites aren’t so surprised that Ross might hire a relative neophyte like Hsiung as head of production. With so many movies coming in from the brand vehicles, being head of production isn’t such a high-level gig, since there won’t be many original films for the production chief to oversee.

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