Hollywood
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs as new CEO Josh D’Amaro streamlines ops
Layoffs span marketing, ESPN and studios as Disney adapts to industry shifts
CALIFORNIA: The Walt Disney Company has begun laying off employees as its new chief executive Josh D’Amaro moves to streamline operations and recalibrate the business for a shifting entertainment landscape.
About 1,000 positions will be eliminated, according to a person familiar with the development.
The cuts will affect multiple divisions, including marketing, studio and television operations, ESPN, as well as products, technology and certain corporate functions. The marketing unit, notably, had already undergone a restructuring earlier this year.
In an internal email seen by Reuters, The Walt Disney Company chief executive Josh D’Amaro said the changes were part of a broader push to future-proof the company. “Given the fast-moving pace of our industries, this requires us to constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs,” he wrote, adding that some roles would be eliminated as a result.
Notifications have already begun rolling out this week, signalling the start of another round of belt-tightening at the entertainment giant.
The move comes as Disney and its peers grapple with a tough new reality. Traditional television revenues are declining, box office returns have softened, and competition in streaming remains intense. Rivals such as Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance have also undertaken layoffs in recent months, underlining a broader industry reset.
This is not Disney’s first major workforce reduction. In 2023, the company announced plans to cut 7,000 jobs in a cost-saving drive aimed at reducing expenses by $5.5 billion. At the time, it was also facing pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz to improve financial performance and rein in streaming losses.
As of the end of its last fiscal year in September, Disney employed roughly 231,000 people worldwide.
The latest cuts suggest that even as the magic endures on screen, behind the scenes Disney is tightening its script to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving media world.
Hollywood
US theatre group opposes Paramount, Warner Bros. merger, calls it ‘harmful’
Exhibitors warn mega deal could shrink film output and weaken cinema ecosystem
LAS VEGAS: Cinema United has come out strongly against the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, warning it could concentrate too much power in the hands of a single player and disrupt the global film ecosystem.
Speaking at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the group’s chief executive Michael O’Leary did not mince words as he addressed thousands of theatre owners. The deal, reportedly valued at $110 billion, was agreed in March after Netflix exited the bidding process.
“We believe this transaction will be harmful to exhibition, consumers and the entire entertainment ecosystem,” O’Leary said, cautioning that greater consolidation would allow fewer distributors to dictate terms around release windows, scheduling and access to film libraries. Theatre owners argue that such scale could reduce competition and ultimately mean fewer films making it to cinemas.
Pushing back, a spokesperson for Paramount Skydance said the merged entity plans to release 30 films annually in theatres, while continuing to operate both studios separately. The company added that the deal would expand opportunities for creators and strengthen competition by backing more projects globally.
However, exhibitors remain unconvinced. Drawing parallels with The Walt Disney Company’s 2019 acquisition of Fox, O’Leary noted a drop in wide theatrical releases post-merger, reinforcing concerns that consolidation often leads to fewer films.
“Unfortunately, history shows us that consolidation results in fewer films being produced for movie theaters,” O’Leary said.
Beyond output, Cinema United also flagged concerns around theatrical windows, warning that a combined Paramount-Warner entity could exert greater control over how long films remain exclusively in cinemas before shifting to other platforms.
With the debate set to intensify, the clash highlights a familiar tension in Hollywood: scale versus diversity. For theatre owners, the stakes are clear, as they push to ensure that bigger does not mean fewer stories on the big screen.
