Film Production
Asianet’s first in-house production soap to air on 10 January
MUMBAI: Malayalam language channel Asianet is getting into in-house production of serials, joining a trend already started by ETV Networks in the South.
“The initiative is meant to develop Asianet’s in-house production centre as an effective resource for producing soaps. If it works, we will do more fiction based programmes and telefilms inhouse,” says Asianet vice president programming Sreekantan Nair.
For the comedy serial Santhanagopalam, Asianet is using its own production team. The script is written by Nair himself. Only the director and the star cast have been outsourced. The show is placed in the 9:30 pm slot (Monday to Friday) and will launch on 10 January.
Asianet wants to assess the quality and production value with this venture. “This is an experimental venture. Since we had the necessary resources, we took up this project. We want this show to compete with the outsourced serials,” says Nair.
Speaking on the advantages of having a soap as in-house production, Nair offers, “This will help us to keep everything under control. We can change the script and the product and can even wind up the show if required.”
Asianet, however, will continue to commission private producers for most of its shows. “We haven’t planned any more in-house projects yet. We will see how this turns out. But outside production houses will continue to supply content on our channel,” says Nair.
In the southern region, ETV has been using its internal team to produce fictional programmes . The majority of the soaps aired on ETV Telugu, for instance, are produced in-house.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
