Film Production
Sky acquires majority stake in Blast! Films
MUMBAI: Sky has taken a majority stake in Blast! Films, the independent production company responsible for hit series The Supervet, The Route Masters and 999: What’s Your Emergency?
Founded in 1994, Blast! Films is one of the UK’s longest established independent production companies and has produced award-winning films, including Hunger, Steve McQueen’s debut feature, The Channel 4 film of the opera The Death of Klinghoffer and the Bafta-winning drama Soundproof.
Blast! Films will continue to operate as a distinct company under the new ownership structure, producing programmes and films for a variety of broadcasters. Blast! Films founder and creative director Ed Coulthard and managing director Claire Bosworth will run the company with their current team.
Sky’s international distribution business, Sky Vision, will become Blast! Films’ distribution partner, and will represent new programmes and formats. Blast! Films’ existing agreements with other broadcasters and distributors will remain unchanged.
Coulthard said, “Sky really gets the Blast! Films DNA. As programme makers we are passionate about quality and this is a great fit for us as we continue to evolve the company. I’m really proud of the team we’ve built here and this deal allows us to continue to attract great talent, keep raising the bar and be ambitious about what we can achieve.”
Sky Vision managing director Jane Millichip added, “Blast! Films has an incredible pedigree. Ed Coulthard is a first-class producer, and together with Claire Bosworth and team, they have a production slate that combines creative excellence with real commercial appeal. We look forward to working with them to build on their success in the UK and internationally.”
Sky has stakes in several independent production companies including Jupiter Entertainment, Love Productions, and Znak & Jones, all of which partner with Sky Vision on domestic and international distribution.
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.
