In early June this year, Disney (Walt Disney) fired Peter Rice, the company’s senior television content director and chairman of comprehensive entertainment content, and Dana Walden, who also entered Disney from Fox, will Taking over from Rice. According to sources, the reason for Rice's dismissal was "not consistent with Disney's corporate culture." The sudden announcement of the dismissal surprised Rice himself, but considering that Bob Chapek had repeatedly fired Disney executives before, the industry was not particularly surprised by this decision.
Dana Walden and Peter Rice both served as management of 21st Century Fox three years ago and entered Disney's senior management after the merger. Since then, Walden has overseen Disney Television Studios and has delivered a number of outstanding projects, including ABC's "Abbott Elementary" and Hulu's original series "Murder in the Apartment Building." Only Murders in the Building, Dopesick and The Dropout.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek described the "successor" in an open letter to employees: "Dana is a dynamic and collaborative leader who only It took three years to build a strong content matrix for our television industry and continuously launch entertainment works that the audience expects. In addition, Dana is also one of the experienced and respected leaders in the industry, with her vision for creative talents. Unique and developing programs that are in line with cultural hot spots, it has brought Disney one hit work after another that has received widespread attention. "
Obviously, Chapek saw in Dana Walden not only talent, but also the leadership of a giant. The collaborative instinct of a creative team. Walden currently takes over Disney General Entertainment Content, which is responsible for the content of multiple key brands such as ABC channel, Disney TV series studio, Freeform, FX and National Geographic; it also includes ABC News and streaming media such as Hulu Content production for the channel. Given the dearth of female executives in the industry, the promotion is significant both for Walden personally and for the industry as a whole.
Of course, some people say that Peter Rice was fired this time mainly because he posed a potential threat to Chapek’s CEO position-Rice was once a senior executive of 21st Century Fox and worked with Rupert One of the elites in the industry who grew up with the entertainment empire created by Murdoch; Chapek experienced several ups and downs before and after taking over Disney, and there were once rumors that Peter Rice would replace him.
In March this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the Parental Rights in Education Act, which triggered a strong response from all walks of life. Disney also protested the bill. At the end of April, the governor again signed a bill officially stripping Disney of the privileged "autonomous" status it has enjoyed for more than half a century.
Disney's so-called "autonomous" privileges began with Florida a tax district specially established in 1967 to attract Disney to "land", and the Disney Resort was established here. Under this privilege, Disney has nearly total control over its theme parks and other attractions, and can even set its own tax rules.
In addition to being withdrawn from its "autonomy", Disney, like other film and television media companies in the United States, has been negatively affected by the economic situation; at the same time, as competition in the streaming media industry becomes increasingly fierce, Disney's high hopes for the Disney+ service are also facing tremendous pressure ——Disney+, which was launched at the end of 2019, recently reached 137.7 million users, but many analysts predict that as the growth rate of streaming media services slows down, Disney has previously set a target for Disney+ to absorb 230 million users in 2024. The goal may not be easy to achieve.
Many people in the industry suspect that Chapek may lose his position due to multiple factors. However, Disney Board Chairman Susan Arnold recently issued a statement showing her support for Chapek.In this statement, Arnold said, "In the period from the outbreak of the new coronavirus to now, Disney's current main business, whether it is theme parks or streaming media, has not only withstood the impact, but also continued to operate strongly. This It has undoubtedly proven Bob's leadership ability and the company's promising future. Today, the company is in a period of growth and transformation. Disney will continue its current successful path, and the board of directors fully supports Bob and his leadership team."
Since Bob Chapek officially took over from former CEO Bob Iger in 2020, he has carried out a series of drastic structural reorganizations to manage content and distribution separately, causing confusion within the company. It caused quite a stir.
Obviously, since joining Disney, what Chapek wanted was a clearer and simpler management structure. The most critical of these moves is his decision to divest the power of content distribution, including traditional channels and streaming platforms, to Kareem Daniel, who will head a company called Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. A new division of Disney Media Entertainment Distribution. In addition, Karim Daniel also holds the financial power of the company. Previously, it was the digital content department executives including Peter Rice who were in charge of finance. This move can be described as "taking food from the tiger's mouth." Chapek, who is known for his decisive "businessman" style, is also determined to reorganize Disney's executive structure.
Please send your submissions to the email address:
