LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney Studios is expecting a big summer with the release of the highly anticipated animated film Cars and the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel.
But not all is well: Disney, as part of a long-term review, is contemplating layoffs, looking to rein in costs and rethinking the type of movies it wants to make at its live-action Disney Studios, according to people apprised of Disney's planning.
It is unclear how many positions will be cut and when. The studio has already pulled back from layoff plans twice. But now, some of those apprised of Disney's plans suggest layoffs could come in July.
Disney's review includes an overall repositioning of the Walt Disney Pictures brand as a home for PG-rated family fare and ambitious franchises, including the planned Pirates trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Already Disney has scaled back production in its Miramax division and is expected to cut back production at its sibling, Touchstone Pictures.
"They are going through a transition," said Frank Marshall, a producer who directed Disney's recent hit Eight Below. "They are scaling back and looking at different genres of stories to do."
Hollywood agents and producers have been expecting an overhaul since last fall when Disney's chief executive, Robert Iger, asked Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, to review the studio's production, home video, marketing and distribution divisions.
In 2005 Disney fell to No. 5 in domestic box-office market share, bringing in $962 million, down from No. 1 in 2003, when it led with $1.5 billion in domestic-ticket sales.
Some of the people apprised of Disney's plans, who requested anonymity because the review was continuing, estimated Disney could lay off 5 percent of the studio's staff, although that could climb to 10 percent. International distribution and home video are expected to be the hardest-hit divisions, they said.
Cook said in a recent stock-analyst meeting that Touchstone would release fewer movies: "We will be kind of picky on which ones we decide to make."
The Chronicles of Narnia from Walt Disney Pictures, which opened in December, was a hit that brought in $292 million at the domestic box office. It also gave the studio a much needed boost because it was one of the few bona fide blockbusters in recent years not produced by Pixar or Jerry Bruckheimer.
Whatever the changes, the studio is not expected to overhaul management.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-disney2806may28,0,1191462.story?track=rss
But not all is well: Disney, as part of a long-term review, is contemplating layoffs, looking to rein in costs and rethinking the type of movies it wants to make at its live-action Disney Studios, according to people apprised of Disney's planning.
It is unclear how many positions will be cut and when. The studio has already pulled back from layoff plans twice. But now, some of those apprised of Disney's plans suggest layoffs could come in July.
Disney's review includes an overall repositioning of the Walt Disney Pictures brand as a home for PG-rated family fare and ambitious franchises, including the planned Pirates trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Already Disney has scaled back production in its Miramax division and is expected to cut back production at its sibling, Touchstone Pictures.
"They are going through a transition," said Frank Marshall, a producer who directed Disney's recent hit Eight Below. "They are scaling back and looking at different genres of stories to do."
Hollywood agents and producers have been expecting an overhaul since last fall when Disney's chief executive, Robert Iger, asked Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, to review the studio's production, home video, marketing and distribution divisions.
In 2005 Disney fell to No. 5 in domestic box-office market share, bringing in $962 million, down from No. 1 in 2003, when it led with $1.5 billion in domestic-ticket sales.
Some of the people apprised of Disney's plans, who requested anonymity because the review was continuing, estimated Disney could lay off 5 percent of the studio's staff, although that could climb to 10 percent. International distribution and home video are expected to be the hardest-hit divisions, they said.
Cook said in a recent stock-analyst meeting that Touchstone would release fewer movies: "We will be kind of picky on which ones we decide to make."
The Chronicles of Narnia from Walt Disney Pictures, which opened in December, was a hit that brought in $292 million at the domestic box office. It also gave the studio a much needed boost because it was one of the few bona fide blockbusters in recent years not produced by Pixar or Jerry Bruckheimer.
Whatever the changes, the studio is not expected to overhaul management.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/custom/tourism/orl-disney2806may28,0,1191462.story?track=rss