NY Times: Bob Iger Effectively Back As CEO

[WondersOfLife]

I get the argument for the theatre experience and a night out. But with 75" and bigger TV's becoming more common the pressure has to be seriously mounting on the theatre chains.

My parent's touring children's theatre production company, The Baillie Players, is gonna die if we lose our business this coming school year... Literally everything I went to college for (Graduating this semester), and everything I worked for, will completely disappear if this thing doesn't go away. And I won't know what the heck I'm gonna do if my family's company tanks.

Screw 2020.

 

[lazyboy97o]

That last sentence is not true, but I see you're steeped in this hatred of him, for whatever odd and loose reasoning, so I'll agree to disagree with you on this one. But hey, you'll soon have the Bob you've always have been dreaming of in office soon

How is it not true? Was Tom Staggs not kept on as CFO, moved to the parks, promoted to COO and groomed to be CEO? Was Jay Rasulo not chosen over Matt Ouimet and not promoted to CFO? When was Michael Colglaxier let go? He didn’t put Kevin Mayer in charge of what was supposed to be his last big hurrah, Disney+?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

I don't think that acquisition would make it through the antitrust review.

Fair enough. I just thought since they have a large catalog that they bring movies back to the big screen. I love seeing Star Wars and the John Williams music on the big screen.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It’s unlikely Disney would be interested. Currently the acquisition would be illegal. However if this administration gets its way studio ownership of theaters could be permissible.

Studios owning theaters is not illegal, divestiture of their theaters was just the most expedient means of accomplishing the desired outcome. Paramount itself is owned by a theater chain.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

So, do you think the next CEO, if Chapek is terminated, will be from the outside? No one really jumps out.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Movie studios aren't allowed to own movie theaters.

I didn’t know the antitrust laws.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Studios owning theaters is not illegal, divestiture of their theaters was just the most expedient means of accomplishing the desired outcome. Paramount itself is owned by a theater chain.

A studio can’t own a theater chain, BUT a theater chain can own a studio!

 

[Rteetz]

So, do you think the next CEO, if Chapek is terminated, will be from the outside? No one really jumps out.

Kevin Mayer would be the only internal option that comes to my mind. I don't see Chapek getting fired yet though.

 

[UNCgolf]

It’s unlikely Disney would be interested. Currently the acquisition would be illegal. However if this administration gets its way studio ownership of theaters could be permissible.

I think that's unlikely. The DOJ is attempting terminate the Paramount Decrees, but with the current situation, there's a decent chance that won't be dealt with this year even at the lowest level. If there's a different President next year, I imagine the new DOJ would withdraw that motion.

Beyond that, it's going to be fought by theater owners and could easily end up going all the way to the Supreme Court. There's already strong Supreme Court precedent that a movie theater owning studios is a violation of antitrust laws -- that doesn't mean they wouldn't overturn the decision; I just think don't think it will ever get to that point if there's an administration change.

 

[Lilofan]

Kevin Mayer would be the only internal option that comes to my mind. I don't see Chapek getting fired yet though.

When execs get passed over to be a CEO of the company they work for, they resign usually in protest ( aka Staggs, Rasulo ) and go to another company or just leave. Both Rasulo and Staggs haven't worked in several years but they are probably living off the golden parachute Disney gave them when both left. At this point, Kevin Mayer is surely looking to get out or another company is going to take him. It's interesting that Mayer was an exec for Playboy but doesn't openly advertise that. Sure those bunny parties at Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion was legendary.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Kevin Mayer would be the only internal option that comes to my mind. I don't see Chapek getting fired yet though.

I could see Ted Sarandos being an external candidate.

 

[deWild]

They already did buy one. Coincidentally, it was the one that published Star Wars games. They just chose to shut it down because they weren't interested in making video games.

I’m not sure if anyone’s played the newer Battlefront games, but the sheer scale of the games and the intricate details on the visuals is phenomenal. Highly recommended for a quick play or watch a video on YouTube if you haven’t seen it yet.

 

[celluloid]

The fact that the series about the giant team of professionals that have devoted so much to do everything for the parks ended with him saying "I did it" tells you all you need to know about his leadership.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

And who was the COO of that mess?

Under Eisner. When Eisner went, so did most of the mess.

Again, I don't like a lot of what has happened under Iger, particularly in the parks. When I see people get nostalgic about Eisner, I can only imagine that they have to forget almost the entire last half of his tenure. People complain about the recent emphasis on immersion in the parks, but I much prefer that to the post-theming era during Eisner's final years.

 

[marni1971]

I'll give this to Iger, he's always been someone who's positioned himself to be ahead of the curve and thinking about the future.

Especially earlier this year.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Under Eisner. When Eisner went, so did most of the mess.

Again, I don't like a lot of what has happened under Iger, particularly in the parks. When I see people get nostalgic about Eisner, I can only imagine that they have to forget almost the entire last half of his tenure. People complain about the recent emphasis on immersion in the parks, but I much prefer that to the post-theming era during Eisner's final years.

It has nothing to do with being nostalgic or forgetting. Iger was part of that mess and for the last five years was charged with making it happen.

 

[monothingie]

Especially earlier this year.

And even more so if he decided to take advantage of the incredibly discounted share price of his company.

 

[AugieMorosco]

Currently yes. However this administration has already indicated they intend to change that.

Would be quite a jump to go from studios not being able to own theaters to the biggest studio owning the biggest theater chain. If that came to be, the entire theater industry would be turned upside down. Every theater chain would be purchased by a studio.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The company was on the verge of collapse when Eisner / Wells / Katzenberg arrived. They inherited a mess.

A bit of revisionist history post-Eisner to promote the new leadership and make them look like saviors, instead of acknowledging that some of the ideas Ron Miller had towards the end of his tenure were actually good.

Feature Animation is a great example of this. The Black Cauldron flopped, but was the only one to do so post-Walt. The Fox and the Hound was one of the top 15 grossing films of 1981. They would not have continued to make them had they not made money. It was Eisner/Katzenberg who kicked the animators off the main lot until the mid-90s.

The Live-action bread and butter studio business was stagnant, but that's why Touchstone was invented and they were lucky to have a hit from the start (released before Eisner took control).

 

[marni1971]

A bit of revisionist history post-Eisner to promote the new leadership and make them look like saviors, instead of acknowledging that some of the ideas Ron Miller had towards the end of his tenure were actually good.

Ron Miller didn’t have much say in it. Ask Steinberg.