Layoffs have hit Fox following the entertainment company’s sale to Disney.
The staff cuts are hitting employees at the SVP, EVP, and president level. Senior staff is expected to be among the first to be impacted. However, the cuts will be deep, with the ax falling hardest of Fox’s film team. There could be as many as 4,000 jobs cut in the merger, according to some reports. On the studio side, the first wave of job losses is relatively small and targeted.
Disney closed its $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox on Tuesday. It is buying 20th Century Fox, FX, NatGeo, and much of Hulu in a deal that is expected to reshape the entertainment landscape.
Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn and President Alan Bergman were on Fox’s Century City lot for meetings with executives this week. In a memo, Bergman and Horn said they would try to be as open as possible about the changes that will take place at the entertainment company and said they would soon be making announcements about the film division’s senior leadership structure.
“Day-to-day, our top priorities remain the same: to support the great content we’re creating and deliver a superb experience to our consumers, and to continue to build an inspiring, inclusive environment where employees can bring their best to work every day,” the two men wrote. Bergman and Horn also cautioned staffers to expect “quite a bit of change across our organizations.
Some of Fox’s film leadership will remain in place. Twentieth Century Fox Film vice chairman Emma Watts, Fox 2000 chief Elizabeth Gabler, and Fox Searchlight co-heads Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley are among those making the move to the Mouse House. Fox film chief Stacey Snider and domestic distribution head Chris Aronson are among those who will not make the transition.
