Official: Nina Jacobson Fired at Disney

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musicradio77
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Official: Nina Jacobson Fired at Disney

Post by musicradio77 »

Here is a sad news taken from "All Headline News" website:

Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group President Fired

Matthew Borghese - All Headline News Staff Writer

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group President Nina Jacobson has been fired, amid a corporate restructuring.

The movie studio is looking to axe 650 employees in an effort to trim $90 to $100 million from its annual bottom line.

The shocking news came on a phone call between Johnson, 40, and studio Chairman Dick Cook, while Johnson was in the hospital with her partner, who was delivering the couple's third child.

Cook will replace Johnson with Oren Aviv, the studio's marketing chief.

Johnson now tells the Los Angeles Times, "I would rather start fresh with something new. I feel very sad to be leaving a job that I have loved."

According to the paper, the studio will consolidate its domestic and international theatrical and home entertainment marketing and distribution operations under two executives. Mark Zoradi, who was head of Disney's international operation, will oversee the distribution and marketing of Disney and Touchstone movies worldwide. Robert Chapek will head the studio's new global home entertainment division.
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Luke
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Post by Luke »

<i>Pirates 2</i> crosses the $300 million mark, <i>Lady in the Water</i> turns out not living up to the big budget M. Night wanted (and left for), and the woman behind it all gets canned.

Eh, that's Hollywood.

[/Richard Gere]

I'm sure she'll be okay enough money-wise to support her newborn "daughter."
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Post by 2099net »

Luke wrote:<i>Pirates 2</i> crosses the $300 million mark, <i>Lady in the Water</i> turns out not living up to the big budget M. Night wanted (and left for), and the woman behind it all gets canned.

Eh, that's Hollywood.

[/Richard Gere]
But on the bright side, everyone hated Chicken Little :D
I'm sure she'll be okay enough money-wise to support her newborn "daughter."
Why the quote marks around daughter? am I missing something?
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Post by Mr. Toad »

I believe Luke is making a social commentary on the appropriateness of her relationship. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

That is among the worst firing stories I have ever heard.
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Post by Luke »

Not social commentary, really; I only put it in quotes because she didn't actually deliver the baby.
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Post by 2099net »

[Rereads MusicRadio's post, with due dilligence.]

*Click*

A-ha! It all fits into place now.
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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

Luke wrote:<i>Pirates 2</i> crosses the $300 million mark, <i>Lady in the Water</i> turns out not living up to the big budget M. Night wanted (and left for), and the woman behind it all gets canned.

Eh, that's Hollywood.
How is she responsible for Pirates 2 and Lady in the Water?
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Post by Mr. Toad »

Well I did not deliver my daughter or son but they are still mine. At least thats what my wife tells me. Son looks a little too much like the cable buy though :D
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Post by Jake Lipson »

Mr. Toad wrote:Well I did not deliver my daughter or son but they are still mine.
Yes, but you had genetic involvement in the creation of the kid. I'm just going to come out and say it - Nina Jacobson is a lesbian, and the other woman in the relationship is the one who actulally had the kid. Big deal. Not.

Anyway, she was responsible for Pirates because, as president of production, she was the one who greenlit it. She is responsible for turning away Lady in the Water because when it was set up at Disney, she asked for script rewrites that M. Night wouldn't do, and so he jumped ship to Warner Bros.
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Post by TM2-Megatron »

What an awful time to tell somebody they're fired.
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Post by musicradio77 »

There is another article came out this week from the New York Times about the 650 people were laid off at Disney:

Disney Studio to Be Revamped, With 650 Jobs Cut

Laura M. Holson

The Walt Disney Company announced a major revamping of its movie studio on Tuesday, cutting 650 jobs worldwide and replacing some crucial executives.

Nina Jacobson, who has been head of live-action production at Walt Disney Studios, including last year’s hit “The Chronicles of Narnia,” will leave immediately, the company said. Her departure was not unexpected by many in Hollywood, although its timing was a surprise; many here said she would stay for several months because she had recently renegotiated her contract.

Ms. Jacobson’s successor at the studio will be Oren Aviv, who has been overseeing Disney’s domestic marketing. Mr. Aviv joined Disney in 1991 and had recently sought to expand his influence at the studio. He was an executive producer for two feature films, “Rocket Man” in 1997 and the blockbuster “National Treasure” in 2004, a story idea he came up with.

“He’s well suited to the job,” Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, said of Mr. Aviv. “He’s got a great sense of marketing and how to sell something.”

Mr. Cook declined to comment on Ms. Jacobson’s departure. But people apprised of the studio’s plans said Mr. Aviv did not want to share responsibility with Ms. Jacobson.

“The studio is undergoing a major reorganization, and there simply isn’t room for everyone in the new structure,” Ms. Jacobson said in a statement. “I’m sorry to go, but I am proud of what I’ve left behind — a vibrant movie studio with major franchises and thriving relationships with some of the most talented filmmakers in the world.”

As part of the corporate revamping, Disney will limit the number of movies it makes to about 12 or 13 a year, from as many as 20 in previous years. The reduction would include both live-action and animated films. The studio employs more than 2,000 people worldwide.

Disney will also focus on making more family films with the Walt Disney Pictures brand, which it hopes to market around the world. In turn, it will release two to three films a year from its Touchstone Pictures unit, which has had a series of disappointments like “The Alamo,” “The Ladykillers” and “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.” Ms. Jacobson was often an advocate for such movies.

The studio revamping had been expected and comes on the heels of the highly successful release of the blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which has already brought in $266 million at domestic box offices.

The last two years have proved disappointing in business terms for Disney despite the success of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which remained in top place at the box office last weekend. Last year, Disney fell to No. 5 in its domestic share, bringing in $962 million. In 2003, it was No. 1, with $1.5 billion in ticket sales.

Disney had considered announcing the job cuts in May, but held off until after the release of “Pirates” and the animated “Cars,” created by Pixar Animation Studios, which the company recently acquired.

It has also decided to revamp several business units, particularly marketing and distribution, which will be consolidated worldwide.

Another of its longtime employees, Mark Zoradi, has been appointed president of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Group and will oversee the distribution and marketing of Disney films worldwide. Robert Chapek, who joined Disney in 1993, will oversee the worldwide home-video business.

“We don’t look at this as a domestic business or international business, but a worldwide business,” Mr. Cook said.

He added that half of the 650 jobs to be eliminated were expected to come from international operations and the other half from domestic operations. While cuts will be made in all divisions, most will be in theatrical distribution and home video.
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Post by Isidour »

ok...Disney is making lots of money with Pirates of The Caribbean 2 and I suppose it will with Lady in the water,but they are taking a "penny-saver" (..scratcher...or however the phrase is) it makes think isn´t?

I´m sorry for asking this,because I supose it has been posted somewhere here or in another thread,but how did the last Disney´s hits? I mean DVDs like Chicken Little, Bambi 2, the Princesses line...because only if this weren´t as succesfull as it was planned it would be an explanation for it
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Post by Kram Nebuer »

Is it Nina Jacobson or Nina Johnson? Whoever it is though shouldn't have been fired. Instead, All Headline News should fire Matthew Borghese for his major typos!!!!!!!!
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