Layoffs have begun at The Walt Disney Company, and we are now seeing reports of which teams were heavily impacted, with some being eliminated.
Layoff Impacts
According to TheWrap, several teams in the marketing and branding segments of The Walt Disney Company have been eliminated. The whole home entertainment and electronic press kit (EPK) teams are gone. That includes both the executive director of global publicity and marketing communications, Chris Bess, who led home entertainment, and the director of creative content, Natalie Clunis
The outlet is also reporting that both senior vice president of global digital marketing Dustin Sandoval and director of digital marketing Mike Reeder have also been let go. Twenty staff members from the publicity departments have also been cut. Notable too was the letting go of Steve Nuchols, longtime vice president of creative print services, and vice president of brand digital marketing, Theresa Helmer.
TheWrap notes that Nuchols has overseen the print campaign for almost every Disney film in the last 25 years.
Marvel Impacted by Disney Layoffs
About 8% of the workforce at Marvel was also let go today at both Marvel Entertainment in New York and Marvel Studios in Burbank, according to Deadline. The layoffs are in most departments, including film, TV, comics, franchise, legal, finance, and more.
The visual development area is hit the hardest, with a small team being retained to oversee the hiring of artists on a project-by-project basis, with outside contractors going forward.
The layoffs occur as part of a wider workforce reduction at Disney, with 1,000 employees being laid off. In a memo sent to staff this morning, D’Amaro said that this decision is hard and is “not a reflection of their contributions, or of the overall strength of the company. Rather, they reflect our continual evaluation of how to more effectively manage our resources and reinvest in our businesses.”
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