Friday, December 6, 2024

Disney Takes over Fox, Four Thousand Or More Expected Be Laid Off, Starting with Top Echelon: “LA Can’t Absorb That Many People” Says Industry Insider

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This week the Disney purchase of 20th Century Fox has been completed. Today Disney began laying off over 4,000 people who are considered “overlap.”

Fox, as we knew it, is dead. Very little will survive in the Disney empire except maybe Fox Searchlight, since Disney has not been able to make regular non animated or CGI movies with people in them. If they want comedies and dramas of lasting impact, they will keep Fox Searchlight.

But everyone else at Fox is up for grabs. It’s a shame because there are so many talented people there. Fox has great relationships with the press, too,

Already Fox Domestic Distribution President Chris Aronson is out, and he was responsible for the success of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” So that should tell us a lot about what will happen.

One industry insider said to me last night: “LA (the biz) cannot absorb that many people out of work.” True enough. And if I get a red state comment that the people deserve it– which is what I do get on Twitter– I’d like to remind them that’s a lot better to be out of work in Los Angeles than in the Rust Belt.

Stay tuned. Meantime, Paul Ryan, who suffers from spinal absence, has been named to the board of Rupert Murdoch’s new Fox company. And Donna Brazile, who was once a human being, will be a Fox News commentator.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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