Josh D'Amaro named next Disney CEO

This seems like an obvious choice, and I'm not sure why it took so long. Dana Walden is promoted to Chief Creative Officer as well, which I think helps with the "spiritual" center of their IP. Lucasfilm recently named Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan as co-presidents too, which makes sense since Filoni has been the heart of Star Wars for a long time. It feels like they have all of the right people in place, though I wouldn't want to have to navigate linear TV's future or the streaming-versus-broadcast problem.

It's a hard nut to crack, for sure. Making it even harder: live sporting events are pretty much the last thing anyone has to watch in real time. Meaning: the last thing that is more or less guaranteed to get ad revenue. And if I am reading this all correctly, rights fees are increasing faster than ad/broadcast revenue. Something is going to have to give there, eventually.

Also, it feels like Pixar has been slumping as of late. No huge original hits in awhile

i guess that’s why they keep digging up Toy Story.

I think strong leadership, creativity, and curiosity can overcome some of the "shortcomings" D'Amaro might have with certain segments of the business. And, if D'Amaro is good at identifying talent and surrounding himself with it, that will work in his favor as well.

Honestly, very few people have the breadth of experience needed to just slide into a role like this. If D'Amaro is as committed to the values of the company as I think he is, I am optimistic.

Re: Pixar. They don't need to be original. They just need to be hits.

I think Pixar's Hoppers is going to be very successful. It's an original idea and looks really funny. We'll see.

Huh. I had NO IDEA that was coming out next month, and I thought was relatively plugged in to the Disneyana world.

I find it interesting because first full parks guy as CEO, (Chapek came from consumer products and studio planning before he was placed atop parks as possible successor to Iger first time around). Walden also gets President title along with Chief Creative. Obviously he will be able to call Iger if anything major blows up. Hes obviously responsible for all the expansions all being built now, (and finally getting DiselandFoward through Anahiem) and at a rate we have not seen Disney build in ages, but was also semi responsible for the half ass version of the Epcot revamp we actually got. Im curious who will get promoted to new Experiences President.

LostKause:

Pixar's Hoppers

Saw a trailer before seeing Zootopia. Looks fun although the trailer (in Spanish) was pretty confusing.

And having seen Zootopia, I don't understand the difference between "Walt Disney Studios" and "Pixar," other than they are two divisions of a company probably competing for attention and marketing budgets. I'm sure there's some distinction but it's lost on me.

I'm not sure what the differences are now that both entities exist under Disney. But there was (and maybe still is, I haven't really kept up with animated movies since my kids are older) a distinct difference before Pixar was acquired. Pixar films were a cut above in just about everything: art, storytelling, character development. I assumed that many of the same people that made up Pixar were retained after the acquisition and that's why they presumably are still better quality. But I could be completely wrong.

I also seem to recall that animated films under Disney after the acquisition weren't associated with the Pixar moniker for a period of time...and then that changed at some point. Again, I may be way off base here.

As he always does, Matt Ouimet has some incredibly insightful commentary about this on his LinkedIn page....which, has evolved into a free master's level class on management and leadership over the past couple of years.

Along the way there will be decisions that aren’t widely popular and there will be paths taken that need to be reversed.

Not exactly his best take.

How so? It's absolutely true.

I just don't think it's any great insight. Who needs to be told this?

Disney fanatics probably do.

eightdotthree:

I just don't think it's any great insight. Who needs to be told this?

I think that applies to more of what he says than the line you quoted.

Many Disney fanatics likely will never read the statement. And those who do won't remember it. First time Disney does something they don't like or there is a change in course, many fanboys will be complaining.

I see he wrote more earlier the same day.

At the current scale of the company with the challenges noted, expecting significant growth to drive the stock price higher is a fairy tale.

...

Why is growth the ultimate measure of success? Isn’t enough to keep a great brand, great.

With Josh in charge I am looking forward to watching more great movies, visiting the parks more and cancelling my Wall Street Journal subscription.

Disney is in good hands.

Emphasis mine. I wish it was enough.

I've been annoyed with the focus on growth over durability for decades, since the first public company that I worked for. There's no value in a company that ceases to exist.

hambone:

I don't understand the difference between "Walt Disney Studios" and "Pixar,"

Walt Disney Animation Studios still has hand drawn animations, while Pixar has always been computer based. That is not to say Disney hasn't tried computer animations in recent years, but they still primarily hand draw the majority of their cartoons. The type of storytelling is pretty different too between the different companies.