Searchlight Pictures Marketing EVP is Leaving After 20 Years
Another executive is leaving Disney.
The dominoes continue to fall at The Walt Disney Company. Between layoffs, departures, and new hiring, a lot is changing at Disney, and that includes some longtime executives departing the organization. Searchlight Pictures EVP for Marketing is the latest departure to be revealed.
What's Happening:
- Deadline reports that Michelle Hooper, Executive Vice President of Marketing for Searchlight Pictures, has left the company.
- Hooper joined the company in 2006, when it was Fox Searchlight. She remained with the studio following Disney's acquisition of Fox in 2019.
- The marketing lead is credited with publicity campaigns that led to 21 Best Picture Oscar nominations, including winners like The Shape of Water and Nomadland.
- Hooper's departure doesn't appear to have been her decision. Deadline reports that she was part of the most recent round of layoffs to hit Disney.
- Hooper's departure is just the latest change at an executive level. Disney TV's head of communications recently left to take a position at Netflix.
- Disney has also been offering early retirement packages to some executives as a way of trimming staff.
- We have seen multiple rounds of layoffs since Josh D'Amaro took over as Disney CEO. At least one more significant layoff, centered on a reorganized television division, has been rumored.
More Disney Business News:
- While many have been leaving Disney, the company has been hiring and promoting people as well.
- Disney hired its first CTO, the former CEO of Character.AI, and has brought in more than 60 members of the company as well.
- Disney recently promoted Jason Recher to SVP of Digital Marketing.
- Disney also has a new President in Asia following a retirement.