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SSN Studio Analysis Part Two: Disney’s Monster 2013 a Frozen Marvel
08 Apr 2014
By Neil Turitz....
What’s Still to Come
Aside from the documentary Bears, which hits theaters next week, there are two entries on next month’s schedule. The first is Million Dollar Arm, featuring Jon Hamm in his first starring role in a studio film; and the long-awaited Sleeping Beauty retelling, Maleficent, Angelina Jolie’s triumphant return to the big screen. The Million Dollar sports dramedy is a relatively low-budget affair, while Maleficent has a nine-figure budget but will be solid counterprogramming against Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West. Since there’s nothing else like Maleficent coming out this summer, it’s reasonable to expect it to perform well.
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SSN Studio Analysis Part Three: Disney Corporate is in Marvelous Hands
As previously pointed out, Disney owns Pixar, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm; produces live action films under the Disney label; documentaries with Disneynature; and animated fare with Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disneytoon. Though the methodology of how a movie moves forward at Disney is legendarily mysterious, we do know that no one has autonomy to green light their own picture. Everything is run up the flagpole, generally through Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, with Iger as final arbiter.
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That leaves Disney’s live action group.
President of production Sean Bailey is a writer and producer himself who
amassed a number of credits before joining Disney in 2010 to take over
development, film, and physical production from Oren Aviv. There have
been hiccups along the way (John Carter and The Lone Ranger, neither
of which were developed under Bailey’s watch), but Bailey’s developed a
strong slate that has hopes at the Mouse House high for this year and
beyond. Bailey works closely with Alan Bergman (the studio’s second in
command), president of Walt Disney Studios, which means distribution,
legal and business affairs, finance, technology, and operations all fall
under his auspices.
Studio chairman Alan Horn is obviously
integral to the whole operation. The esteemed veteran executive is
something of a ringmaster to this multi-ring circus, and has the full
trust of Iger to keep things running smoothly. Horn’s many years at
Warner Bros. comes in handy in his current role, and if there’s a list
somewhere of seasoned executives who could handle such enormous
responsibility with grace and aplomb, it would be exceedingly short,
with Horn’s name right at the top.
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Which means, for everyone else, the focus is making movies and servicing
the greater Disney Empire, which has billions tied to its theme parks,
restaurants, TV studios, production facilities, and so on. If you look
at the 2014 slate, no less than seven of the 10 movies to be released
are legitimate candidates for multi-platform content, be it sequels,
spinoff franchises, animated TV shows, or theme park rides. The
remaining three are either family fare or close to it. If that doesn’t
adhere to an overall brand, we’re not sure what would.
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Sean Bailey’s development team is a
little more conventional, since his department releases the greatest
number of titles. With no studio executive experience, Bailey got a lot
of knocks when he was first pegged for the job. But his stellar job as
producer on Tron: Legacy got the attention of then-studio chief
Rich Ross, who picked Bailey only days after his own hire. Under Bailey
are EVPs of production Kristin Burr and Sam Dickerman; EVP of physical
production Tony To; VPs of production Jocelyn Diaz and Tendo Nagenda;
directors of production Tonia Davis and Louie Provost; and head of the
story department Jessica Virtue. Longtime EVP Brigham Taylor will segue
into an exclusive producer deal this spring, starting with the Brad Bird
project Tomorrowland.
One constant over all the various
divisions is the exceedingly busy and versatile marketing team, led by
Prexy Ricky Strauss, who’s responsible for selling each and every title
that comes attached with the Disney banner. The same team that helped
make Frozen the highest grossing animated film ever, created the campaign that helped rocket Captain America: The Winter Soldier to its stellar opening weekend, and will also try to expand the audience for what some might call a tough sell, next month’s Million Dollar Arm.
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