This week, Disney Entertainment is undergoing a major restructuring to make the business more profitable, and as part of a larger cost-cutting exercise to save over $5 billion, Disney is going to be making over 7000 job cuts this year, with the first wave hitting last month and the biggest wave starting today, with a further wave of job cuts to come later this summer.

And the first day of changes is already impacting the television studios with ABC and Freeform senior programming staff leaving including Freeform’s Alix Lee, who is the director of development and programming and Freeform’s SVP development Julie Jarmon.   These duties will now be consolidated under Jamila Hunter, EVP of original programming and development.

Deadline has also revealed that Stacey Adams, ABC’s SVP, Current Programming, is departing and will be taken over by the Head of drama, Brianna Bennett.  It was also revealed that ABC Signature’s manager of drama development Gabrielle Gold, will also be leaving the company.

Disney is also consolidating 20th Television and ABC Signature Studios music departments, to come under 20th TV’s EVP and head of music, Jeremy Summers.  This merger means that Dawn Solér, SVP music for ABC Signature, will be leaving after working for over 16 years at the studio.

With this only being the first day of cuts, expect to hear more on this throughout the week as Disney consolidates further, especially within its general entertainment division.

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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