Fox Executives Emma Watts, Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula to Join Disney Studio After Merger

The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday announced that Emma Watts, as well as several other Fox film executives, will make the move to Disney’s studio entertainment management team after the company’s deal to acquire a majority of Fox assets closes.

“We’re pleased that these talented executives will be joining our incredible team of studio leaders once the acquisition of 21st Century Fox is completed,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “Under Alan Horn’s leadership, Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm have reached unprecedented levels of creative and box-office success, and adding Fox’s impressive film brands and franchises to our studio will allow us to create even more appealing high-quality entertainment to delight audiences.”

Watts will report directly to Disney studio head Alan Horn and will serve as vice chairman for Twentieth Century Fox Film and president of production at Fox. Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula will stay on as co-chairmen for Fox Searchlight and will also report directly to Horn, along with Elizabeth Gabler, who will serve as president of production at Fox 2000.

Also Read: Peter Rice, Dana Walden to Lead Disney-ABC's TV Networks and Studio After Fox Deal Closes

Disney laid out the executive landscape for its TV arm last week. The looming question had been what the crowded executive structure in film would look like. Though the studio announced who from Fox would join the new company, exactly how Disney would incorporate the Fox studio and its different banners was not made clear.

It’s also worth noting that as expected, current Fox film CEO Stacey Snider will not be joining the new company post-merger. What’s next on her plate is still unknown.

“The addition of these respected film groups under the umbrella of The Walt Disney Studios will create endless possibilities as we continue to deliver first-rate motion pictures to audiences around the world,” said Horn in a statement. “This is an experienced group of executives, and Alan Bergman and I look forward to welcoming them to our leadership ranks upon completion of the acquisition.”

Also Read: 'The Mandalorian': Taika Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa Among Directors for 'Star Wars' TV Show

Disney and Fox shareholders voted in July to approve the Mouse House’s $71.3 billion bid to buy the lion’s share of Fox’s entertainment assets. The deal is expected to close in early 2019, at which point the executive changes Disney laid out will take effect. Executives and rank and file employees at Fox have been in a state of uncertainty about their futures since the two companies agreed to the deal.

Fox and Disney had originally agreed on a $54.2 billion all-stock deal before Comcast proposed a $65 billion bid, forcing Disney to sweeten the pot. Comcast eventually dropped out of the running.

Here’s the list of executives reporting to Horn and Watts:

Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird, co-presidents, Fox Animation
Vanessa Morrison, president, Fox Family

The executives join Horn’s existing leadership team that includes:

Alan Bergman, president, The Walt Disney Studios
Sean Bailey, president, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production
Ed Catmull, president, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Pete Docter, chief creative officer, Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Feige, president, Marvel Studios
Louis D’Esposito, co-president, Marvel Studios
Kathleen Kennedy, president, Lucasfilm
Ken Bunt, president, Disney Music Group
Thomas Schumacher, president & producer, Disney Theatrical Group

14 Billion-Dollar Acquisitions Before AT&T-Time Warner (Photos)

Think $85 billion is a lot of cash? Take a tour through the lurid amounts of money dropped on American media and content machines over the years.
1999: Disney Buys ABC
The alliance is such a potent brand that it's hard to imagine them as solo entities, but the $19.5 billion sale gave the Disney company an iconic TV brand to call its own.
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1999: Clear Channel buys AMFM Inc
The radio giant paid $20.6 billion for its rival AMFM, their 830 radio stations, 425,000 billboards and 19 TV stations per Forbes.
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1999: Viacom Buys CBS
Fifteen years ago, the media giant acquired the TV network for $34.1 billion. While the companies would split in 2006, always remember -- history repeats itself.
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2000: Time Warner and AOL Merge
It's often referred to as one of the most disastrous mergers in history. The $186.2 billion price tag seemed visionary at the time, but quickly devolved into a corporate culture way... and the of the dot-com collapse.
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2006: Disney Buys Pixar
In the first of a series of key moves from Disney CEO Bob Iger -- ones that would ensure long-term health and eventually see the company take record-breaking market share -- Steve Jobs was convinced to entrust the animation studio to them for a reported $7.4 billion.
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2009: Disney Buys Marvel
Iger's $4 billion purchase of the comic book studio changed the industry, secured Robert Downey Jr. as the highest paid actor in Hollywood and made a new constellation of stars and film franchises.
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2012: Disney Buys Lucasfilm
Bob Iger's hat trick was completed with a major coup in landing the "Star Wars" universe for $4 billion, which resulted in the No. 3 all-time top grossing film, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
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2013: Comcast Buys Remaining Stake in NBC
After purchasing a majority stake in 2011 for $30 billion, Comcast paid another $16.7 billion to wholly own the TV brand, film studio Universal and its California and Florida theme parks.
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2013: Yahoo Buys Tumblr
It's a relatively small price for a media acquisition, but spend-happy Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer raised a lot of eyebrows by paying $1 billion for the blogging platform Tumblr.
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2014: Facebook Buys WhatApp
While this is a straight-up tech acquisition, it's interesting to note that Facebook paid a staggering $22 billion for the European-based WhatsApp, a mobile application that lets users text for free over WiFi, to bolster their own messaging app. The company has repeatedly said it doesn't care to acquire content engines, but this signals a strong urge to level competition if they ever change their minds.
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2015: Activision Blizzard Buys King Mobile
The video game company literally spent $5.9 billion on fun and games. Mobile game company King counts the most successful app of all time, Candy Crush, and legacy social games like Bubble Witch in its stable. Now Activision gets to develop properties like a just-sold CBS game show based on Candy Crush.
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2016: Comcast Buys Dreamworks
After years of trying to offload his baby, Jeffrey Katzenberg fetched $3.8 billion for DWA and its respective franchises, like "Kung Fu Panda."
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2015: Dalian Wanda Buys Legendary Entertainment
A production company fetching $3.5 billion in a sale was not just jaw-dropping, it was an airhorn that the Chinese invasion into Hollywood had begun. It's also currently the benchmark for what many call inflated valuation... but Wanda's pockets are as deep as their patience is long.
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2016: Verizon Buys Yahoo
In a major deal that’s yet to formally close, Verizon is ponying up $4.83 billion for Yahoo’s core business, which includes advertising, content, search and mobile division.
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