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Disney has laid off fewer than 20 employees at the Disney Digital Network, the unit in Glendale that includes Maker Studios.
While it doesnt affect a large number of workers, the move is the latest of several job reductions tied to reorganizations ahead of Disneys acquisition of most of 21st Century Fox. The Digital Network is now part of the companys Direct to Consumer and International segment, whose formation was announced in March. DTCI is shepherding the development of high-profile projects such as the Disney-branded entertainment streaming service, which is slated to launch at the end of 2019.
A source familiar with the details of the reduction said it was related to the creation of DTCI and the moves that resulted.
The Glendale campus houses many of Disney digital operations. In September, the Burbank-based entertainment giant handed out pink slips to some employees in its Consumer Products and Interactive Media group. The unit, which posted declining income and revenues in its June quarter, laid off fewer than 50 people, the threshold that would require a formal disclosure under federal law.
In June, Disney shuttered its Glendale-based DisneyToon Studios, which is best known for producing such home entertainment franchises as Disney Fairies and for the Planes movies. About 75 animators and staff lost their jobs.
The company is bracing for even wider layoffs after the Fox deal is completed. Deadline has previously reported Disney plans to cut $2.6 billion in post-acquisition costs by laying off at least 5,000 people — 2,300 on the Fox side and 1,700 on the Disney side — in TV and film combined.
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