Buhaj, Martino out as Disney job cuts reach unscripted, ESPN and animation
Disney’s second round of jobs cuts continued on Tuesday with the departure of several execs from its unscripted operation, ESPN and animation, among other departments.
Marc Buhaj, Disney Branded Television’s VP of unscripted and non-fiction, and Alicia Martino, Walt Disney Television Alternative’s VP of alternative series, are both leaving the company.
Buhaj has been with Disney since 2007, serving in roles including senior VP of programming and general manager at pay TV channel Disney XD, while Martino joined Walt Disney Television Alternative less than a year ago.
With Buhaj’s departure, the remainder of the team will report to Disney Branded TV’s exec VP Charlie Andrews.
Russell Wolff, the general manager at sports streamer ESPN+, is also leaving later this year. He was a key architect of the launch of the US SVoD service in 2018. Before moving to ESPN+, Wolff was executive VP and MD of ESPN International, overseeing all aspects of ESPN’s international businesses.
In addition, Mike Soltys, who was ESPN’s VP of communications, is leaving the company after more than four decades.
On the animation side, Khaki Jones, the senior VP of current at Disney TV Animation, is exiting following the merger of the development and current teams.
Several marketing and PR positions have also been impacted, including: Trevor Kelley, senior VP of marketing, Disney+; Chris Bettes, VP, global marketing, Disney+; Patti McTeague, senior VP of publicity for Disney Branded Television; and Lisa Schreibfeder, director of communications and PR for Disney+.
Following the second round of lay-offs, which is taking place this week, Disney will have cut around 4,000 of the 7,000 jobs it plans to eliminate. The lay-offs are taking place as Disney looks to achieve around US$5.5bn in savings across the entire enterprise, with around US$3bn of that coming from non-sports-related content cuts. A third round of lay-offs will take place in early summer.
Earlier in the week, several execs at ABC and Freeform left the company, including Freeform’s senior VP of development Julie Jarmon and director of development and programming Alix Lee.
