Disney Studios Promotes Alan Bergman to Chairman, Alan Horn Shuffled to Chief Creative Officer
Disney Studios has promoted Alan Bergman to Chairman, Disney Studios Content, the company announced Monday. Alan Horn will remain as Chief Creative Officer. Both will report to Disney CEO Bob Chapek.
The duo previously served as co-chairmen since May 2019.
“The Walt Disney Studios’ achievements under the leadership of Alan Horn and Alan Bergman have been nothing short of extraordinary. Having worked closely for years with Alan Bergman, an exceptional leader and proven executive, I couldn’t be more pleased to name him as Chairman,” Chapek said in a statement to TheWrap. “And we are incredibly fortunate to have Alan Horn continue as the Studios’ Chief Creative Officer. Our studios are unmatched in their ability to create incredible cinematic experiences, and with this new structure, we are ensuring a vital continuity of leadership.”
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As chairman, Bergman will oversee creative, production, marketing and operations for Disney Studios Content, which encompasses Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures and Blue Sky Studios, as well as Disney Theatrical Productions.
As chief creative officer, Horn will focus on the creative aspects of the studios’ content pipeline, working in partnership with Bergman.
“I am grateful to take on the role of Chairman of the Studios as I believe deeply in our people, culture and the work we do,” Bergman added. “I am also thankful to Bob Iger and Alan Horn for their leadership and the trust they’ve placed in me over the years and to Bob Chapek for his continued support, especially during this challenging year.”
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As president of Disney Studios since 2005, Bergman has played a significant role in helping lead the studio’s integrations of Pixar Animation Studios and Marvel Studios. He and Horn are currently leading the integration of the Fox film labels under the Disney umbrella. Bergman joined Disney in 1996 and held executive roles in Disney’s controllership and operations planning groups before being named CFO in 2001.
“It has been an honor to lead The Walt Disney Studios over the past eight-plus years, and I’m so grateful not only to Bob Iger for making it possible in the first place but to the Studios team, whom I find endlessly inspiring — I hope they are all as proud of what we’ve been able to do together as I am,” Horn said. “It has been an amazing run, and the time feels right to shift my focus solely to our enormous creative slate. As for our new Studios Chairman, Alan Bergman has been at my side since day one; he has been the best partner imaginable, and the team could be in no better hands.”
Horn has served as chairman of Disney since 2012, presiding over an unprecedented time of growth at the studio. Horn is a longtime industry veteran, having served as chairman and CEO of Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio’s Embassy Communications and later co-founding Castle Rock Entertainment.
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Prior to joining Disney, Horn helped usher in the modern blockbuster era as president and chief operating officer at Warner Bros., which led all other studios in global box office for seven years during his 12-year tenure.
Under Horn and Bergman’s leadership, Disney became the first and only studio to cross the $7 billion mark at the global box office — first in 2016 reaching $7.6 billion and again in 2018 with $7.3 billion. Disney also set an industry record of $3.1 billion domestically in 2018. Together, Horn and Bergman have overseen the release of 15 billion-dollar films, including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” both of which have surpassed $2 billion.
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