It appears Mr. Eisner has once again shot himself in the foot.

[Fenris]

With the weekend box office numbers for Fahrenheit 911 in and those predicted for its total domestic and foreign box office numbers climbing, one has to wonder whether or not Eisner is once again fearing for his job at Disney. As it was the Disney Company that financed the film and apparently his decision to not distribute it after the right called "propaganda," he must be feeling quite the fool right now. According to Countdown, Eisner was seen leaving a screening of the film over the weekend, while rumors began flying about a possible shareholder's revolt. Compound this tremendous mistake and loss of possible profit with a disgruntled group of investors and Roy Disney's anti-Eisner faction of the Disney board, and the Chairman might have a major problem on his hands very soon.

Anyone care to speculate on the impact of Moore's film on Eisner's future at the company or perhaps how long he has as the corporate head before the ax falls?

[Don_G]

1. Nope

His ties with Jebthro will give him a few months of breathing room.

I won't make any predictions after that.

[benburch]

2. He lost Pixar... He lost MM...

I'd say three strikes and he's out. One more fuckup.

[DenverDem]

3. He'll just have to live on the tens of millions he has sucked

from the company while driving it into the dirt.

He should already have been lynched by shareholders for letting Pixar get away.
Anyone who is holding Disney stock now deserves to lose their ass, anyway.

[Deja Q]

6. Wouldn't that hurt the stockholders? They're not even the problem!

Disney, the corporation, like all big corporations, is the problem.

We need real reform. One that doesn't hurt the little guy in the process.

[DenverDem]

12. Won't what hurt the stockholders?

Investing in Disney, the corporation, is the problem.

Real reform, like taking away the citizen rights of corporations that they should never have had? Like making them pay a fair tax on their exorbitant profits? Like prosecuting greedy executives that take millions of dollars out of the company in pay and benefits and bonuses and graft? Like taking away the charters of companies that hide their assets offshore? Like regulating corporations as any sane economic culture would do?

[hippiegranny]

4. is there more to this story?

what about the incredible controversy created by the disney/miramax flap? didn't that help to create the box office windfall that has now slipped out of disney's grasp? and isn't eisner a big dem contributor? i guess alot of this anti-eisner stuff just doesn't pass the smell test for me.

[Fenris]

5. Eisner's problems at Disney run deep.

The shareholders of Disney blame Eisner for the decline of the company, in terms of both profit and quality, in the 1990s. Much of their ire stems from Eisner's emphasis on marketing and sales during his tenure. Many shareholders, especially those who side with Roy Disney, feel that Eisner sold the companies soul - he focused on selling a product rather than creating the "magic" that Disney was famous for.

What party he gives money to is irrelevant. This is an issue of poor corporate leadership.

[Deja Q]

7. What magic?

Disney was first with a cartoon, big deal. Star Wars was the first to use new technology as well. Doesn't mean there's magic in the characters or story - and there clearly aren't.

"Family Guy" has more magic than anything Disney's ever produced.

[Fenris]

10. That is subjective.

I said that the shareholders thought the company had lost its "magic." It is their opinion that the company had "magic," not mine.

[Not Me]

14. Disney had a great recent quarter ... he's got a reprieve

The biggest concern of the shareholders OUGHT to be that there has not been a plan for succession in place for some time now.
If they wanted to oust him, they are the one's who would be shooting themselves in the foot.

[1monster]

11. Eisner accepted the kudus for the successes of Disney for many years...

however, he has been running off the great talents behind those successes for quite some time. Disney shareholders have been feeling the consequenses of his less than stellar people management skills for several years now.

In 2003, Disney paid the first dividend on shares in two years. Dividends used to be reliable. I'm quite willing to believe that the reason we got a dividend in 2003 was to head off any chance of Roy Disney getting enough disgruntled shareholders to vote to fire Eisner.

[unblock]

8. next thing you know, he'll be trading away sammy sosa!

[elperromagico]

9. I would imagine he feels a little like Dick Rowe,

the executive at Decca Records who turned down the Beatles in 1962 because, in his own words, "Guitar groups are on the way out."

But look on the bright side. At least Jeb won't make Mr. Eisner sleep on the couch.

[proud patriot]

13. Sweet Irony

:D

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. I'm sure that "American Heartland" or whatever the RW "antidote" to

F911 they are making will do great though. :eyes:

[LiviaOlivia]

16. From Variety- 'Fahrenheit' foes put 'Heart' into Disney doc

Posted: Mon., Jun. 28, 2004, 10:00pm PT

'Fahrenheit' foes put 'Heart' into Disney doc

Eisner spotted at public screening of '9/11'

By GABRIEL SNYDER


The Walt Disney Co. could draw fire from shareholders once they study the rocketing B.O. numbers for "Fahrenheit 9/11."
<snip>

Disney spokesmen went to great lengths to emphasize that the company has no political agenda in distributing "America's Heart and Soul," a docu about cultural diversity that opens Friday. Nonetheless, Moore questioned the timing of Disney's screening of the film in Sacramento for Move America Forward, the group that urged theaters not to play "Fahrenheit 9/11." MAF has latched on to "Heart and Soul" as a counter to Moore -- the press release announcing its screening carried the headline "Move Over Michael Moore." "At this point in time, we ought to be focusing on movies that bring us together rather than divide us. We ought to be coalescing America behind winning the war against terror," said MAF's chief strategist Sal Russo. After seeing "Heart and Soul," he added, "you walk out of the theater feeling good about America."

Moore's reaction was scathing.

"Disney joining forces with the right-wing kooks who have come together to attempt to censor 'Fahrenheit 9/11' must mean that Dumbo is now in charge of the company's strategic decisions," he said in a statement released Monday. "First, Disney tried to stop the movie from being released, and now it is aligning itself with the very people who are trying to intimidate the movie theaters from showing the movie. Even Daffy Duck would tell you this makes no sense. This latest development only further disproves what Michael Eisner had claimed about 'politics' not being behind Disney's decision not to distribute 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' "

On May 5, Eisner told ABC News that Disney had refused to allow Miramax to handle Moore's film because "we just didn't want to be in the middle of a politically oriented film during an election year." Miramax toppers Bob and Harvey Weinstein purchased "Fahrenheit" with personal funds and enlisted Lions Gate and IFC to distrib the pic in the U.S.
<snip>

Though the Disney topper did not want to distribute the film, he was spotted leaving a Sunday morning showing of "Fahrenheit" at the Grove in L.A., smiling and chatting with three companions.
<snip>

Lions Gate prexy Tom Ortenberg and IFC topper Jonathan Sehring also revealed that the Motion Picture Assn. of America had ruled that they could not use critic Richard Roeper's blurb "Everyone in the country should see this film" in its ads. Decision was made in a conference call with MPAA topper Jack Valenti, the two execs, and critics Roeper and partner Roger Ebert. Ortenberg said the MPAA's "position was that this improperly positioned the film as a family film when it's rated R." Nevertheless, Sehring thanked the two critics for taking the time to argue the case. "The interesting thing was how passionate both of them were," he said.
<snip>

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/story.asp?l=story&a=VR1117907160&c=13
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