Sean Bailey Exits As Head of Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, Searchlight’s David Greenbaum Steps In
Sean Bailey is leaving his office at the top of the Disney headquarters as head of the Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios effective immediately, Deadline is reporting. David Greenbaum, who was until this morning the co-head of Searchlight Studios, is stepping in to fill his shoes.
Jeff Sneider had reported earlier this month via his newsletter, TheInSneider.com, that Bailey was the top candidate to replace Scott Stuber as head of the Netflix film division following Stuber’s departure earlier this year. Though this move would certainly back that up, Deadline is saying that this is not the reasoning behind Bailey’s exit and that the rumor may not materialize after all. (Sneider also posted on Twitter he’s now heard the Netflix talks broke down.) Where is Bailey headed, then? We don’t know yet.
Bailey had been at the head of The Walt Disney Studios since 2010, taking the job after landing on the studio’s footstep as a producer on Tron: Legacy. He’ll now stay as a producer on Tron: Ares, which will be his swan song. Over the past 15 years, he’s overseen a massive reinvention of the division, spearheaded by the recreation of its animated classic catalog into live-action movies, including 2016’s The Jungle Book, 2017’s The Beauty and the Beast, or 2019’s The Lion King. Though not everything was a hit, with particular misses like Pinocchio, he brought in $7 billion to the studio’s arcs, and perhaps most importantly, helped define a new era for the Mouse House and establish important relationships.
Greenbaum is currently in the middle of a massive awards campaign for Poor Things, which has been very well received by the industry and nabbed 11 Oscar nominations. But how many statues will it take home? Emma Stone is currently their best chance at a win, and Lily Gladstone has a very narrow edge over her in the Best Actress category. Other strong possibilities include Production Design (which Barbie could step in). Regardless, Greenbaum has been at the top of Searchlight since April 2021. Matthew Greenfield, who was co-president with him until today, will stay in that position.
Greenbaum is now taking over the live-action production of the studio, as well as 20th Century Studios in a newly-created role of president, in which he’ll report directly to Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, The Hollywood Reporter said.
It’s also interesting to note the way the announcement was made. Deadline claimed the scoop, and a few minutes later the other major trades published it claiming Disney had issued a press release. Clearly, the communications department was preparing a press release and Deadline got wind of it. Or was it perhaps already out and they broke the embargo? Unlikely, but not impossible…
The question still remains regarding Bob Iger’s successor, though. The CEO renewed his contract last year through 2026, but several names have floated as possibilities to succeed him. Though it was just speculation, Matt Belloni pitched the idea of Mattel CEO Ynon Kreitz in his Puck newsletter at the end of 2023, which was an interesting take. Also, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story last week on Dana Walden’s chances at the top chair. Walden is co-chairman of Disney Entertainment.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
