NEWS

After much criticism of his tenure and the risky strategy he seemed to be following, the openly gay head of Disney Studios, Rich Ross, has resigned from the post. From the moment of his October 2009 hiring – when he replace long-serving head Bob Cook who’d essentially been forced out – all eyes have been on Ross to deliver.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has hoped Ross could bring the success he’d at the company’s TV channels to the movie division, although many felt this was a huge risk as he had virtually no film experience. There was further criticism shortly after he came in, when Ross nixed several seeingly promising high profile projects while commissioning seemingly more risky films. He also raised eyebrows by getting rid of several seasoned executives as well as overseeing what many viewed as a disastrous reorganisation of the marketing division.

Even Ross’ personality came in for criticism, with THR noting that his ‘manner struck some in the industry as detached and even patronizing’, especially considering his lack of movie experience. However if the films he put into production had proved successful, his critics would have been silenced.

Unfortunately the first movie that he’d fully overseen, Prom, grossed less than $10 million worldwide. What really caused problems though was John Carter, which didn’t just lose the studio around $200 million but also caused problems between Ross and animation chief John Lasseter over how Disney Studios was stealing from Pixar’s brain trust for the film and then not allowing them to work in a way that would allow them to succeed.

Now Ross has resigned, saying that ‘I no longer believe the Chairman role is the right professional fit for me. For that reason, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective today.’

There’s already much speculation over whether pressure had been put on him to go, especially due to worries over the studio’s future film slate. While most studios have a varied roster of film at different budget levels and in different genres, Ross has largely pursued massive gamble event movies, such as Sam Raimi’s Oz: The Great And Powerful and The Lone Ranger. It’s a strategy that’s had a lot of people worried, as while it can be massively profitable if it works, as John Carter proved, it can be financially disastrous if it goes wrong, especially if there’s nothing less risky to back it up.