Disney Names New Movie Chief in Revamp

Richard Cook, president of domestic distribution and worldwide marketing for Disney, is being named chairman of the studio’s motion picture group as part of a major reorganization underway to streamline the movie division.

Cook assumes the former duties of Joe Roth, who was promoted to Disney Studios chairman four months ago with added responsibilities for the company’s worldwide video and television operations.

It is also expected that Donald DeLine, president of Touchstone Pictures, and David Vogel, president of Walt Disney Pictures, will be elevated to co-presidents of the motion picture group. The two executives, who will remain heads of their respective film labels, will co-report to Richard Cook

Roth and Cook under the new structure.

In his new role, Cook will work with Roth, DeLine and Vogel in selecting the movies to be made by the studio.

Cook, a 25-year veteran of Disney who began his career in 1970 as a ride operator at Disneyland, will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the motion picture group. In addition to the production side, other divisions reporting directly to Cook will be domestic theatrical marketing and distribution and international theatrical marketing and distribution.

Chris McGurk, who had been serving as president of the motion picture group under Roth, is giving up his executive post at the studio to be a consultant. Sources said he had lobbied hard for the job of Disney president and, when denied it, decided to leave. Among his duties, McGurk was responsible for the Miramax Films account, which will now fall under Roth’s purview.

As part of his longtime plan to reduce the number of movies Disney makes each year, Roth recently decided to turn the studio’s third film label, Hollywood Pictures, into a releasing arm only rather than a development and production entity.

Michael Lynton, who served as president of Hollywood Pictures for the last two years, recently left the company to head up the giant publisher Penguin Group.

It is expected that most projects currently in development at Hollywood will be handled by DeLine because they are non-Disney family movies, though Vogel is expected to get added responsibility for some adult fare. Hollywood Pictures will be co-managed by the two.

For months, Cook was wooed by his former Disney boss, Jeffrey Katzenberg, to run the daily operations of DreamWorks SKG. Cook, a close friend as well as loyal colleague of Katzenberg, reportedly took months to make the decision to remain at Disney.

Ultimately, Cook said in an interview Friday, he wanted to stay at Disney because “I love this company. I love what it stands for, what it’s about, the product, and after being here for so long, you feel like you’ve grown up with it and it’s a part of you.”

Roth said it is Cook’s intrinsic knowledge of Disney and his “understanding of the company’s unique qualities” that makes him a valued executive.

Cook helped brainstorm and launch the world’s largest premiere, Disney’s animated feature “Pocahontas,” in New York’s Central Park last year, and the world premiere of its 34th animated musical, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” this year at the Superdome in New Orleans. He also initiated the elaborate, two-year restoration of El Capitan, Hollywood’s classic movie palace.

Although Cook does not have hands-on experience or relationships with key agents and talent that Roth, DeLine and Vogel have in packaging movies, he comes to his new post in the tradition of Warner Bros. co-Chairman Terry Semel and former Paramount Pictures Chairman Frank Mancuso (now head of MGM), who also rose through the marketing and distribution ranks to become heads of studios.

Cook moved from the theme park side to the studio in 1977, working in pay television and nontheatrical releases, and was in on the early planning stages of the Disney Channel. In 1980, he segued to the distribution side, becoming president of Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (Disney’s releasing arm) in 1988 and six years later added marketing to his duties.

Phil Barlow, who has long served under Cook, will remain president of distribution. Since the departure of Robert Levin, Disney’s marketing president, that slot has remained vacant. There is no immediate replacement.