【2001 Archives】

Maker Studios001 Archivesundergoing yet another shake-up at its new Disney home.

The digital entertainment company is merging with parent company Disney's Content & Media department, which is part of its consumer products and interactive media division, Mashablehas confirmed.

Courtney Holt, Maker Studios' top exec, will move to new corporate role at Disney as EVP of media and strategy.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

"Merging Maker Studios with Content & Media allows DCPI to continue to expand audiences — across both physical and digital content," Holt wrote in a memo to staff, obtained by Mashable. "And, by taking a broader digital content offering to market, we can truly differentiate ourselves to advertisers and distribution platforms."

Variety first reported the news.

SEE ALSO: Inside Disney's digital 'newsroom': 'Our goal is to win the Internet every day'

The news comes just two years after Disney dished out a whopping $675 million for the world's second-largest multiplatform network.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Maker Studios, which will still operate out of its Culver City location, boasts a network of about 55,000 independent creators who collectively draw in 10 billion views per month.

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

This year, the digital entertainment company made great strides in its efforts to ramp up its original content with several new series — such as Scare PewDiePie, a YouTube Red series that just wrapped filming of its second season; the digital talk show Party Fun Times, hosted by Taryn Southern; and the skateboard travel adventureThe Unge Quest, starring German gamer Simon Unge.

But content couldn't help salvage the company's corporate woes.

Ynon Kreiz, the CEO who helped facilitate the Disney deal, left Maker Studios in January.

Two months later, Bonnie Pan, Maker Studios' executive vice president of programming, left the company to tackle the role of president at Endemol Beyond.

In May, the company scaled back its digital Newfront presentation, holding an intimate breakfast for brand clients only. Then, in July, Maker Studios went through a round of layoffs.

Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media -- which Mashableprofiled in May -- is located in Burbank. The division, led by Andrew Sugerman, aims to get all things Disney — ranging from movies like Alice Through the Looking Glassto new Disney products — to resonate on the Internet. Its core brands include Disney Style, Oh My Disney (a Millennial focused property, like Buzzfeedwith a Disney lens), DisneyFamily and Babble. They also distribute original content through their portfolio of sites and owned apps, including Disney GIF and the Star Wars app.

A person familiar with the consumer products and interactive media division said the move will help both Maker Studios and Disney combine resources, and further integrate influencers with Disney IP.

Holt echoed this notion in his memo.

"Maker Studios will add to Content & Media’s capabilities around short-form content creation and distribution, making this a natural fit," he wrote. "Also, many of our teams have already integrated with DCPI across sales, finance, communications, marketing, legal, technology, and HR, so it makes sense to pull together the distribution, franchise, network and studio teams in one segment."

Topics Disney YouTube

• Deals
• Life
• Science
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Games
• Digital Culture

• Bomb Envy
• Here's everything you need to know about the Trump
• Ryan Reynolds helps teen get over her ex with some perfect Photoshop advice
• How to get police out of schools, and why it matters
• Astronomers saw one galaxy impale another. The damage was an eye
• Ariana Grande pays tribute to youngest victim of Manchester attack, remembering her birthday
• How to stop comparing yourself to past versions of you
• Dude discovers his airport selfie with Jessica Alba is displayed in a deli he's never been to
• Best Apple deal: Save $19 on AirTag 4
• TikTok sues Trump administration over ban attempt

• Best fitness tracker deal: Save 20% on Fitbit Luxe
• Imagining “Heart of Darkness” As a Building
• What Midcentury Women Artists Had to Put Up With
• The fishing scandal taking over the internet
• Max adds tribute to Matthew Perry before every 'Friends' season
• 'Five Nights at Freddy's' is Blumhouse's biggest opening ever
• Revisiting Ron Hansen’s “Mariette in Ecstasy” 25 Years Later
• Love Says the Day: Remembering David Mancuso
• Classic Attitude: Paintings by Helen Lundeberg
• The Sad Saga of the Chopped Cheese Sandwich

• Hurricane Laura's impact lingered with nightmarish mosquito swarms
• Gmail and other Google services are down for many users (Update: fixed)
• NASA celebrates 15 years of Mars orbiter with stunning photos
• Giant teddy bear slammed with foul ball at baseball game, bounces back with a smile
• Q&A with tendercare founder and CEO Shauna Sweeney
• Dude posts 'brilliant' Chipotle hack and gets mercilessly dragged on Twitter
• Justin Trudeau delivers a powerful statement about gender equality at the Global Citizen Festival
• 'Bake Off' is still happening this year. Here's how they filmed it.
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 19: Tips to solve Connections #238
• 'Bring It On' 20th anniversary: Creators look back on timely themes

• This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
• Londoner creates very unusual snack, gets reported to police
• Poor little dog had to be rescued from lagoon 2 times by police officers
• The best "Fall Guys" memes, video clips, jokes, and brutal strategies
• Best Hydro Flask deal: Save $10 on a 24
• Apple's floating store in Singapore is something else
• Sophie Turner thinks Sansa will probably get killed off on 'Game of Thrones'
• TikTok confirms plan to sue the Trump administration over U.S. ban
• Against Fear
• How to get police out of schools, and why it matters