Alan Bergman checks a lot of boxes for a potential successor to Bob Iger. After all, Bergman succeeded legendary film exec Alan Horn at Disney. Yet Bergman remains on the outside looking in. Is it due to his lack of press? Is it due to Disney’s up-and-down content slate? There’s nothing in particular keeping Bergman down in the race for CEO but there’s nothing in particular elevating him to that next level (how Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden and Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro are viewed).
As Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, Alan Bergman oversees Disney’s full portfolio of entertainment media and content businesses globally, including Disney’s streaming business. Bergman leads Disney’s filmmaking studios that produce content for both theatrical and streaming releases. Bergman’s purview includes Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures.
Bergman also oversees the marketing, operations, technology, theatrical distribution, and business groups across these studios and brands. In addition to these studios, Bergman oversees Disney Music Group and Disney Theatrical Group (producer of popular stage shows on Broadway and around the world). Bergman also shares oversight to direct-to-consumer, technology, and ad sales groups, as well as international content and operations.
Bergman joined The Walt Disney Company in 1996 as a Director in the corporate controllership group with a focus on Walt Disney Studios initiatives. In 1998, he became a Vice President of the operations planning group, where he was responsible for developing the company’s annual operating plan. Bergman has been serving in senior leadership roles at The Walt Disney Studios since 2001. Bergman was named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the division back in 2001. He was then promoted to Executive Vice President and CFO in 2002. He then assumed the title of President from 2005 to 2019. Bergman was then Co-Chairman alongside Alan Horn from 2019 to 2020. He was the sole Chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 2020 to 2023. Then Disney restructured the company and Bergman would become Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment alongside Dana Walden.
Bergman’s tenure as President of Walt Disney Studios was a lucrative time for the division. Since 2005, Disney has released 28 films that have passed the $1 billion mark at the global box office, including four of the six films in history that have surpassed $2 billion — Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Notable releases during Bergman’s tenure include a plethora of Disney live-action remakes including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast andDisney Animation success stories like Frozen, Moana, and Encanto. Bergman also witnessed the historic heights of the MCU and Star Wars on the big screen. Bergman also oversees Searchlight and 20th Century Studios which includes films like Nomadland, Poor Things, Free Guy, and Prey. Bergman from 2019 onward also oversaw the Studios’ Disney+ output which included massive hits such as The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, WandaVision, and Loki.
Bergman represents Disney on the Motion Picture Association Board of Directors and also serves on the American Film Institute’s Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Television Academy. Bergman also owns a Napa Valley vineyard with his family.
After a rocky 2023 for Bergman’s Walt Disney Studios where films like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Haunted Mansion, The Marvels, and Wish all underperformed. (You could also lump in Elemental and The Little Mermaid to a degree as well). You can’t blame the 2023 misfire on Bergman entirely and it was clear Disney knew they had to get things back together. It was a top-to-bottom overhaul from stories to marketing to make these films feel like events again.
In early 2024, longtime Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture President Sean Bailey departed. It was unclear if Bergman had anything to do with the shakeup. Bergman however inserted David Greenbaum of Searchlight Pictures as the new head of Disney Live Action/20th Century Studios. It’s an executive shakeup move that most CEO’s make. Later in the year, Bergman had to make another tough executive decision. Bergman elevated Jared Bush (Moana, Zootopia, Encanto) to Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios replacing Jennifer Lee (Frozen). Lee will remain in the Disney fold but the move cements the fact Bergman felt like there was a problem or a potential problem with Lee’s leadership.
In 2024, Bergman’s division is on fire. Disney has two billion-dollar films in Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine. Both films are breaking box office records in their own ways. Inside Out 2 has been a runaway success and a much-needed win for Pixar and Walt Disney Studios. Inside Out 2 broke records on Disney+ as well. Deadpool and Wolverine lived up to the hype and delivered an amazing summer crowdpleaser. 20th Century Studios also had a change of luck this year as well as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Alien: Romulus both surpassed expectations and likely relaunched two cornerstone franchises for 20th Century Studios.
Next up for Bergman’s division is Moana 2 (which went from being a Disney+ series to a sequel film) and Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel-sequel to the live-action The Lion King. Both films will face competition as Moana 2 will have to face off against Universal’s Wicked and Paramount’s Gladiator II early into its box office run, and Mufasa will go head to head with Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3. I think we know the box office expectations for both films. The stakes will be high.
Bergman used to work closely with Alan Horn, a film exec with strong creative experience. Bergman was a financial exec. He came from that world and most of his roles at Disney prior to becoming President were financial roles like CFO. Bergman being financially savvy is definitely a plus not a minus when it comes to CEO succession. “If you threw up a spreadsheet, he’d absorb it in 30 seconds and send questions back at you, so you better be tight on the numbers,” an executive who worked with him told Vanity Fair.Bergman’s financial sense mixed with his learning of the creative side from Horn shouldn’t be overlooked. However, we’re not in the trenches at Walt Disney Studios so we can’t evaluate his creative skills. However, multiple sources say that Bergman is a bit old-school and can be prickly and impatient. It’s also noted that Bergman has a fondness for Disney’s classic IP and he has deep love for the brand.
Alan Horn seems particularly fond of his time working alongside Bergman at Walt Disney Studios. “During my 10 years, I invited him to every single script meeting, every cut of a movie, every interaction I had with creative leaders, and he came to every single one,” Horn told Vanity Fair. “I haven’t seen his SATs or anything, but this guy’s a very smart guy. So I know that he listened. Why did he listen? Because it was important to him to learn the creative side.” Horn had confidence in Bergman that when he gave Disney CEO Bob Iger the notice that he planned to retire he told Iger that Bergman could do his job.
Bergman was also well thought of during the short-lived Bob Chapek era. During Chapek’s time at the helm, he wanted to reorganize Disney. Chapek’s biggest accomplishment was a reorganization called Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution. It would be one division that would oversee all of Disney’s film and TV efforts and determine which films go to theaters and which ones go to Disney+. Chapek approached Alan Bergman, who was Chairman of Walt Disney Studios at the time, to run the division. The New York Times revealed that Bergman called Bob Iger and asked him if he should run DMED. Iger told Bergman to tell Chapek how he truly felt, and that was that DMED was a terrible idea. Bergman eventually turned down Chapek’s offer. DMED would be dismantled a few days after Iger seized control in 2022.
Bergman has worked alongside many creatives in his time at Disney. Avatar creator James Cameron gave Bergman a glowing endorsement while speaking to Vanity Fair: “We emerged out of that process with a greater sense of respect for each other than I’ve personally ever felt before working with a studio. It was very contentious with 20th Century Fox and Paramount on Titanic, it was contentious with 20th Century Fox on the first Avatar film, and I didn’t experience any of that with Alan.” Cameron didn’t know Bergman well when he began making Avatar: The Way of Water at Disney. This past D23, Bergman even admitted that the original Avatar was the “one film that got away” for Disney. Thankfully for Bergman, Iger would purchase 21st Century Fox and Disney would get to produce the Avatar sequels.
Bergman, 58, remains an unlikely choice for the next CEO of Disney. Yet if he wants the job, his team could certainly craft a compelling campaign. It all hinges on how The Walt Disney Studios finishes in 2024. If the year ends on a high note maybe Bergman’s stock rises. If Bergman can get more names on the scale of Alan Horn and James Cameron to speak on his behalf the better shot he has at getting noticed as a candidate for CEO. Bergman could pitch himself as a Disney veteran with financial savvy who learned various aspects of the business. He may just ascend to the top of the Mouse House.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
