Walden Media, the producer of family films backed by billionaire Philip Anschutz, is in discussions to hire former Walt Disney Co. executive Nina Jacobson in a senior post amid a restructuring of the company.
The moves follow a spotty track record for Walden’s films, which, despite the firm’s 2005 blockbuster “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and its ambitions to compete with Disney in family entertainment, have had limited success at the box office.
Jacobson is under contract as a producer for DreamWorks SKG. People close to Anschutz cautioned that an agreement had not been reached and that Walden Media was talking with other candidates about the post.
Jacobson’s Disney experience, which included oversight of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “National Treasure” movie franchises when she headed production at the studio, gives her a strong background in family movies. She did not return phone calls seeking comment.
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