David Vogel to Exit From Post as President of Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group.

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 3, 1999--

Concluding a highly successful ten-year association with The Walt Disney Studios, David Vogel has decided to leave his post as president of Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group to pursue a variety of interests in the entertainment industry, it was announced Monday by Joe Roth and Peter Schneider, chairman and president, respectively, of The Walt Disney Studios and Richard Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group.

During his tenure, the veteran production executive has been responsible for many of Disney's biggest live-action hits including "George of the Jungle," "101 Dalmatians," "Flubber," "The Mighty Ducks" and "Cool Runnings." Most recently, he played the guiding role in the development and production of Disney's highly anticipated upcoming summer release, "Inspector Gadget."

Since 1997, Vogel has also been responsible for overseeing production of all Hollywood Pictures releases. In 1998, he was named president of Buena Vista Pictures Motion Pictures Group and added Touchstone Pictures to his leadership duties.

Among the Studio's upcoming releases that he has overseen are: "The Sixth Sense," "Mystery, Alaska," "Bicentennial Man," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "High Fidelity," "Mission to Mars," "Coyote Ugly" and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"

Commenting on the announcement, Roth said, "David is one of the top production executives in the industry and we're sorry to see him go. He has an incredible passion for moviemaking and has been responsible for some of our Studio's top box office achievements. As he embarks on a new phase of his career, we wish him all the best and hope that we'll still have opportunities to work together on future film projects."

Vogel commented, "The world of entertainment has changed in so many new and exciting ways over the past few years and I'm looking forward to some interesting new challenges. I have enjoyed my association with Joe and Dick and will miss collaborating with them on a day-to-day basis. Disney is a terrific company and I value the time and opportunity that I've had there. I am proud of our track record and will always look back fondly on the time spent here."

Cook added, "David will be enormously successful at whatever he decides to take on and we hope he will always have a close association with us. We appreciate all his hard work and creativity here at the Studio and congratulate him on his many successes. He has played an important role in shaping our live-action output and expanding the potential for Disney family films."

Vogel has held the post of president of Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group since 1998. Prior to that, he served a four-year stint as president of Walt Disney Pictures. In 1997, he was promoted to president of the Disney and Hollywood Pictures banners. He began his association with Disney in 1989 as vice president of production for Walt Disney Pictures and was subsequently promoted to senior vice president and executive vice president for that banner.

Prior to joining Disney, Vogel ran his own feature production company, David E. Vogel Productions, which was based at Universal Studios. From 1985-87, he worked with Amblin Entertainment, where he produced all 44 half-hour segments for Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" series for NBC.