Dave Hollis is dead: The former Disney Worldwide Distribution Chief was 47
Dave Hollis, a onetime Disney executive and the studio’s president of worldwide distribution, has died at his home in Austin, TX. He was 47.
A representative shared that Hollis passed away peacefully at her home on Saturday, February 11. The exact cause of death has not been determined but his family confirmed that he was hospitalized due to a heart condition.
Hollis spent 17 years at Walt Disney Studios and helped the company break industry box office records, eventually rising to president of worldwide distribution. He left the company in May 2018 to move to Texas and become CEO of Chic Media, a company founded by his wife Rachel Hollis, author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur.
Hollis became Disney’s head of theatrical distribution in January 2011 when he took over from retired veteran executive Chuck Vian. Among the marks Hollis left behind: In 2016, his division led the studio to an all-time industry record of $7 billion at the worldwide box office. Overall, he has 12 Disney releases north of $1 billion at the global box office, and one $2 billion (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) in his last seven years in the role.
Before he ran distribution, Hollis went ahead with Disney’s 2010 hit Alice in Wonderland in a 30-day VOD/DVD window. He leads Disney’s Cinema Partnerships initiative, collaborating with exhibitors to enhance the theater-going experience through custom-branded content programs and offers.
At Chic Media, Hollis helped grow Rachel Hollis, a bestselling self-help author and motivational speaker. The company recently signed a deal with SiriusXM to handle sales and distribution of its popular ad The Rachel Hollis Podcast.
! function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
}
;
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window, document, ‘script’, ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘422369225140645’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
