Letter of Termination

Well . . . through my contact within the Disney Interactive Media Group, I was more than a little surprised to hear that the legal department sent me a letter of termination. FedEx did attempt to deliver a letter today. Since I was unavailable, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to sign for it.

Some portions of my contract are designed to remain in effect even after termination. Legal protection is a good example. The paper models are still protected, so don’t think of selling or re-distributing them. I will most likely be relieved of having to first resolve legal infractions myself, so violators will instead be reported directly to Disney legal.

Exactly what this letter will mean for this website is unknown. Until I know exactly what the letter says, all I can do is go through my copy of the contract and void anything that doesn’t survive its termination. The good news is that I may no longer need approval for any of the papercrafts. The bad news is that it could potentially mean . . . well, I’d rather not say unless I absolutely have to. I don’t even want to think it! I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

As for working on any projects for DIMG, that’s not likely to happen any time soon unless they (or one of their individual websites) contact me. Yes, there was a big project that I was going to work on, but then the Walt Disney Internet Group was combined with Disney Interactive into one brand-new entity: the Disney Interactive Media Group. That terminated the international division completely (the portion of WDIG that I was working with), making domestic and international Disney websites controlled together. People were shifted around to other areas of the company, some folks transferred, some were promoted, and the project shifted hands three times. Communication was terrible, and I often didn’t know what was going on until several months later. That’s been the source of the constant delays and miscommunication. The only saving grace was my only reliable contact: Becky.

Becky has been great! Although she left the project long ago, she still took the time to answer my emails (when others wouldn’t), and took time out of her schedule to try to keep me up-to-date on what was going on.

The project (a series of projects, really) was something I was looking forward to working on. But, with the massive changes in the online division (and possibly the effect of the economy), the project quickly slipped away. I don’t think there was anything anyone could really do about it. That’s business, I guess. Things can get chopped at the last minute. I know I’ve done that.

I did enjoy my time, and I’ll miss Becky’s emails. It was an experience that I certainly don’t regret being a part of despite its unfortunate result. Maybe someone will contact me again in the future. The folks at Family.com and other Disney websites are always welcome to contract me.

Robert Nava (aka Trader Sam) was an Independent Graphic Artist for Disney Interactive Media Group. Regardless, neither the post author nor this website have received compensation via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write this post. All opinions expressed are genuine, truthful and impartial. This is being disclosed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”