Dana Walden has set the leadership structure for Disney Entertainment as she prepares to step into the role of president and chief creative officer at The Walt Disney Company.
The new structure places Disney’s film, television, streaming and games businesses under Walden’s purview, with top executives taking on expanded roles within a “unified” content approach.
Walden’s senior leadership team includes Debra OConnell, who has been named chair of Disney Entertainment Television, a newly created post with oversight of all Disney’s TV brands including ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Hulu Originals, National Geographic’s content and the creative for 20th Television and 20th Television Animation. With her promotion, OConnell will continue to oversee ABC News and ABC-owned TV stations.
In his role as chair Disney Entertainment, Studios, Alan Bergman will continue to lead the production, marketing and distribution of the Mouse House’s film studios. In addition, he will continue to jointly oversee the direct-to-consumer (D2C) division with Walden. Bergman takes up the new role after previously serving as co-chairman of Disney Entertainment with Walden.
Within the D2C division, Joe Earley and Adam Smith have been named co-presidents, responsible for strategy and “financial performance” across streamers Disney+ and Hulu.
In his new capacity, Earley, who was previously Disney Entertainment’s president of D2C, will also serve as head of content strategy for D2C. Smith, meanwhile, will continue with his previous role as chief product and technology officer for both Disney Entertainment and sports brand ESPN.
John Landgraf remains chair of FX, reporting directly to Walden, while Asad Ayaz is chief marketing and brand officer and Sean Shoptaw is executive VP of games and digital entertainment.
Confirmation of the new structure comes with Walden, who had been in contention to succeed Bob Iger as CEO, set to assume the president and chief creative officer on March 18.
Six weeks ago, Disney revealed that Josh D’Amaro, head of its parks and experiences division, would take up the CEO position from Iger.
“The strength of Disney has always been the emotional connection between our stories and the people who love them,” said Walden.
“As fans engage with Disney across more formats and platforms than ever before, we are bringing together the full power of our creative businesses to build an even more connected experience for audiences. I’m very fortunate to work alongside such a passionate and talented group of leaders who are driven by the joy of storytelling, and I’m especially excited to work with our new CEO Josh D’Amaro as we enter this next chapter together.”
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