Disney’s Dana Walden sets leadership team; Bergman remains film studios chief

by

Dana Walden, who will soon be president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Company, has announced the team she’ll be leading. It includes people already well-known within Disney’s movie, TV, and marketing departments.

On Wednesday, Walden will make history as Disney’s first female president. She’ll be reporting to Josh D’Amaro, who is taking over as Disney’s CEO after the company’s shareholder meeting and the official transition of leadership from Bob Iger.

Susan Walden’s leadership team includes Alan Bergman, a close collaborator of many years. As Chairman of Disney Entertainment and Studios, Bergman will remain in charge of all of Disney’s film operations, covering everything from making the movies to getting them to audiences.

Bergman also will retain oversight of Disney’s streaming programming in concert with Walden.

Joe Earley and Adam Smith have been appointed co-presidents of Disney+, Hulu, and all of Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming services. They will both oversee the overall strategy and financial results of these platforms, and will report to Disney leaders Walden and Bergman.

Having previously collaborated at Fox, Earley and Walden will work together again, with Earley leading content strategy.

Smith will remain in charge of product and technology for Disney Entertainment. He’ll also keep working with Jimmy Pitaro, the Chairman of ESPN, on all things ESPN and ESPN+.

Hollywood Inc.

As a huge Disney fan, it was honestly a little worrying when Bob Iger came back as CEO. He’s been pretty upfront about it – he admitted this week that when he returned, there was a lot that needed to be improved. It’s good he’s acknowledging the challenges, and I’m hopeful he can steer things back on track.

Debra OConnell will step into a newly-formed role as chairman of Disney Entertainment Television.

As a huge fan of all things Disney, I’m really excited to see she’ll be involved with so much content! We’re talking everything from shows on ABC to original series on Hulu, plus all the great stuff from Disney Channel, National Geographic, and both the live-action and animated shows from 20th Television. It’s a really impressive range of programming she’ll be overseeing.

O’Connell will remain in charge of both ABC News and the network’s local television stations, such as KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Okay, so things are changing at Disney! Sean Shoptaw, who’s a big shot running games and digital entertainment, and his whole team are moving from the Disney Experiences group over to Walden’s division. It’s a bit of a reshuffle, but it sounds like they’re aiming to streamline things internally.

Shoptaw leads Disney’s gaming division and is in charge of their partnership with Epic Games to create a Disney-themed world within Fortnite.

Hollywood Inc.

Josh D’Amaro, a Disney veteran since 1998, will take over as CEO from Bob Iger. He was chosen for the position over three other executives within the company.

John Landgraf remains chairman of FX and will continue to report directly to Walden.

Asad Ayaz, Disney’s chief marketing and brand officer, plays a key role across the company’s different businesses. He will report directly to D’Amaro and Walden.

Hollywood Inc.

Paul Roeder, a long-time communications leader at Disney, has been appointed as the new chief communications officer for The Walt Disney Company.

According to Walden, Disney’s success comes from the strong emotional bonds people have with its stories. Now that fans are enjoying Disney content in more ways and on more devices than ever before, the company is using all of its creative resources to create a more unified and engaging experience for them.

Read More

2026-03-17 00:31