Disney unveiled a major leadership shake-up, and a pair of memos to employees shed some light on the company’s thinking.
Product and tech chief Adam Smith has been promoted to the head of Disney’s direct-to-consumer business, after previously sharing the role with Joe Earley, the company announced on Thursday.
As head of streaming, Smith will continue to work closely with film chief Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, Disney’s chief creative officer and the second-in-command to CEO Josh D’Amaro.
“As DTC continues to grow and scale around the world, having a single dedicated leader will sharpen our focus and allow us to speed up decision making and operations,” Walden said in a memo to tech staffers, which was obtained by Business Insider.
Earley will stay at Disney as president of its franchise and content strategy for its Entertainment TV business under Debra OConnell, who oversees the operation and reports to Walden.
Smith joined Disney two years ago after more than 20 years at Google, including 13 at YouTube, where he was the VP of product management. Walden credited Smith with driving “significant growth and improvement to our global streaming platforms,” including its user interface.
“Our streaming platforms are more dynamic and personalized,” Walden wrote, adding that the company is seeing “greater engagement and retention globally” across its streaming services.
Smith said in a memo to staffers that, like D’Amaro, he’s focused on helping “evolve Disney+ into the digital centerpiece of the company.”
A veteran Disney tech employee said they’re excited about Smith’s promotion, adding that the former YouTube exec is “an AI native” who can “meld content creation and distribution together in a powerful way.”
“It’s what I expected to see,” this longtime staffer said.
Below are the memos from Walden and Smith to Disney tech staffers.
Here’s what Walden said about the leadership shuffle:
And here’s what Smith said about his promotion:
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