5 Burning Qs: Dana Walden, Disney’s Creative Reset — and the Internal Power Scramble Ahead
Plus: Inside the town hall — and when she learned D’Amaro got the job
I wrote about Peter Friedlander’s Amazon TV reorg, spoke to John Wells about The Pitt and the upcoming WGA negotiations with the AMPTP, interviewed Universal book guru Jordan Moblo about the IP wars and asked Bell Media execs about their bet on Heated Rivalry. Email me at lesley.goldberg@theankler.com
On Day Two of the next chapter of the Walt Disney Co.’s story, its new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, and its two-time, longtime exiting CEO, Bob Iger, sat for a conversation, moderated by ABC News’ David Muir, about where the company goes next.
Disney’s first-ever president and chief creative officer, Dana Walden, joined the panel halfway through the hourlong session — a clear nod to her central role in D’Amaro and Disney’s plans despite being passed over for the top job. Another strong signal of her elevated status: In her new role, Walden will collect a salary of $3.75 million, $1.25 million more in base pay than D’Amaro’s (though his total annual comp exceeds hers by about 30 percent, as Sean McNulty laid out in yesterday’s The Wakeup). Walden’s overall comp package is $27 million.
All these moves underscore Walden’s importance to the company after multiple sources told me senior officials “assumed” that the well-regarded executive would exit the company if she didn’t get broader creative oversight after 27-year Disney veteran D’Amaro, 54, landed the CEO gig. (Sources close to Walden denied any such ultimatum.)
When Walden, 61, steps into her new role come March 18 (reporting directly to D’Amaro), she will add oversight of film and all of marketing to a purview that already includes ABC Entertainment, ABC News, Disney Branded Television, Disney Television Studios, FX, Hulu Originals and National Geographic Content, Disney+ as well as international. Film is currently led by Alan Bergman, her Disney Entertainment co-chair since 2023; Asad Ayaz was recently elevated to the role of CMO, another first for Disney. Like D’Amaro, both execs have been at Disney for more than 20 years — Bergman nearly 30 — while Walden arrived at the company in 2019 as part of the $71.3 billion deal that saw the Mouse House acquire Fox’s studio assets. Ayaz will roll up to both D’Amaro and Walden, while Bergman now reports to his former peer.
“That they gave her features and expanded her purview — and if what was reported about financial terms are true, they made a big effort to keep her and make her feel not like a passed-over reject. It’s not a small thing to give her the movie studio,” says one TV industry veteran who, like the dozen other sources I spoke with, declined to speak on the record for fear of impacting pending deals across town including at Disney.
Sources within Disney say the mood Tuesday at its television headquarters in Burbank was upbeat, though many on the lot had been rooting for Walden to become CEO. That the Disney board chose a man for the CEO role is no surprise, as Richard Rushfield and others have observed, but Walden’s new remit is major. She already was one of the most powerful creative executives in Hollywood, and her new purview doubles down.
Below I’ve got exclusive details and info about:
Which internal candidates are contenders to replace her purview over TV
What was said in Wednesday morning’s town hall
When Walden was informed of the board’s decision to choose D’Amaro
If Bergman will stay at the company, and how Walden will get up to speed on the massive Disney film business
Insight into the plan to streamline and re-org Disney’s notoriously slow greenlight and development process
A vision for Disney+ — finally
