Disney Entertainment Reveals New Leadership Team

Later this week, Disney will host its annual shareholder meeting, during which Josh D’Amaro will replace Bob Iger as the new Disney Chief Executive Officer. As part of the new leadership, Disney has announced the new leadership structure for Disney Entertainment.

Dana Walden is set to become the president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Company on March 18th 2026, and she’s revealed her new team for Disney Entertainment, bringing together the company’s streaming, film, and television businesses along with its growing games and digital entertainment division.

According to Disney, consumers today want to engage with Disney’s storytelling and characters in a multitude of ways — whether on Disney+, in theatres, or through the digital games they love to play. With this unified approach, Disney can deliver the world’s most beloved entertainment to fans across the many ways they choose to enjoy it.

Dana Walden said in a statement regarding the new team:

“The strength of Disney has always been the emotional connection between our stories and the people who love them.  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.”

Here is the new leadership team for Disney Entertainment:

• Alan Bergman, chairman of Disney Entertainment, Studios, will continue overseeing all aspects of the company’s world-class film studios including production, marketing and distribution, and maintaining shared oversight of Direct to Consumer alongside Walden.
• Joe Earley and Adam Smith will become co-presidents of Direct to Consumer, sharing responsibility for strategy and financial performance across Disney+ and Hulu, reporting to Walden and Bergman. Earley will also serve as head of content strategy for Direct to Consumer, while Smith continues as chief product and technology officer for Disney Entertainment, and for ESPN, where he will continue to report to ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
• Debra OConnell will assume the newly created role of chairman of Disney Entertainment Television, overseeing the television brands, including ABC Entertainment, Disney Branded Television, Hulu Originals, National Geographic Content and creative for 20th Television and 20th Television Animation. She will also continue to oversee ABC News and the ABC Owned Television Stations.
• Sean Shoptaw, EVP, Games and Digital Entertainment, along with his organisation, will now join Disney Entertainment, reporting to Walden. Shoptaw oversees the company’s Games business and its collaboration with Epic Games, developing a Disney universe connected to Fortnite, and brings deep insight into the central role that games play in today’s entertainment landscape. By combining the power of its creative engines and games, Disney can bring immersive new ways to tell stories to audiences across platforms in even more engaging ways.
• John Landgraf, Chairman of FX, will continue to report directly to Walden.
• Asad Ayaz, Disney’s Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, leads teams across the company’s business segments. Ayaz will report to incoming Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro and Walden.

Roger’s Take: The majority of these executives have been working with Dana for a while, and I don’t think there will be any major changes that will impact Disney+ or its linear/theatrical businesses anytime soon.  I suspect the shift in leadership will be much more straightforward than when Bob Chapek took over from Bob Iger many years ago, resulting in a massive shakeup of Disney’s entertainment division, which Iger brought back in after his return in 2022.  Dana has passed the reins of the television division over to one of her senior executives, Debra OConnell, to help streamline the division.  

John Landgraf will continue to lead FX, which seems to have been able to stay separate from the other studios.  But ultimately, I’m not expecting too many big changes in the months ahead, as Disney looks to have a more “stable” transition of power than last time. 

What do you think of this new leadership team for Disney Entertainment?  Let me know on social media!