It is that time of year where we list our most fascinating Disney people of the year. While we all had high hopes that Disney’s centennial year would be special, most would agree it has been a bit disappointing. While there were highlights, they were overshadowed by real-world events and large scale layoffs. Although 2023 may not have turned out how we had hoped, here are some of the people that will be influential in Disney’s future as the company tries to get back to a fun era of growth and magic.
Asad Ayaz
For the first time in Disney history, the company named a Chief Brand Officer. The man named to the position is very familiar with all of Disney’s major franchises, because Asad Ayaz who leads marketing for The Walt Disney Studios. While he is keeping his previous role, as the company’s brand officer, he is adding holistic oversight of many important functions including corporate alliances, brand marketing, social strategy, synergy, and consumer research.
While we have already seen some touching moments from Asad and his team — such as the special Mickey birthday video — his first real test will be the upcoming D23 event. The rebranded experience is making some major changes including adding in the Anaheim Pond (AKA Honda Center, as it’s now been known for nearly 20 years) into the city-wide event. After a lackluster reception to last year’s event, will Asad be able to execute on a reimagined event while wrangling participation from a trimmed down company? They appear to be hedging their bets that while they can’t control what projects will be ready to be announced, they can control the scope of the event to improve access and spectacle. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt to have some major buzz-worthy announcements that convince fans that the organization has moved past its current malaise.
Sonia Coleman
18-year Disney veteran Sonia Coleman was named Disney’s new Chief Human Resources Officer this year. With her new role, she has the increasingly difficult task of managing Disney’s diverse labor force that ranges from front-line cast members to Hollywood executives. However, there seems to be no doubt that she is up to the task. The talk of the summer may have been labor disputes, but there is so much more to Coleman’s role than union negotiations.
Coleman has a long history with Disney across various divisions. When she joined Disney in 2008, she came from former Disney licensee The Children’s Place. She joined the company as VP of HR for Disney Consumer Products before moving over to Disney’s television business. She eventually added ESPN to her oversight before taking her current role. As we know, Disney, and the entertainment industry in general, is undergoing a rapid transformation. It appears that Coleman is prepared to face the task. Unfortunately, one of her first major actions was to facilitate a large-scale layoff across the organization. Now, as Bob Iger pivots the company back to growth, she will have the opportunity to leave her mark on how the company operates in its second century.
Dave Filoni
At Star Wars Celebration in London, it was clear that Dave Filoni was ready for his spotlight. While he has been making Star Wars for a long time, originally under the tutelage of George Lucas, previously his role was focused on the animated series he created. Now he is making his mark on live-action, while also guiding the entire franchise as Lucasfilm’s newly named Chief Creative Officer.
This year, we got a second season of The Bad Batch but we also received his first live-action series with Ahsoka. If that wasn’t enough, it was announced that he will be directing a live-action feature that connects all of the “Mando-verse” series. Presumably, his fingerprints will also be on the other Star Wars projects that are in various stages of development. As a fan, it has been fun to see Filoni’s skills as a storyteller grow through the years. He has earned the respect of Star Wars fandom which was evident at Star Wars Celebration. While he often comes across as shy, he came a bit out of his shell and held court with a wide cross-section of fans both young and old. There is no question that he understands what makes Star Wars special. We can’t wait to see what he has to offer us next.
Tyler Fulgham
Perhaps the biggest achievement for ESPN this year was the launch of the ESPN BET app. While Disney is not operating the app, there are plenty of mentions of the app across ESPN programming. One of the faces of gaming content on ESPN is Tyler Fulghum who is the host of ESPN BET Live.
Fulghum joined the Worldwide Leader in 2020 and in addition to hosting ESPN’s flagship gambling show, also appears across ESPN programs on television, radio and digital. Before joining ESPN, Fulghum was a part of the co-host of the Sauce & Shram show from 2018-2020 and analyzed sports betting and fantasy. While the ESPN Bet operator PENN Entertainment is facing their own investor revolt, the future of ESPN Bet may be uncertain. But what is certain is that betting content will remain a part of ESPN’s future and Fulghum is ESPN’s face for all that entails.
Hugh Johnston
After 34 years at PepsiCo, Hugh Johnston was named Disney’s CFO. While he is new to the Disney family, his reputation is high amongst the investment community. As we saw in 2022, the CFO of Disney’s relationship with the Board and institutional investors can have a major impact on the company’s direction.
Although the public won’t get to know Johnston until his first earnings call in February, one imagines that he is already at work on managing Disney’s defense to the proxy fight that is looming with Nelson Peltz and Ike Perlmutter. Johnston will need to learn the businesses of Disney quickly as well as getting used to the taste of Coca-Cola at the parks. Bob Iger will rely on Johnston to sell his plan to Wall Street. Unlike other businesses, Disney can’t be managed from quarter to quarter or even year to year. This means that the story beyond the balance sheet needs to be told in order to enable long-term growth. Luckily, there are a lot of storytellers at Disney that can lend Johnston a hand.
Mark Parker
Last year, if reports are to be believed, the former head of Nike was influential in bringing back Bob Iger to The Walt Disney Company. At the time, Disney was facing a creative crisis, unenthusiastic investor perception, and a looming proxy fight. After bringing back Iger, and being named the Chairman of the Board, Mark Parker is facing a company that still has a lot of work to do.
While we should know the results of Disney’s turnaround strategy in the coming months, there is no question that the future of the company is still up in the air. With the reignited proxy campaign and the ongoing search for Disney’s next CEO, Parker has a lot on his plate. While Iger has stated he looks forward to returning the company to growth, many are growing impatient with the lack of details on how that will be accomplished. As Disney faces a generational evolution, Parker and the rest of the Disney Board will need to work with Disney’s management to find a path forward, while also figuring out who will be tasked with executing on that plan once Iger retires… again.
Louise Pentland
Disney Experiences named Louise Pentland their Chief Counsel. While that would not normally be a major announcement, we do not live in normal times. Pentland came to Disney after two decades of high level legal support at innovative companies. Most recently, she served as Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer at PayPal, which as a financial services company has navigated a variety of legal and regulatory issues.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Disney Experiences wanted to add to their legal team. With ongoing legal disputes in the state of Florida, Disney is suing and is being sued in a state where their relationship with the levers of power were previously strong. As Disney determines how much of the $60 billion they are investing in the parks business will be allocated to Florida, you can imagine that they would like a resolution to the political mess that they found themselves in. Pentland has more on her plate than these high-profile challenges, but it will be interesting to see how Disney further navigates their public disputes.
Bruce Vaughn
Who says that you can’t come home again? This year, Walt Disney Imagineering welcomed back Bruce Vaughn who now holds the position of Chief Creative Officer. Most recently he was at Airbnb where he was “concentrating on creating meaningful connections between travelers and locals around the world through authentic experiences.” But now he is back at Imagineering where he will be guiding the creative side of the 60 billion dollar investment that Disney plans to make over the next ten years.
The economic situation was a lot different when Vaughn ran WDI previously. Instead of massive Galaxy’s Edge style projects, Vaughn was known for interactive small scale initiatives such as Lucky the Dinosaur and Turtle Talk with Crush. Now that Disney has renewed their commitment to spending some money, and they have seen the positive impact that investment can have, it will be interesting to see how Imagineering executes over the next decade. We may have gotten a taste as we saw the evolution of Disney’s Animal Kingdom from hosting Zootopia to the Tropical Americas. Hopefully this August we will know more about the projects Disney plans on launching over the next ten years. By that time, Bruce Vaughn should have had enough time to make his mark.
For those counting, we have listed 8 people thus far. Tomorrow, check out our Person of the Year for the math to add up.