In her first full week leading Disney’s general entertainment division, Dana Walden praised her former boss Peter Rice, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek, and pledged to make the studio a place for creativity and inclusion.
“I promise you that I will do everything I can to support you and make sure that DGE is the best place in the business to work,” Walden wrote in the memo. “A place that thrives on creativity and creative risk-taking; a place where people can bring their authentic, true selves to work every day; a place where inclusion is top priority and collaboration is celebrated; and a place where we will never stop working to be the very best home for talent. Let’s remember we are in the business of storytelling – what’s cooler than that? Let’s celebrate each other’s wins, show up for one another, watch each other’s shows, and connect even more together as a team.”
Walden was named chairman of Disney general entertainment content last week after Rice was ousted by Chapek. Walden, like Rice, joined Disney in 2019 as part of its acquisition of the entertainment assets of 21st Century Fox. She had been chairman and CEO of Fox Television Group before joining Disney, where she led entertainment content for Walt Disney Television.
In her memo, Walden had nothing but praise for Rice.
“I am very fortunate to have worked alongside Peter Rice for a long time,” Walden wrote. “We have been friends for almost three decades and he was my boss for eight years. He is a gifted executive, and I learned a lot from him. I know you all join me in wishing him the best in whatever he chooses to do next.”
And she also thanked Chapek “for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime.”
Through quarterly content presentations, where our talented leaders have shared each brand’s priorities, he has become well connected to the dazzling work being done by each team,” she wrote. “Bob is enormously proud of what we do, and as The Walt Disney Company enters its second century, I look forward to joining forces with all of you to help deliver on his priorities: storytelling excellence, innovation, and a relentless focus on our audience.”
Read Walden’s full memo, below.
Subject: A Message from Dana Walden
As I begin the first week of my new job, I wanted to start by letting you know how amazed and impressed I am by all of you each and every day. Let me give you some reasons why:
ABC Entertainment ended the broadcast season as the #1 entertainment network among Adults 18-49 for the third year in a row – the first time this has happened in 25 years. ABBOTT ELEMENTARY is a breakout hit and is the first broadcast comedy in more than a decade to be 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes in its first season.
ABC News continues to dominate as the #1 NEWS NETWORK IN AMERICA!
Disney Television Studios had one of the most-celebrated runs for any series of the past decade with THIS IS US. In addition to record viewership for its finale, it has the distinction of being the #1 broadcast drama in every season it aired. GREY’S ANATOMY surpassed 400 episodes and after 18 seasons is still one of the top-rated shows on television.
Disney Branded Television, the leading provider of original content for the Disney tile on Disney+, has made Disney Channel the #1 cable network among Girls 6-11 for 52 straight quarters and has led Disney Junior to be the #1 preschool network since 2013.
Freeform remains the #1 primetime entertainment cable network of the season among Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34. CRUEL SUMMER scored record ratings, ranking as the network’s best-ever series debut.
FX has two of the Top 5 scripted series on cable among Adults 18-49 – SNOWFALL and MAYANS M.C. – as well as two of the Top 5 primetime scripted cable comedies among Adults 18-49 – WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS and IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA.
Hulu Originals launched their most-watched drama series of all time, NINE PERFECT STRANGERS; the most-watched comedy of all time, ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING; and the most-watched unscripted series of all time, THE KARDASHIANS, which was also Hulu’s most-watched series premiere ever.
National Geographic Documentary Films released Academy Award-, BAFTA- and seven-time Emmy Award-winning film, FREE SOLO, and Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Peabody-winning film, THE CAVE. National Geographic picked up two BAFTA nominations for THE RESCUE and BECOMING COUSTEAU.
Onyx Collective’s debut project, SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED), a partnership with Searchlight Pictures, won an Academy Award, a Peabody, a GRAMMY, a BAFTA, swept the Critics Choice Awards and has also won over 60 awards across critics’ groups and guilds.
Last year alone, across all our brands, our programming received more than 1,000 award nominations!!!
THIS is Disney General Entertainment! All of these wins, and so many more, are YOURS!
And, this is the foundation we will build on together. I promise you that I will do everything I can to support you and make sure that DGE is the best place in the business to work. A place that thrives on creativity and creative risk-taking; a place where people can bring their authentic, true selves to work every day; a place where inclusion is top priority and collaboration is celebrated; and a place where we will never stop working to be the very best home for talent. Let’s remember we are in the business of storytelling – what’s cooler than that? Let’s celebrate each other’s wins, show up for one another, watch each other’s shows, and connect even more together as a team.
In reflecting on my own professional journey, I am very fortunate to have worked alongside Peter Rice for a long time. We have been friends for almost three decades and he was my boss for eight years. He is a gifted executive, and I learned a lot from him. I know you all join me in wishing him the best in whatever he chooses to do next.
Finally, I’d like to express my immense appreciation to Bob Chapek for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. Through quarterly content presentations, where our talented leaders have shared each brand’s priorities, he has become well connected to the dazzling work being done by each team. Bob is enormously proud of what we do, and as The Walt Disney Company enters its second century, I look forward to joining forces with all of you to help deliver on his priorities: storytelling excellence, innovation, and a relentless focus on our audience.
I could not be more excited to be starting this next chapter of my career with all of you.
Warmest regards,
Dana
Source: Hollywood
