Amid a torrent of fan-friendly news about Disney projects across the media spectrum, Disney leadership took time on the first day of the three-day D23 fan fest weekend in Anaheim for panels that offered a behind the scenes look at the Mouse House’s business strategies and vision for driving growth in the streaming era.
One of the topics tackled was how to reach next-generation Disney fans with next-generation content formats to keep the company’s many franchises relevant to Gen Alpha and beyond. Disney’s push into the booming vertical media space — aka microdramas and other shortform clips designed to be viewed on mobile phones — was discussed in detail during a session with Eric Schrier, Disney’s president of Direct-to-Consumer International Originals, Strategic Programming and Emerging Media, and Erin Teague, who is executive VP of Product Management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
The conversation was moderated by Jon YouShaei, a YouTube and Instagram executive turned creator and podcaster, and it also featured the perspective of Disney-centric creator Blake Silva as a panelist.
Schrier emphasized that the “Verts” push on Disney+ is a significant investment for the Mouse. The company last week unveiled a pact with TikTok designed to encourage more fans to create clips with authorized Disney IP. This is a big change for the company that has historically vigorously enforced its copyright and trademark rights.
