When the highlight of a discussion between Dana Walden and Ken Ziffren is how to pronounce the series name 9-1-1, you know the keynote at the UCLA Entertainment Symposium is not going to be a big newsmaker.
But at least the Disney Entertainment co-chair got to show off her wry sense of humor when correcting Ziffren, who referred to the Ryan Murphy drama as “9/11” when asking about Disney/ABC franchises.
“9-1-1,” she responded with a little smile. “Different show.”
Walden also generated laughs when she explained how FX’s John Landgraf encouraged her to filibuster during the Q&A that was part of this year’s “Hollywood ’25: Survive or Thrive” symposium at UCLA. She really didn’t have to; Ziffen had plenty of softball questions to fill the hour that covered green lighting, short-form content, O&Os, and linear ratings. It was a relatively nap inducing session but Walden, who clearly recognized that her childhood friend’s dad wasn’t going to put her on the hot seat, answered them with respect and enthusiasm.
Her responses in a nutshell: Generally, she lets her brand leaders give the green lights, though she will get involved on big ticket items like Shogun. Why yes! Disney creates more than 30,000 pieces of short-form content a year to help with marketing. She’s totally cool with their owned and operated footprint that covers 22% of the country. Sure, a Nielsen report recently said that streaming is getting more views these days than broadcast, but it’s July, man. Just wait until the NFL comes back. And bundling — be it soft or hard — is a successful strategy for Disney!
Ziffen did make a half-hearted attempt to get a headline out of Walden by asking her to predict the future of consolidation, but she kept her answer controversy-free. “I don’t think that would be a crazy prediction,” she responded, before adding, “I’m more focused on opportunities for us right now … I would say now, for us, the best possible content, widest possible distribution, partnerships that are meaningful and make sense to our consumers, those are things we’re thinking about. ”
She did get a few chances to boast about the company’s successes, like its 60 Emmy wins last year and how High Potential has been viewed by 40 million people over the company’s multiple platforms. And she got personal, albeit briefly, by sharing how she really enjoyed Adolescence and The White Lotus.
When it came time to find out about her mentors, Ziffren gave Walden an out by saying she didn’t have to mention Bob Iger. She did, anyway. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t say what an extraordinary privilege it has been to work with him,” she said. “He is just formidable and cares so much about the culture.”
