Disney Branded Television has aligned their unscripted and nonfiction content teams into three areas of focus, promoting five key executives in the process.
What’s Happening:
- Strengthening its commitment to dynamic storytelling, Disney Branded Television’s unscripted and nonfiction content development has been aligned into three teams dedicated to distinct areas of storytelling. Five talented executives have also been promoted to leverage their expertise further and amplify their influence in unscripted and nonfiction categories. The announcement was made today by Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television.
- The Unscripted group is now organized into three dedicated content teams:
- Disney Original Documentary
- Disney Branded Television Unscripted
- Disney Branded Television Partnerships and Kids
- The newly promoted executives are the following:
- Marjon Javadi to vice president, Disney Documentary Films and Docuseries, Disney Branded Television
- Nicole Silveira to vice president, Unscripted, Disney Branded Television
- Claire McCabe to vice president, Brand Partnerships and Kids, Disney Branded Television
- Meghan de Boer to executive director, Brand Partnerships and Kids, Disney Branded Television
- Jordan Gilbert to executive director, Unscripted, Disney Branded Television
- The team continues to report to Marc Buhaj, vice president, Unscripted and Nonfiction, under the senior leadership of Charlie Andrews, executive vice president, Live Action and Alternative Series, Disney Branded Television.
- Marjon Javadi, vice president, Disney Documentary Films and Docuseries, joined Disney in 2019 as director of Documentaries, and in her new role, she continues to work with filmmakers on real-life stories with universal, aspirational and optimistic themes, all for the Disney+ global streaming platform. Previously she worked in funding at Doc Society (The Edge of Democracy, Softie, Midnight Traveler) and, from its nascent stage, helped build the documentary unit at Netflix Originals (Virunga, Chef’s Table, Making a Murderer). She also worked in scripted as a production and development executive at Animal Kingdom Films and Scott Rudin Productions. She recently served on the jury at SXSW and DOC NYC.
- Nicole Silveira, vice president, Unscripted, Disney Branded Television, joined Disney in 2019 as part of the launch team for Disney+. Her remit is to create original, globally appealing, unscripted content for Disney+. Previously, she was head of Unscripted Development and vice president for Pilgrim Media Group. She also served as a development executive for ITV, focused on creating original formats for international broadcasters. Earlier, Silveira spent nearly a decade at NBCUniversal, developing and launching The Sing-Off, Minute to Win It and Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, among other hits for the network. She began her television career as a local news producer at KABC and KNBC. She is active in efforts both on screen and off to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion are part of the creative conversation.
- Claire McCabe, vice president, Brand Partnerships and Kids, Disney Branded Television, has more than 22 years of experience executive producing live specials, documentaries, game shows, music specials and short-form content. She was most recently vice president, Kids Alternative Programming, Disney Branded Television, working on Bug Juice and The Radio Disney Music Awards. Earlier, she spent 12 years at Viacom-owned channels, including as vice president, Original Programming and Series Development, at CMT in Nashville, where she executive produced Sweet Home Alabama. While at VH1, McCabe executive produced the Prism Award-winning series Breaking Bonaduce. At MTV, she worked on the hit series The Real World and Road Rules.
- Meghan de Boer, executive director, Brand Partnerships and Kids, Disney Branded Television, has more than 10 years of experience in unscripted content development and live-event production. Part of the Disney+ launch team, she has helped drive strategy for Variety and Specials. In her new role, she creates storytelling that leverages Disney IP and also develops projects to support young audiences. She joined Disney in 2008 as a producer for the Disney/ABC Digital Studio and won two Emmy Awards for executive producing The Oscars: All Access. She’s an executive committee member for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Interactive Media Peer Group and the Producer’s Guild of America’s New Media Council.
- Jordan Gilbert, executive director, Unscripted, Disney Branded Television, joined Disney in 2019 as director, Original Programming and was on the launch team for Disney+. His remit is to create original, globally appealing unscripted content for Disney+. For five years previously, he was vice president, Original Programming, at Lionsgate Television, and earlier, wrote for two seasons of the Emmy-nominated series Billy on the Street. Gilbert also served as a creative executive at Yahoo Inc. in branded entertainment and was a manager, Digital Content, for Universal Pictures.
What They’re Saying:
- Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television: “Aligning our strengths into three areas of dedicated focus across unscripted and nonfiction content prepares us to maximize the biggest global opportunities in this unique space, one with unlimited possibilities of stories not yet told. Charlie, Marc, Marjon, Nicole, Claire, Meghan and Jordan are energized to make the best unscripted content with creative minds across Disney and throughout our industry and to continue delivering compelling and entertaining stories that reflect the Disney brand that families have loved for nearly 100 years.”