According to Deadline, film and TV public relations awards executive René Ridinger has been named VP, Awards at Walt Disney Studios.
What’s Happening:
- Ridinger will focus on strategy and talent relations, working closely with internal executives and marketing and publicity teams.
- In addition, Strategy PR vet Nikki Adler will be joining the Burbank, CA studio as Director, Awards, to oversee awards publicity, guild, and event strategy.
- Samy Gaballa, a 20-year Disney veteran, will be stepping into a new role as Creative Arts Director, spearheading all awards-related creative.
- The new awards team encompasses publicity, creative, and media and will handle film and episodic content across all labels in Disney Studios Content, including Disney Live Action, Disney Animation, Pixar Animation, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios (with the exception of Searchlight Pictures, which remains in-house at that label).
- The team is seated under Michelle Sewell, EVP, Global Publicity, as part of the marketing team led by the Studios’ President of Marketing Asad Ayaz.
- Ridinger’s last role was documentary publicity at Netflix, and before that she spent two decades as an agency publicist
- Adler has been at Disney since June, while Ridinger and Gaballa start on July 18th.