Less than a month into his new job as Senior EVP and Chief Communications Officer at The Walt Disney Company, Disney veteran Paul Roeder has unveiled the structure of the operation and his leadership team.
He laid out the details in an internal memo, which lists Roeder’s direct reports: David Jefferson, EVP, Communications; April Carretta, EVP, Communications; Carrie Brown, SVP, Internal Communications; and Mariana Vaca, Director, Communications.
This marks a promotion for Carretta, who had been heading communications for Direct-to-Consumer since 2022, working for DTC President Joe Earley, recently named co-President of the division.
Carretta will continue in the role while also adding games and responsibilities as the day-to-day comms lead for Dana Walden in her new role as Disney Co.’s President and Chief Creative Officer.
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Naomi Bulochnikov, who led comms for Walden while the latter was co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment, remains EVP, Communications, Disney Entertainment, and will continue to lead comms for DET, reporting to newly elevated DET Chairman Debra OConnell and Roeder.
Bulochnikov is among several Segment Communications Leads listed by Roeder, along with Alannah Hall-Smith, EVP, Communications & Public Affairs, DX; Josh Krulewitz, EVP, ESPN Communications; Bridget Osterhaus, VP, Communications; and Erin Barrier, SVP, Communications, Studios.
“This group brings deep expertise, strong judgment, and genuine care for this company and for one another,” Roeder said.
Here is an excerpt from his memo that spells out the duties and reporting for his senior executive team:
Corporate Teams Reporting to Me
David Jefferson, EVP, Communications, will continue leading day-to-day corporate communications efforts including Public Affairs, Media Relations, and CSR. He will also now lead our international communications teams, working closely with our regional comms leads to drive greater collaboration and alignment. Belina Tan (APAC), Amy Holland (EMEA) and Felicitas Castrillon (LATAM) will continue to report to their respective regional presidents and now also to David.
April Carretta has been promoted to EVP, Communications. In her new role, April will continue leading communications for Direct-to-Consumer and our tech & product team (DEEPT) while also adding the responsibility for Games. She will also be the day-to-day comms lead for Dana in her new role as President and Chief Creative Officer. Please join me in congratulating April on this well-deserved promotion.
– Mimi Fong, VP, Communications, will be joining April’s team to support our International Content comms, working closely with Eric Schrier and Joe Earley.Carrie Brown, SVP, Internal Communications, will now report directly to me and will continue leading our enterprise-wide employee communications and engagement efforts, as well as providing internal comms support to our corporate functions.
Mariana Vaca has joined my team as Director, Communications. She will work across all our teams to ensure we stay connected, aligned, and informed of our priorities and progress.
Segment Communications Leads
Alannah Hall-Smith, EVP, Communications & Public Affairs, DX, will continue leading comms for DX, dual reporting to Thomas Mazloum and me.
Josh Krulewitz, EVP, ESPN Communications, will continue to dual report to Jimmy Pitaro and me.
Naomi Bulochnikov, EVP, Communications, Disney Entertainment, will continue leading comms for DET, including Advertising. She will dual report to Debra OConnell and me.
Bridget Osterhaus, VP, Communications, will continue leading comms for our Platform Distribution organization and will now dual report to Naomi and Josh.
Erin Barrier, SVP, Communications, Studios, was recently promoted to this role leading comms for all of DE Studios, and will dual report to Alan Bergman and me.