Disney Names Mike White as Senior Vice President in Charge of Next Generation Storytelling

Disney is diving into the metaverse, as Disney Ceo Bob Chapek has appointed an executive to lead their strategy. Chapek appointed Mike White, who will serve as Disney’s senior vice president of next-generation storytelling and Consumer Experiences, where he will help define how consumers experience Disney’s coming metaverse. He will work alongside Disney’s creative teams, Reuters has learned.

“For nearly 100 years, our company has defined and re-defined entertainment by leveraging technology to bring stories to life in deeper, more impactful ways,” Chapek said in the memo, which Disney shared with The Verge.

“Today, we have an opportunity to connect those universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories,” he continued. “This is the so-called metaverse, which I believe is the next great storytelling frontier and the perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of Storytelling Excellence, Innovation, and Audience Focus.”

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Back in November, during an investors call briefly mentioned their interests in exploring the metaverse and again during last week’s Q1 earnings call. Though Disney has been very vague about how they want to dive into the metaverse, they have a large library of IP across all their studio platforms making them a no-brainer fit for the next generation of entertainment and storytelling.

“While the storytelling that will define our metaverse presence will of course emanate from our creative teams, Mike will establish our overall vision and strategy for the consumer journey through these new story worlds,” Chapek said in the memo. “As part of this, Mike will quickly assemble a structure and put in place processes to prioritize and allocate resources, explore partnerships, and facilitate knowledge sharing. Mike will also lead a taskforce that will include senior leaders from key disciplines across the company, including technology, strategy, and of course, storytelling.”

Before joining Disney in 2011, Mike White held the position Sr. Director of Strategy and Technology at Yahoo. He was at Yahoo in high-level executive positions since 2004. We should expect to hear more on his job duties and what Disney plans to do in the metaverse at this year’s D23 Expo in September.