Jun 7, 2022

Disney Expands Metaverse Plan, Hires Apple Veteran Mark Bozon for Key Creative Role

Disney has hired former Apple gaming executive Mark Bozon to lead the company's Metaverse division.

Who is Mark Bozon and why was he hired - Bozon is a 12-year veteran of Apple's creative and gaming business. His official title at Disney is Vice President of Next Generation Storytelling and Creative Experience, and he was hired to build a team that will work on interconnected consumer experiences across immersive storytelling mediums. His team will work with colleagues across all of Disney's businesses.

Disney's Seriousness About the Metaverse - Disney CEO Bob Chapek has been one of the strongest supporters of Disney's commitment to the Metaverse; in an interview published in Fortune magazine in January 2022, Chapek said that the "traditional definition of media" breaking down and describing a future Disney that "blends digital storytelling with physical storytelling, like a metaverse that paints on a three-dimensional canvas." [In a February memo to staff, Chapek reinforced that stance by describing the Metaverse as "the next great storytelling frontier and the perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of storytelling excellence, innovation, and audience focus." Teams across the company are exploring this new canvas and I am overwhelmed by what I see.

What steps is Disney taking to realize its Metaverse goals-In February, Chapek appointed veteran executive Mike White as senior vice president of next-generation storytelling and consumer experience at The Walt Disney Company. In a memo announcing the appointment, White was described as responsible for organizing the company's initiative to merge "the physical and digital worlds."

In April, the L.A. Times reported that White met with leaders from all of Disney's businesses to lay the groundwork for the company's future Metaverse strategy. At the time, White reportedly met with executives from Parks & Imagineering, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Industrial Light & Magic to set up a task force to brainstorm the best way to approach new technologies.

How this will affect consumers - it is too early to say for sure, but early indications do not hint at a fully digital William Gibson-like cyberspace where fans can wear headsets and live inside their favorite Disney movies It does not seem to be the case. From what has been shared publicly, it is clear that White, a former Parks Experience and Products executive, and other Disney executives are working on ways to connect physical spaces like theme parks to digital components like Disney+ and other virtual environments that may appear in the future. It is clear that they are developing this. Another possibility is immersive virtual environments in theme parks, for which Disney recently filed a technology patent.

In an interview with CNBC in February, Chapek said that Disney's Metaverse plan "takes all the great things we have in Disney+ as a media company and uses that as a platform for the Metaverse. And if the Metaverse is about merging the physical and the digital in one environment, who could do that better than Disney?

"Who can do it better than Disney?" Disney CEO Bob Chapek hints at plans to bring his company into the Metaverse in a post-earnings chat with @JBoorstin. https://t.co/kNFrfbaFKr pic.twitter.com/dqgZi8gmnp

- CNBC (@CNBC) February 9, 2022

Photo at top: Ralph Blakes the Internet" [21]