Craig Erwich, the president of the Disney Television Group, recently interviewed to talk about the future of Disney television with AI, vertical video formats, and more.
Craig Erwich Discusses the Future of Disney Television
Erwich started the interview by expressing his optimism for the new Disney CEO, Josh D’Amaro, noting that it feels like the company is in good shape. He also discussed leaning into coming-of-age stories, like Hulu’s Tell Me Lies, which had its largest-ever audience with its third series finale. There have been discussions with creator Meaghan Oppenheimer for a spinoff series. This “endless fodder for storytelling” in the coming-of-age genre inspired other new shows like Coven Academy, which is coming to Disney+ this summer.
Erwich also talked about exploring short form vertical content, which can be seen in the Disney+ show, Locker Diaries, where characters from franchises like Phineas and Ferb and The Descendants roam through the halls of high school. The Descendants cast will soon be joining the Zombies cast for a “Worlds Collide” concert tour with the Camp Rock 3 stars, and new Zombies and Descendants movies will be released in the future as well.
There is also a push to focus on legacy shows, like with the newly announced Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special and the Muppets Show special that released a few weeks ago. ABC shows like Malcom in the Middle and Scrubs are returning for their own specials as well.
Erwich mentioned that Joe Brumm, the creator of Bluey, will have his first foray in adult animation with a Hulu adaption of the social media shorts Deano. And when asked about user-generated AI content on Disney+, he noted that AI is a tool that productions have been using, but “the key is that any use of it has to be human-led.” He referenced the use of AI in the post-production process for the cyclops character Tyson in Percy Jackson.
You can read the full interview here.
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