Earlier today, Deadline reported that Liam Keelan, SVP of Original Content, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) for Disney, is exiting his role.
Liam Keelan Exiting Disney
Liam Keelan, who has been with Disney for nearly five years, announced that he is leaving the company in early 2025. The process of hiring his replacement has yet to begin. The person who replaces Keelan will report to Disney’s EVP of Media Networks and Content, Diego Londono.
When Disney+ went international, Keelan was put in charge of building the Europe and Africa programming teams. Since going international, his team has produced 70 originals, including shows such as “Renegade Nell,” “Extraordinary,” and “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld,” the latter of which stars Daniel Bruhl.
Londono issued the following statement to Deadline regarding Keelan’s exit:
Since 2020, Liam has brought an incredible creativity and commitment in delivering a wide-ranging local originals slate across EMEA. I am so proud of the shows Liam has steered, but also of the team he’s built.
We’ve constantly evolved to bring our Disney+ customers great local titles, from award winning titles such as Extraordinary, The Ignorant Angels and The Good Mothers to local hits such as Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story, Lions of Sicily and Our Only Chance, and not to forget an amazing line up of upcoming titles such as Rivals, The Disappearance of Kimi Diore, A Thousand Blows and Vienna Game. This is all thanks to Liam’s leadership and decision making. I wish him all the best in his next endeavor.
Keelan had this to say about his time with Disney:
It’s been an absolute blast running the Disney+ Originals team. I’ll forever be grateful to Diego Londono and [Disney EMEA President] Jan Koeppen for backing me every step of the way as we launched our first raft of commissions and set about changing expectations of what a Disney+ show might be.
Starting from scratch almost five years ago, I’m so proud of the range, quality and awards our shows have brought to Disney+. Any success is testament to the brilliant teams we have here in the UK and across the European markets – their passion and creativity has been truly inspiring.
The news of Keelan’s departure breaks just one day after reports indicated that another round of layoffs is imminent for The Walt Disney Company. Around 300 corporate employees were laid off in September, and Disney Entertainment Television shrunk its workforce in the summer.
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