HBCU Spotlight: James Smartt Jr., Content Production Undergraduate Associate

Photo of James Smartt Jr with a Disney on the Yard banner, Text: James Smartt Jr. Content Production Undergraduate Associate, The Walt Disney Company Disney on the Yard

Meet James, a graduate of Morehouse College working as a Digital Content Production Intern with Disney’s Global Talent Acquisition Marketing. In this role, James supports the creation of content and visual aids attracting candidates to open roles across The Walt Disney Company. In addition to his internship responsibilities, James is excited to make a positive impact on those around him and give back to current HBCU students. Learn more about James and his contributions to Disney on the Yard and The Walt Disney Company.

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Disney Cruise Line Celebrates World Maritime Day 2022

Text: Celebrating World Martime Day, Disney Cruise Line

Each September, the world celebrates the importance of the maritime industry on World Maritime Day. At Disney Cruise Line, we are always happy to recognize our amazing crew members onboard our ships and at Castaway Cay, a Disney destination located in the Abaco chain of The Bahamas. This year’s World Maritime Day theme is greener shipping, and we were excited to speak with several of our crew members about why conservation and “going green” are important to them both professionally and personally.

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Disney General Entertainment’s Writing Program Names 2022 Participants

Photo collage of the 12 DGE Writing Program participants, Text: Disney General Entertainment Content

Disney General Entertainment (DGE) proudly announces the writers selected for its 2022 Writing Program and names the recipient of Disney Branded Television’s Eunetta T. Boone Comedy Writer’s Scholarship, established in 2020 by Disney Channel in honor of the late writer/producer for diverse and aspiring comedy writers.

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Episode 2: The Walt Disney Studios – Global Marketing and Virtual Production

Text: Life at Disney

Walt Disney Studios is the core of where The Walt Disney Company started nearly 100 years ago. Today it brings quality movies, episodic storytelling, music, and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. This week both our guests hail from our Disney Studios content team, Nicole Roberts, Senior Manager of Global Marketing, and Ian Milham, Virtual Production Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Our guests take us behind the scenes of their roles, by sharing all the moving parts that go into creating global marketing campaigns, the virtual production process used on The Mandalorian, and how technology is creating new and exciting roles within Studios.

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Celebrate Voces Unidas with The Walt Disney Company

Text: Disney Reimagine Tomorrow Voces Unidas

Voces Unidas celebrates the vibrancy of Hispanic and Latinx cultures and honors the unity of the voices, communities, heritage, and traditions woven throughout Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking countries.​ From September 15 through October 15, during the anniversaries of the independence of many Latin American countries, The Walt Disney Company uplifts stories of Hispanic and Latinx cultures around the world. In celebration of Voces Unidas, we will continue to support culture and unity by building programming to retain, develop, and advance equity for all Hispanic and Latinx talent and their allies across Disney.  

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Bringing Audiences Together: How The El Capitan Theatre and Broadway’s The Lion King Expand Accessible Storytelling

Scene from the Broadway show, The Lion King. Puppeteers moving giraffes and cheetahs on stage.

In celebration of Disability Pride Month, we went behind the curtain on some recent Disney initiatives that continue to explore ways to make our stories more accessible for everyone. Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution (DMED) is collaborating with KultureCity, a leading nonprofit focused on sensory accessibility and acceptance, to offer sensory-inclusive movie screenings at Hollywood’s historic The El Capitan Theatre.

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Episode 1: Technology at Disney – Emerging Technology and Machine Learning Engineering

Text: Life at Disney

Innovation is the foundation of what our Disney technologists do. Our technologists are constantly elevating, evolving, and pioneering the future of our streaming platforms, content, and more to always be one step ahead when creating the latest in immersive entertainment experiences. We are joined by two technologists this week, Rekha Bachwani, Director of Machine Learning Engineering with Disney Streaming, and Scott Ray, Director of Technology for Emerging Tech within Disney Parks, Experiences & Products – Technology & Digital. Rekha and Scott give an inside look at some of the projects they’re currently working on with our streaming platforms and our parks and resorts, discuss the culture of their teams, and share advice for anyone interested in a career with technology at Disney!

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Disney Surprises Local Community Food Banks in Orlando, Anaheim with $300K in Donations

Minnie Mouse, Disney and Second Harvest employees holding checks for 100,000 and 5,000 in front of Incredicoaster

Every year, Disney donates millions of pounds of food – including unserved, prepared meals from their parks – to local food banks to support people in the community facing food insecurity. Furthering this commitment, this week Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort announced significant donations to local community food banks to support families in need, totaling more than $300,000!

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Launching the Disney Wish Cruise Ship: Patricia Duerr, Product Management Director

Headshot of Patricia Duerr, Text: Patricia Duerr Product Management Director, DPEP

Patricia Duerr is a Product Management Director with the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Technology & Digital organization. In her role, she supports Disney Cruise Line digital products such as the Navigator app and the Disney Cruise Line website. She recently was on the opening team for the Disney Wish, the newest ship to join the Disney Cruise Line family. Learn more about Patricia’s role and her experience contributing to a new ship.

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