Gary Marsh to Exit as Disney Branded Television President, Chief Creative Officer

Tony Maglio
·2 min read

Disney Branded Television President and Chief Creative Officer Gary Marsh is stepping down after 33 years with the company. He will launch his own production company, which has a deal with Disney.

Under that pact, Marsh will make two new “Descendants” movies and a “Beauty and the Beast” prequel, as well as series “Tink,” “School for Sensitive Souls” and “Witch Mountain.” Marsh, who departs Disney proper at the end of 2021, will create content for all of Disney’s many platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, ABC, National Geographic, Freeform and FX.

While you might not know Gary Marsh’s name, you know his work. Marsh developed and shepherded iconic Disney shows like “High School Musical,” “Hannah Montana,” “Lizzie McGuire,” “The Descendants” and “That’s So Raven,” among many others. And parents owe him a debt of gratitude — it was Marsh who launched Disney Junior Channel and shows like “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” “Doc McStuffins,” “Elena of Avalor” and “Sofia the First.”

“For 33 years, I’ve had the greatest job in television,” Marsh said in a statement on Tuesday. “The stories we’ve told, the music we’ve created, the stars we’ve discovered, the franchises we’ve built – all of it has entertained and engaged millions of kids and families around the globe. Thanks to the reach of Disney’s streaming platforms, those stories will live forever in the hearts and minds of future generations, alongside all the new stories I look forward to telling. There simply could not be a more compelling or creatively stimulating time to enter the production ranks.”

“Gary’s leadership and creative genius have shaped a generation of beloved kids and family programming, and we are forever grateful for the indelible impact he’s made at The Walt Disney Company,” Peter Rice, chairman of Disney General Entertainment, added. “Gary is a valued leader and good friend, and we’ve been talking about this move for years. So when he decided to focus solely on producing after three decades of an amazing executive career, I jumped at the opportunity to keep him among us.”

Marsh’s move has been in the works for quite a while, Disney said on Tuesday. He agreed to stay put through Disney’s acquisition of most of the Fox assets and the company reorg that followed. And then there was COVID.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • X vows to 'robustly challenge' Australia order to remove stabbing posts

    Social media platform X said on Saturday it would challenge in court an order from an Australian regulator demanding the company remove some posts related to the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney. Police charged a boy, 16, with a terrorism offence on Thursday for the alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a church in the New South Wales capital on Monday. X's Global Government Affairs posted on Saturday that the Australian eSafety Commissioner had ordered it "to remove certain posts in Australia that publicly commented on the recent attack against a Christian Bishop".

  • Taylor Swift – live updates: Patti Smith sends pop star a message after Tortured Poets mention

    Pop star shares message with fans from Instagram as fans celebrate new album release, with many noticing several lyrical references to The 1975’s Matty Healy along with her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn

  • F1 Chinese Grand Prix LIVE: Qualifying start time and updates in Shanghai as Max Verstappen wins sprint race

    Formula 1 updates from the Shanghai International Circuit as China hosts the first sprint weekend of the season

  • 'Bombing' hits Iraq military base housing pro-Iranian force, Iraqi officials say

    Several people were wounded in a “bombing” overnight on an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, two security sources said early Saturday. The explosion hit the Calso military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, is stationed, according to an interior ministry source and a military official.The ministry of interior official said the “aerial bombing” had killed one person and wounded eight others,

  • Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops

    Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of the frontier on April 11, dealing a big blow to a well-equipped military that is struggling to govern and is now facing a critical test of its battlefield credibility. Three witnesses on the Thai and Myanmar sides of the border said they heard explosions and heavy machine gun fire near a strategic bridge from late on Friday that continued into early Saturday. Several Thai media outlets said about 200 people had crossed the border to seek temporary refuge in Thailand.

  • Ingram, Valanciunas lift Zion-less Pelicans past Kings and into the playoffs

    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hustle plays and production from up and down the lineup helped the New Orleans Pelicans overcome the absence of leading-scorer Zion Williamson, keep their season alive and avoid a historically significant loss. Brandon Ingram scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans booked a spot in the NBA playoffs with a 105-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings in a play-in tournament elimination game on Friday night. “We stayed togeth

  • Venice Biennale titled 'Foreigners Everywhere' platforms LGBTQ+, outsider and Indigenous artists

    Outsider, queer and Indigenous artists are getting an overdue platform at the 60th Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition that opens Saturday, curated for the first time by a Latin American. Brazilian curator Adriano Pedrosa’s main show, which accompanies 88 national pavilions for the seven-month run, is strong on figurative painting, with fewer installations than recent editions. A preponderance of artists are from the Global South, long overlooked by the mainstream art world circuits.

  • Chinese F1 Grand Prix qualifying: latest updates from Shanghai

    Chinese F1 Grand Prix qualifying: latest updates from Shanghai

  • MMA: Brendan Loughnane takes stoppage win in 86 seconds at PFL 3 on return after 10 months out

    Manchester fighter Brendan Loughnane opens his PFL 2024 season with a stoppage win over Pedro Carvalho.

  • Saturday's gossip: Zidane, De Zerbi, Guimaraes, Sancho, Maatsen, Todibo, De Jong

    Zinedine Zidane would prefer taking over at Manchester United rather than Bayern Munich, Bruno Guimaraes could be set to stay at Newcastle - plus more.

  • Blue Jays vs. Padres Highlights

    Justin Turner and the Blue Jays take on Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres on April 19th, 2024

  • Co-op Live, Manchester's £365m new arena, opens with big capacity and plans

    A new £365m venue in Manchester is backed by Harry Styles and aims to tempt major events from London.

  • Q1 2024 Acme United Corp Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Acme United Corp Earnings Call

  • Hilary Cass says criticism of Cass Review ‘inaccurate’ and ‘unforgivable’

    The 66-year-old healthcare professional fears for her safety in the wake of the report’s publication and subsequent online abuse aimed at her.

  • Q1 2024 Fifth Third Bancorp Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Fifth Third Bancorp Earnings Call

  • White Sox vs. Phillies Highlights

    Gavin Sheets and the White Sox take on Alec Bohm and the Phillies on April 19th, 2024

  • Senate passes reauthorization of key US surveillance program after midnight deadline

    WASHINGTON (AP) — After its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse. The legislation approved 60-34 with bipartisan support would extend for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to become law. White House n

  • Tesla cuts US prices of Models Y, X, S by $2,000

    Tesla cut the U.S. prices of its Model Y, Model X and Model S vehicles by $2,000 each on Friday, days after the first-quarter deliveries of the world's most valuable automaker missed market expectations. Elon Musk's electric-vehicle (EV) maker lowered the prices for its Model Y base variant to $42,990, while the long-range and performance variants are now priced at $47,990 and $51,490, respectively, according to its website. Tesla North America also said in a post on X said it would end its referral program benefits in all markets after April 30.

  • Jordan Montgomery wins in debut, Diamondbacks get 22 hits in 17-1 win over Giants

    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jordan Montgomery pitched six strong innings in his season debut, Blaze Alexander hit a grand slam and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants 17-1 on Friday night. Ahead 2-1 in the fifth, Arizona used a three-run fifth to pull away, stringing together three straight two-out hits against reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell by Christian Walker, Eugenio Suárez and Randal Grichuk. Grichuk’s two-run double to left drove in Walker and Suárez to give the D

  • Spain Tried to Outlaw Its Separatists: Now They Call the Shots

    (Bloomberg) -- After the Spanish state released the activists who’d been jailed for their connections to the Basque terrorist group ETA, most faded into the background. But not Arnaldo Otegi.Most Read from BloombergTraders Are Cashing Out of Markets En MasseNew York’s Rich Get Creative to Flee State Taxes. Auditors Are On to ThemElon Wants His Money Back‘Mag Seven’ Get Crushed Before Next Week’s Results: Markets WrapDubai Grinds to Standstill as Flooding Hits CityWhen he was let out in 2016 Oteg