Disney‘s Head of Theatrical Distribution, Tony Chambers, who has steered the studio throughout the pandemic, past the streaming theatrical day and date craziness and back to a $5 billion global box office boom on the big screen last year with titles like Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 is segueing from his position to become the President of The Walt Disney Company, EMEA region. This becomes effective in February.
Chambers will be replacing Jan Koeppen who is stepping down as regional lead after six-year tenure, as part of a restructure of EMEA for Disney. He’ll report to Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
A new global Head of Theatrical Distribution will be named in the near future. The first movie out of the gate this year for Disney is Feb. 14’s Marvel Studios title Captain America: Brave New World. Disney became the first studio in 2024 to cross $5 billion post pandemic. The last time a studio hit that mark was in 2019. Last year repped the sixth time that Disney grossed more than $5B around the world since 2010.
Chambers is a 30-year studio vet and has led the theatrical distribution team since Jan. 8, 2021. He oversaw distribution on all movies from the Walt Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and Searchlight Pictures labels. Previously, Chambers was SVP of Studio Distribution, Europe, and UK and Ireland country manager.
Koeppen was appointed President of The Walt Disney Company EMEA in 2019 with responsibility for leading the EMEA business commercially and operationally in over 130 markets across the region. In this role he has overall responsibility of Disney’s portfolio in EMEA, including Disney+, motion pictures, television, content licensing, local original productions and stage plays as well as strategy and business development. Before Disney, Koeppen was President, Fox Networks Group (FNG) Europe & Africa, and prior to that was Chief Operating Officer of 21st Century Fox, Europe & Asia.
“EMEA is a key region in terms of the success of our business globally, and as we realign our strategy for our entertainment businesses there, we are fortunate to transition between two fantastic leaders,” said Alan Bergman and Dana Walden, Co-Chairmen, Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN. “Tony Chambers is a seasoned senior executive who has a highly collaborative style and stellar reputation in EMEA and across the company, and he brings a wealth of experience to this important new role. We look forward to continuing to accelerate our growth in EMEA and around the world, and we are immensely grateful for Jan’s exceptional contributions, which have made a meaningful and enduring difference to this team and the company during his tenure.”
“I’m truly honored to be leading the world-class EMEA team in this new capacity,” Chambers commented. “It’s a dynamic region that has gone through incredible, positive change over the past several years and I’m very eager now to build on that momentum.”
Koeppen noted: “I’m grateful for the incredible six years I have had at Disney, working with some of the most talented and creative people in the industry through a period of profound transformation and growth as we launched and established Disney+ in the region. I leave with a full heart and with great pride in the exceptional Disney EMEA team.”
Disney is restructuring how its entertainment businesses in EMEA function to ensure unification of the company’s global strategy. In the new reorg, US-based global leaders will have direct P&L oversight of the regional businesses, leading those teams and setting the strategy. This includes Theatrical Distribution, Platform Distribution, Direct-to-Consumer, Ad Sales, Networks, Local Original Content, Studio Marketing and Sports. The regional president will continue to be the studio’s rep in the region and be responsible for consolidating strategic priorities and financials and coordinating teams at the regional level, leading local initiatives that span across businesses (excluding Disney Experiences), and overseeing shared service functions including human resources, communications, and finance.
The Walt Disney Company in EMEA operates in over 130 markets, reaching two thirds of adults through its lines of business that includes Disney+ since 2020. It has been a high growth area of the world for them since 2019. The studio is planning to commit $5 billion over the next five years to produce more blockbuster movies and TV shows in EMEA, which includes local originals for Disney+.