Michael Cerda (pictured) joins the House of Mouse’s upcoming streaming service Disney+ as its new VP of product.
In his new role, he will work to strengthen the global consumer experience for the platform across mobile and connected TV devices. He will work alongside Disney+’s engineering, marketing, business development and content groups.
Cerda jumps to Disney from Goldman Sachs bank Marcus where he served as chief product officer and managing director for two years. Previously, he served as chief experience officer at Live Nation and as head of media products for Facebook, where he launched Facebook live video and Facebook music stories.
Jerrell Jimerson, Disney’s streaming services’ SVP of product management, UX and design, announced the appointment in an internal memo to staff on May 1. Cerda, who will report to Jimerson, begins this month and will split his time between San Francisco and New York.
Disney+ is launching on November 12 in the US for US$6.99 per month before rolling out internationally over the next two years.
When Disney reorganized to form its direct-to-consumer unit last year, it appointed House of Mouse-vet Kevin Mayer as direct-to-consumer and international chairman in charge of leading Disney+ and TV/film content across all global, multiplatform media, technology and distribution groups. Disney then upped its film marketing president Ricky Strauss to president of content and marketing for Disney+. He oversees the creative vision for Disney’s full portfolio of feature films, episodic series and short-form content. Rounding out the senior leadership is SVP of content Agnes Chu and marketing chief Joe Early. Internationally, Disney’s DTC unit is led by Rebecca Campbell in EMEA, Diego Lerner in LatAm and Uday Shankar in APAC.
A complete guide of everything you need to know including the raft of kids and family content headed to the service can be found here.