Disney Entertainment Television has posted a job opening for a Toronto-based director of development who will lead the execution of a Canadian content strategy for Disney+. 

The company is looking for someone with a minimum of eight years experience in scripted content development, production or commissioning, ideally working with Canadian or international broadcasters/streamers. 

This hire will essentially be the lead commissioner for Disney+ Canadian originals, with a focus on scripted and unscripted series. They’ll have end-to-end creative oversight, including development, greenlighting, production and delivery. The role also involves liaising with Canadian production partners and funding bodies including the CMF and Telefilm, as well as keeping up on industry trends and regulatory developments affecting Canada’s media and streaming industry. 

For Disney, the ideal candidate is someone with a “deep understanding of the Canadian production landscape, a strong network within the creative community, and a proven ability to guide projects from concept through delivery,” according to the job posting. 

Disney+ launched in Canada in November 2019, but has yet to greenlight a Canadian original. 

The streamer seemed to have the pieces in place to start doing so a few years ago, after hiring  former Telefilm national director Stephanie Azam as director of content in 2022. But a year later, it paused all original commissions in Canada and laid Azam off. 

The reasons for this about-face were likely two-fold. First there was the emergence of Bill C-11, which aims to bring SVODs under CRTC regulation and require them to invest in Canadian content. And then there were Disney’s financial woes at the time. In 2023, the company laid off roughly 7,000 employees as part of a US$5.5-million cost-saving effort.  

This new hire could potentially change Disney+’s status as a platform that seems to be benefiting from a decent-sized audience in Canada—it currently has 5.6 million Canadian subscribers, according to streaming analytics site FlixPatrol—while not doing much for the local industry. 

Image courtesy of Pin & Pop