By Brendan Swift
The Walt Disney Company has integrated its theatrical, home entertainment and pay-per-view marketing divisions as part of a restructure which saw the departure of long term studio boss Alan Finney last month.
Former Buena Vista Home Entertainment executive Sonia Bijelic, who was most recently at ANZ Bank, has been appointed in the newly created role of head of studio marketing and will be responsible for driving titles through the theatrical, home entertainment and pay-per-view windows and creating new campaigns.
The restructure comes at a time of rapid change in the market, after Disney earlier this year asked theatre owners to agree to a shorter time between the debut of its 3D blockbuster Alice In Wonderland and the DVD release.
Meanwhile, Kylie Watson-Wheeler has been appointed as Disney's general manager of licensing, overseeing the newly-combined Disney Consumer Products, Disney Publishing and Disney Interactive Studios businesses.
She previously led Disney's publishing business in Australia/New Zealand and across the broader Asia Pacific region. Don Wood, who led Disney Consumer Products over the past two years, will return to the US in November.
The Walt Disney Company, Australia and New Zealand, managing director, John Cracknell, said the integrated structure introduced earlier this year "is driving continued growth across all our businesses and will provide opportunities to further deepen our relationships with consumers and our partners here."
Both roles will report directly to Cracknell and are based in Melbourne.