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Exclusive: Disney’s hunt for its next European content supremo reached the very highest echelons of the BBC, but the Mouse House looks to have emerged empty-handed.

Deadline can reveal that BBC content boss Charlotte Moore, the most powerful person in British TV and audio commissioning, held talks over a move to Disney, but ultimately turned down the opportunity. Disney and the BBC declined to comment.

Disney wanted Moore to become its next SVP of Original Content in Emea. Recruitment for the role has been the talk of the UK TV industry since Deadline revealed Liam Keelan was exiting after five years. Keelan built an Emea originals team from scratch and the show that will likely define his Disney legacy is Rivals, the big-budget Jilly Cooper adaptation that has been renewed for a second season. Others included doc series Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story and Daniel Brühl-starrer Becoming Karl Lagerfeld.

Exclusive: Liam Keelan is exiting his role as Disney’s SVP of Original Content, Emea, we can reveal.

The veteran British exec has been with Disney for nearly five years, but has decided to leave in early 2025. News of the departure was transmitted internally moments ago.

A recruitment process for a replacement is set to begin, and will no doubt attract big players from the international community, given the scope of the role.

Keelan built the Europe and Africa programming team from scratch as Disney+ went international, and has seen the group produce 70 originals under his leadership. His UK-based exec team includes scripted chief Lee Mason, unscripted head Sean Doyle for unscripted content and production management head Amanda Wilkie-Sweeney, and he also oversees local commissioners across the Emea region.

Earlier this year, his team unveiled a series of projects out of Spain and France, news that followed Keelan last year...

Jan Koeppen, president of The Walt Disney Company Emea, has restated the company’s commitment to cinemas, speaking of the company’s “belief in the importance of theatrical distribution.”

“Everyone at Disney loves movies, and we love to make them big,” he said.

The Disney Emea boss was speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Analysis Media & Telecoms 2024 and Beyond Conference in London on Tuesday morning, where he touched on the breadth of Disney’s business, from theatrical to linear. Using “The Lion King” as an example, he noted that since the animated film’s debut 30 years ago it has spawned stage shows, theme park experiences, consumer products, is available on Disney+ and has a spin-off, “Mufasa,” coming out this winter. “We believe strongly that the breadth of our business is a key source of advantage,” he said. “It brings strength, resilience and opportunity.”

Unsurprisingly, Koeppen also spent some time talking...

Disney’s U.K. commissioning subsidiary Walt Disney Emea Productions Limited has reported more than a 50% drop in revenue from the previous financial year.

The U.K.-based company, which commissions international productions and co-productions for Disney’s linear networks as well as streaming platform Disney+, reported revenues of £86 million ($110 million) for the year ending in Sept 2023, according to the latest financial report filed at U.K. business registrar Companies House last week.

The figure marks a drop from the previous year’s reported revenue of £215 million ($270 million), which covered the year ending Oct. 2022 and marked an all-time high for the subsidiary. In the year ending Oct. 2021 – which was the first financial reporting year following the launch of Disney+ in the U.K. — the company reported revenues of £43 million.

According to the accompanying financial report, the subsidiary’s directors are “in the process of considering the company’s future” although...

Picture: Netflix

What’s on Netflix exclusively learned on December 15th, 2023 that Netflix is set to release a new documentary covering the 1985 American Music Awards and the creation of the charity hit “We Are the World,” which became the eighth-best-selling physical single of all time. The documentary has now been confirmed by Netflix and is set to release on January 29th, following a premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Award-winning director Bao Nguyen is behind the new feature documentary, and it serves as his Netflix debut. He has previously worked on documentaries and shorts for HBO, PBS, and The New York Times. His most known documentaries include Be Water and Live from New York!

Bao Nguyen – Picture: Getty Images

Per the description found on the British Council website, here’s what you can expect from the 1 hour and 42-minute documentary:

“On January 28th, 1985, the stage was set for the annual American Music Awards.

Dorothy Street Pictures, the production company behind documentaries including “Pamela, a Love Story” and “Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story,” have tapped Lily Kaplan as their new head of development.

Kaplan joins the company’s New York office from Imagine Documentaries, where she will lead Dorothy Street’s transatlantic operation with a focus on growing their portfolio of high-end documentary films and series.

At Imagine, Kaplan worked on docs including “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” for Netflix, “Judy Blume Forever” for Amazon Prime Video, “Bono & The Edge: A Sort Of Homecoming With Dave Letterman” for Disney+ and “The Super Models” for Apple TV+.

Lily Kaplan (courtesy of Dorothy Street Pictures)

Dorothy Street was launched by Julia Nottingham in 2018. It is backed by Sister, the company founded by Jane Featherstone, Elisabeth Murdoch and Stacey Snider.

“I am thrilled to join Julia and the team at Dorothy Street to help build out the premium documentaries slate,...