Ayo Davis Named Head Of Inventive Growth For New Disney Branded Tv Unit Led By Gary Marsh – .

Days after Peter Rice revealed the structure of Disney’s General Entertainment television content division, which included a new Disney Branded Television unit from Gary Marsh, the former president and chief creative officer of Disney Channels Worldwide made his first major hire known.

Long-time Disney TV casting manager Ayo Davis has been appointed to the newly created position of EVP, Creative Development and Strategy, Disney Branded Television. She will oversee all live action programming created by Disney Branded Television for Disney + and the Disney Channel, Disney XD, and Disney Junior networks – scripted and unscripted series, films, and specials – and to Marsh, President and Chief Creative Officer of Disney Branded Television, report.

Related story

Ayo Davis has been named Head of Talent and Casting for ABC Entertainment & Disney +

Disney Branded Television is responsible for all Disney-branded television content produced by DGE for children, tweens, teens and families, as well as non-written series and specials. This includes any shows that the Disney television production teams do for Disney +. As part of the recent reorganization, the Disney + Unscripted Content and Production teams moved to Rice’s DGE group under Marsh.

Davis, an 18 year veteran of the Disney Casting Executive, most recently served as EVP, Talent and Casting, ABC Entertainment, and Disney +. She had tried to go beyond casting and had been considered for other high level programming positions in Disney’s television departments for the past several years.

The executives reporting directly to Davis include:

• Jonas Agin, VP, original series
• Kory Lunsford, VP, Current Series
• Lauren Kisilevsky, VP, Original Films
• Dan Silver, VP, Originals, Unwritten Content
• Judy Taylor, SVP, Casting & Talent Relations
• Theresa Helmer, Managing Director, Integrated Content Strategy
• Vicki Ariyasu, SVP, Educational Resource Group

During her tenure as casting manager at Disney TV, Davis, whose promotion was first reported by THR, was cast for ABC’s The Good Doctor, Emmy Award-winning American Crime and How to Get Away with Murder, and Peabody Award-winning Black- ish responsible. Her other contributions include the launch of ABC Discovers, a variety of casting initiatives aimed at discovering, nurturing, and providing powerful opportunities for up-and-coming talent from around the world. Alumni of the program are Lupita Nyong’o, Gina Rodriguez and Pedro Pascal.