Disney has been reorganizing at the executive level with enough frequency over the past several months that each new announcement arrives with its own layer of context about what the company is building toward and who is being positioned to help get it there. The latest move is significant enough to warrant close attention from anyone tracking where Disney's leadership structure is heading.
April Carretta has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Communications. She will serve as the primary communications lead for Dana Walden, the company's President and Chief Creative Officer. The promotion was announced by new Chief Communications Officer Paul Roeder in a company memo that also outlined a broader restructuring of Disney's communications function across every major business segment.
Disney Promotes April Carretta to EVP of Communications, Exec to Lead PR for Dana Walden https://t.co/woWyKpwnsp
— Variety (@Variety) April 9, 2026
Two things are happening simultaneously here. A specific person is being elevated to a significantly more powerful role. And the department around her is being reorganized to reflect a new way of thinking about how Disney manages its public narrative across a company undergoing considerable change right now.
The Disney Promotion That Started It
Carretta previously headed communications for Disney's direct-to-consumer business and for the tech and product teams. Her new EVP role expands that portfolio to include Disney Entertainment, which now sits under Dana Walden rather than Disney Experiences, following recent organizational shifts. She will continue leading her existing areas while taking on the elevated responsibility of serving as Walden's primary communications partner.
Before joining Disney, Carretta built her communications career at Twentieth Century Fox, Edelman, and Sony Pictures. She reports to Paul Roeder, who stepped into the Chief Communications Officer role following the announced departure of Kristina Schake.
What Roeder's Memo Actually Said
The memo that announced Carretta's promotion also laid out structural changes across the broader communications organization that are worth understanding in full.
David Jefferson, EVP of communications, continues leading corporate communications, including public affairs, media relations, and corporate social responsibility, while taking on expanded responsibility for Disney's international communications teams covering Asia Pacific, EMEA, and Latin America. Mimi Fong, VP of communications, joins Carretta's team to support international content communications, working with the presidents of Disney Television Studios and Disney Entertainment's direct-to-consumer.
Carrie Brown, SVP of internal communications, now reports directly to Roeder and continues leading enterprise-wide employee communications. Mariana Vaca joins Roeder's team as director of communications, working across Disney's teams company-wide, having previously served as director of external communications for Walt Disney Studios.
The business segment communications leads remain largely in place but with adjusted reporting lines that reflect the company's recent organizational changes. Alannah Hall-Smith, EVP communications for Disney Experiences, reports to Disney Experiences chairman Thomas Mazloum and Roeder. Josh Krulewitz, EVP ESPN Communications, dual-reports to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Roeder.
Naomi Bulochnikov, EVP communications for Disney Entertainment, reports to entertainment TV chairman Debra O'Connell and Roeder. Bridget Osterhaus, VP communications for Platform Distribution, now dual-reports to Bulochnikov and Krulewitz. Erin Barrier, SVP communications for Walt Disney Studios, was recently promoted to that role and dual-reports to studios chairman Alan Bergman and Roeder.
Exciting news for Disney! Looking forward to seeing how April Carretta shapes the PR strategy under Dana Walden.
— Kingzz (@Mudiakingsley) April 9, 2026
Why This Matters for Disney
The structure that emerges from these changes places Roeder at the center of a communications organization with clearly defined lanes for each business segment, while Carretta is elevated to serve the company's most powerful creative executive directly. For a company navigating as much simultaneous change as Disney across streaming, studios, parks, and television, having a communications infrastructure that is clearly organized and led by people who have earned the company's trust is not a minor operational consideration.
Disney has been making executive moves at a pace that suggests a company actively reshaping itself rather than maintaining the status quo. Each promotion and restructuring adds another piece to a picture that is still coming into focus. Carretta's elevation to EVP and Roeder's reorganization of the communications department are two more pieces of that picture landing at the same time.
The communications department looks different today than it did yesterday. Based on the scope of what Roeder laid out in that memo that was probably the point.
