Disney CEO Bob Chapek lays out early plan for digital future

Walt Disney Co. on Sunday unveiled a plan for how it would use technology to enhance storytelling over the course of the next 100 years across its businesses of entertainment, theme parks, and consumer products. In a backstage interview with Reuters at the company’s yearly D23 Expo fan conference, Chief Executive Bob Chapek took great care to avoid referencing what he labeled the “M-word,” or metaverse, after pushing the firm in that direction the previous year.

Chapek referred to Disney’s metaverse strategy as “next-generation storytelling.” He intends to create individualized entertainment experiences from the company’s Marvel and Lucasfilm studios using data collected from theme park visits and customer streaming habits. After Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared that his company’s future would be devoted to building a strong, three-dimensional, persistent environment where users’ digital avatars would work, hang out, and pursue their hobbies, entertainment and technology companies scrambled to establish a presence in the metaverse.

Chapek, who headed the parks business before assuming the helm in 2020, spent years thinking of ways to provide the theme park experience to those who would never visit one of the company’s six theme parks around the world far in advance of Meta’s announcement. With the appointment of seasoned media and technology executive Mike White to lead the newly established Next Generation Storytelling and Consumer Experiences business, Disney began setting the basis for exploring new kinds of storytelling in earnest during the last year. In order to give narrative a new dimension, he has also been coming up with ideas on how to use augmented reality and other technology.