Sean Bailey steps down as Walt Disney Studios president, David Greenbaum takes on newly created role
BURBANK, Calif. - Sean Bailey, the longtime motion picture production president at Walt Disney Studios, has stepped down, the company said in a news release Monday.
The Walt Disney Studios announced that David Greenbaum has been named president of Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios, a newly created role. He will report to Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman.
Prior to the new role, Greenbaum served as president of Searchlight Pictures, where he brought to the big screen dozens of features including Academy Award Best Picture winners The Shape of Water and Nomadland and critically acclaimed projects such as The Menu, The Favourite, Wild, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Black Swan, The Walt Disney Studios said.
David Greenbaum (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
He also helped lead films like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood as a development executive at Miramax Films.
In his new role with The Walt Disney Studios, Greenbaum will "lead a combined studio group that will be home to both iconic film brands, producing a robust collection of original and legacy projects unique to each for theatrical and streaming, while increasing collaboration across the production slate," officials said.
Sean Bailey, who oversaw the Disney Live Action slate since 2010, plans to serve as a producer on Disney’s Tron: Ares and other projects. During his tenure, Bailey built many Disney films, including highly successful collection of reimagined classics, among them the billion-dollar hits The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 24: President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production Sean Bailey took part today in the Walt Disney Studios presentation at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2019 in Anaheim, Calif. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney
"Sean has been an incredibly important member of the Studio’s creative team for well over a decade," Bergman said. "He and his team have brought to the screen iconic stories and moments that have delighted fans around the world and will stand the test of time. I know he’ll continue to do great things, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s staying on as a producer of Tron: Ares."
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Steve Asbell, who has served as the president of 20th Century Studios since March 2020, will report to Greenbaum. The Walt Disney Studios described Asbell as a "respected industry veteran" who is responsible for shepherding iconic 20th Century Studios franchises including Avatar, Planet of the Apes, and Alien.