Asad Ayaz
Chief Brand Officer, The Walt Disney Co.; president of marketing, The Walt Disney Studios and Disney+
A recent day from Ayaz's calendar explains why Bob Iger tapped the marketing whiz in 2023 to serve as the conglomerate's first-ever branding chief, while continuing to oversee campaigns for streaming films and series. This year Disney returned to the top of the box office (including Inside out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine, Alien: Romulus), with Moana 2 AND Mufasa yet to come.
Wednesday 9 October 2024
6 in the morning Gym.
7 in the morning Travel time.
8:00 Monthly international marketing with regional leads; in the TD416A.
9:00 Release dates with distribution; Lightning trailer review. The release dates are highly confidential, but Ayaz reveals that they are theatrical dates Strangest Friday and live action Lilo and Stitch were signed on 8 and 23 May 2025 respectively; in TD 416A.
10:00 D23 Brazil – performance of the show; in the Pandora TD 413D conference room.
10.30am DO NOT BOOK. If Ayaz knows a match might end, he creates a pause. Since he was covering Disney's first D23 fan show in Latin America at 10 a.m., he held room for the overflow because he didn't want to keep his 11 a.m. meeting waiting.
11:00 Musafa creative, editorial and digital campaign; in the TD 109U.
12:00 Holiday branding campaign; in the Pandora TD 413D conference room.
12.30pm. Working lunch with Andrew Ferguson, evp researcher; in the Rotunda.
1.30pm Star Wars: The Skeleton Crew campaign jokes; in TD 416A.
2pm Disney+ Global Marketing Update; in TD 416A.
3pm Digital Content/YouTube Marvel; in the Pandora TD 413D conference room. Two of Ayaz's main afternoon meetings (and one morning meeting) took place in the Pandora-themed conference room, an homage to the work of James Cameron. Avatars. Plans for more themed conference rooms were scrapped because they feared this might make things awkward for other directors.
3.30pm Moana 2 director's presentation; in TD 416A.
4.30pm Captain America: Brave New World review of partnerships; in the Pandora TD 413D conference room
5pm Disney+ digital and social strategy; in Asad's office.
6pm Discussion of the awards. CALLER: Adam Smith, product and technology manager.
7pm Women's soccer training.
Margie Cohn
President of DreamWorks Animation
Acquired by NBCUniversal in 2016 from Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWA took some time to find its stride (complicated by the advent of streaming and the pandemic) within the sprawling conglomerate, which also owns rival Illumination Entertainment. But DWA is back in action (see below).
Tuesday 22 October 2024
6 in the morning The day starts with coffee. The dish was prepared the night before. During the first cup, send an email, then complete The New York Times' Mini-crosswords and connections as rewards.
7 in the morning Pilates or elliptical.
8:00 Go to work while making calls to family or listening The city podcasts.
9:00 Arrive at DreamWorks campus in Glendale, have breakfast at the commissary; get some quality chitchat. Topics for breakfast chatter: The wild robotwhich was the biggest hit of the fall, grossing over $200 million at the worldwide box office, and Kung Fu Panda 4which is among the biggest films of the year.
10:00 TV Executive Team: Review all projects, including upcoming ones Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movieand discuss upcoming proposals with senior staff for the television division.
11:00 Weekend Read: Review scripts with the feature development team, discuss next steps with Kristin Lowe, Creative Director. “I have to look to the future, as well as work through everything that is happening right now, this second,” Cohn says. “It takes so long to make animated films. We're looking at 2027, 2028 and 2029 right now.”
12:00 Digital Newspaper Room: Bi-weekly check-in with Dog man production. The film is almost finished (in theaters January 31, 2025), so Cohn is going over the final lighting with director Peter Hastings, producer Karen Foster and production designer Nate Wragg.
1pm Lunch at the DWA police station with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish co-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado will discuss the progress of their next original film (unannounced).
2pm Walk across campus to the Lakeside Annex for The Bad Guys 2 layout and animation overhaul with director Pierre Perifel, co-director JP Sans and producer Damon Ross.
3pm Universal marketing meeting to review creativity. Graphic print review for Dog man and trailer reviewed for The Bad Guys 2.
4pm Corporate Affairs: Review the status of feature film deals, including casting.
5pm Last event of the day: Head to Lagoon (an outdoor site on campus) to celebrate employees who have been with DreamWorks for 25 years. According to Cohn, fortunately, there are quite a few.
6pm Answer calls, try to catch up on all the emails he missed during meetings. Cohn says it's rare to be able to catch up on email: “Sometimes I'm sitting in my office and 15 people come in one at a time. I'm booked one after the other throughout the day, so they come to see me.”
7pm Go home.
Rachel Morrison
Filmmaker, director of photography
After becoming the first woman to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography in 2017 MuddyMorrison reunited with Ryan Coogler – they had worked together Fruitvale Station – Do Black Panther. After that film, Morrison decided he wanted to shift focus. On December 25th, his directorial debut, The fire insidewill be released in theaters as Oscar season gets into full swing.
Tuesday 15 October 2024
8:30 Hot yoga.
10:00 General meeting with Nick Nesbitt and other executives of Scott Stuber's United Artists, which Stuber is relaunching in collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios – after Nesbitt's vision The fire inside. Morrison is reluctant to admit that encounters have increased dramatically since people started watching The fire insidea biographical sports drama about American professional boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, played by Ryan Destiny.
11:00 Stylist in tune with upcoming press events for The fire inside.
12:00 Meet Hello Sunshine company executives Reese Witherspoon and Seth Rodsky. Morrison knows Witherspoon from working together The morning show (Morrison directed one episode.)
1.30pm Panavision interview. Morrison has enjoyed all the publicity so far. “It's still exciting and fresh,” he says. “Ask me again in a month.”
2pm Interview magazine interview.
3pm BUSTO magazine interview.
4pm Interview with The Hollywood journalist.
5pm Son's piano and guitar lesson.
7pm Dinner at Manuela's in downtown Los Angeles.
Pablo Larraín
Director, producer
The prolific Chilean director and producer returns to the Oscar race this year Maryhis ambitious Maria Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie as the iconic opera diva. He continues to live in Chile, where he and his brother have a thriving production company.
Friday 25 October 2024
7 in the morning The alarm activates.
8:00 First round of espresso. Larraín is rarely in Los Angeles and needs a heavy dose of caffeine after landing late last night from London, where Mary premiered at the London Film Festival.
9:00 Call manager Eryn Brown to discuss upcoming scripts, schedule and ideas.
9:30 Drive to Burbank.
10.15am He arrives in Burbank with his brother Juan de Dios and production/business partner Juan de Dios Larraín to discuss an upcoming project with an actor. “Fabula Producciones is the production company I founded with my brother in 2004 through which we produce films, television and commercials,” says Pablo. “All my films have been produced through Fabula, with my brother as producer. We currently have two films in post-production and four TV shows up and running. We are also currently working on a big production for an American studio that I hope we can talk about soon.”
12:00 Mixing session with Los Bunkers, a famous and popular Chilean rock band that Larraín recently toured in Santiago. “We're doing an acoustic mix for their set, the classic MTV unplugged”, he says.
2pm The Fabula trio holds another actors meeting in Burbank.
3pm Lunch: green salad and the last espresso of the day (strict rule).
4.30pm Meet with international writer/producer to discuss how best to work together to improve a screenplay they hope to collaborate on.
6pm Try on the dress for MaryThe premiere of the AFI gala
6.05pm Dinner. After eating, she says she unwinds from her day by calling her children in Chile and hearing about their days: “They know I'll be back soon, thanks to them.”
10pm Go to bed with a book of poems by any poet from Chile or Latin America, a land defined and described beautifully and essentially by his poetry.
A version of this story appeared in the Oct. 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to sign up.