Overview
- The Walt Disney Studios confirmed on Wednesday that Melissa Stone has been promoted to senior vice president of publicity, and she will report to Martha Morrison, president of Studios Marketing.
- Stone replaces Michelle Sewell, who recently retired, and will lead publicity across Disney Live Action, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Disney+.
- A veteran publicist with more than two decades of experience and 14 years at Fox and Disney, Stone has led global campaigns on titles such as Avatar: The Way of Water, The Little Mermaid and the Disney+ series Andor.
- Her remit covers the studio’s current 2026 releases and a multi-year slate that outlets say includes projects reported as Ice Age 5, Star Wars: Starfighter, The Simpsons Movie 2, Frozen III and Avengers: Secret Wars, though no precise start date or structural changes were detailed.
- The hire follows two summer rounds of layoffs and a company push to consolidate operations and deploy AI tools, a move that could tighten centralized control of marketing budgets and change how Disney stages publicity for tentpoles and streaming launches.