Disney+ to Name Australia Commissioner, Triple Local Output — SkimNews
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Disney+ is about to name a new commissioner in Australia and plans to triple its local-language output worldwide, Jon Wax said at the Busan International Film Festival on Wednesday.
- Jon Wax, Disney+'s executive VP of international original television, said Southeast Asia including Indonesia remains "absolutely on the menu" for future production after earlier cutbacks, though the streamer is "doubling down on territories that are working" first.
- "Battle of Fates," the supernatural competition series featuring shamanism, tarot, face reading, and saju practitioners, was the biggest series premiere ever on Disney+ in Korea; local versions are now in prep after the U.S. team moved quickly when Korean content chief Choi Yeon-woo brought it to them.
- Josh D'Amaro has "picked up that baton" from Bob Iger and only increased the international content push, with non-U.S. content featuring prominently on recent quarterly earnings calls, Wax said.
- "The Remarried Empress," adapted from one of the most popular webtoons, premieres in Busan on Friday with an all-Korean cast in Western Baroque costume, shot largely in Europe; Wax called the emotional arc between leads Navier and Sovieshu the deciding factor.
- Disney+ is turning its own IP into anime, with "Twisted-Wonderland" performing well and a "Death Stranding" anime based on Hideo Kojima's game on the way; Japanese live-action will take longer with "Gannibal" as the standout so far.
- Disney+ is also testing microseries, podcast adaptations, and live events while exploring microdramas in Mexico through a separate department, with Wax calling the format "a mode of storytelling that audiences respond to."
Why it matters: Disney+ entered local originals later than Netflix but is now tripling output and targeting Korea, Japan, Australia, and potentially Southeast Asia under Josh D'Amaro, who has only increased international spending since succeeding Bob Iger. For creators, the strategy means more commissioning slots and deliberate cross-region adaptation, exemplified by "The Americans" being reimagined as "The Koreans." The explicit "walk before we run" caveat on Japan signals a slower, trust-building approach rather than a spending spree.
Ask SkimNews
