Disney creative acquisitions team highlights the hunt for new IP

The quest to find the hottest new content in Hollywood is behind the creation of a new creative acquisitions department at Disney Television Studios. Headed by Elizabeth Newman and Jordan Moblo, the team will hunt for new intellectual property that can be used across Disney’s broad platforms.

If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many remakes and reboots circulating through the entertainment industry at any given time, it’s partly due to the challenge of finding and obtaining the rights to new intellectual property. The quest for new IP has been made more daunting by the steadily increasing number of studios forming their own streaming services.

Netflix once cornered the market on new IP, but now almost every studio has its own streaming service with talented pools of writers and showrunners in exclusive deals to develop new content. That means new IP must be located and obtained, and it’s a big job.

For Newman and Moblo, the challenge comes in finding content for all of the entities in Disney’s stable of networks, including Disney+, ABC Television, Hulu, FX, 20th Television, National Geographic and more.

Disney Creative Acquisitions Department on the hunt for exciting new content

Disney’s new creative acquisitions team is fortunate in that they have a variety of places to send new content, so when they find something that looks like it could be a hit it’s a matter of deciding where to put it and not whether they need it. They can choose whether a show is a better fit for the mainstream networks like ABC and FX, teen-focused Freeform or streamer Hulu, for example.

Newman and Moblo will report directly to Disney TV president Craig Hunegs, who had this to say about his new team:

"Now more than ever, securing compelling IP which captures the imagination of showrunners and consumers alike can be the start of a hit television series. Elizabeth and Jordan are talented executives with impeccable creative taste and deep relationships with agents, publishers, authors and producers. Together, they will strategically serve up source material to our studios and platforms which will redound to the benefit of all of Walt Disney Television."

Both Newman and Moblo have ties to 20th Television. Newman was an executive at Touchstone Television and is a former TV literary agent, while Moblo worked at 20th Television and has a background as a talent executive and casting manager.

It’s an exciting time to be part of a creative acquisitions team because the proliferation of streaming services and public content creation platforms like Instagram and YouTube have been churning out content for an audience that is increasingly hungry for the next big thing. The pandemic only heightened the need for new content, as more people have been stuck at home binge-watching entire series in a matter of days in ways that weren’t possible before.

As Disney continues to expand its media footprint, the need for new and exciting IP is greater than ever and the competition for that new and exciting IP is even greater. This new branch of the Disney machine will have its work cut out for it, but with so many talented people and exciting ideas out there, it won’t be long before Newman and Moblo deliver the next big hits for Disney.