Zenia Mucha

Last updated

Zenia Mucha (born 1957) is an American businesswoman who is Chief Brand and Communications Officer at TikTok, after spending 20 years in senior positions at The Walt Disney Company. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Mucha was born in Poland to Ukrainian parents who spent time in work camps in Nazi Germany. She immigrated to New York City at age 9. Mucha graduated from the lower East side St. George Ukrainian Catholic School. Mucha studied political science at Brooklyn College. [4]

Career

Mucha began her professional career in politics, serving as communications director and campaign manager for U.S. Senator Al D'Amato. She took leaves to work on the campaigns of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. She later worked as the director of communications and as an influential senior policy advisor to Governor of New York George Pataki. [5]

Mucha joined the Walt Disney Company in 2001, as Senior Vice President of Communications for the ABC Broadcast Group and the American Broadcasting Company. [6]

Since 2002, Mucha has led communications for all of Disney’s strategic business initiatives including the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm. Under Mucha's leadership, Disney launched D23, the first-ever official Disney fan club, with members in 50 U.S. states and 35 countries. [7]

In July 2021 it was announced that Mucha opted not to renew her $4.9 million contract with Disney, and she left the company in early 2022 after nearly 20 years. [8]

In June 2023 it was announced that Mucha will join TikTok as Chief Brand and Communications Officer. [9]

Awards

In 2012, Mucha received the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications. In 2017, she was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Fame. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touchstone Pictures</span> Defunct American film label of Walt Disney Pictures

Touchstone Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured more mature themes targeted at adult audiences than typical Walt Disney Pictures films. As such, Touchstone was merely a brand label for the studio and did not exist as a distinct business operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Pictures</span> Defunct American film label of Walt Disney Pictures

Hollywood Pictures was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was founded to increase the film output of the Walt Disney Studios, and release films similar to those of Touchstone Pictures. These films, featuring more mature themes, were targeted at adult audiences unlike the family-oriented productions of the studio's flagship Walt Disney Pictures division. After years of hiatus, the label was closed in 2007. The studio's most commercially successful film was M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, which grossed over $670 million worldwide upon its release in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Caputo</span> American businesswoman

Lisa Caputo is the executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for The Travelers Companies, Inc. She joined Travelers on June 1, 2011. At Travelers, she is a member of the Management and Operating Committees and the Travelers Foundation Board. She leads the company's marketing, research, branding, corporate communications, customer experience and creative services functions and works closely with investor relations and government relations. Previously she was executive vice president of global marketing and corporate affairs for Citigroup. She was the founder, chairman and CEO of Citi's Women & Co. business from January 2000 until 2010. She was a member of Citi's senior leadership committee and is the co-head of Citi's Women's Initiative.

The Walt Disney Studios is a major division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of The Walt Disney Company best known for housing its multifaceted film studio divisions. Founded on October 16, 1923, and based mainly at the namesake studio lot in Burbank, California, it is the seventh-oldest global film studio and the fifth-oldest in the United States, a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and one of the "Big Five" major film studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Iger</span> American business executive (born 1951)

Robert Allen Iger is an American media business executive who serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. He previously served as the President of ABC between 1994 and 1995 and as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Capital Cities/ABC, from 1995 until its acquisition by Disney in 1996. Iger was named president of Disney in 2000 and succeeded Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005, until his contract expired in 2020. He then served as executive chairman until his retirement from the company on December 31, 2021. After his exit from the company, Iger served, at the company's request, as an advisor to his successor. Iger was awarded $2 million per year for such advice. However, at the request of Disney's board of directors, Iger returned to Disney as CEO on November 20, 2022, following the unscheduled and immediate dismissal of his appointed successor, Bob Chapek. In July 2023, Disney renewed Iger's contract until 2026.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Taylor (superintendent)</span> American business executive

Diana Lancaster Taylor is an American business executive. She was the New York Superintendent of Banks from 2003 to 2007. Taylor was the First Lady of New York City from 2002 to 2013 through her domestic partnership with politician and businessperson Michael Bloomberg.

Disney General Entertainment Content (DGEC), formerly ABC Group, Disney–ABC Television Group and the second incarnation of Walt Disney Television, is part of Disney Entertainment, a division of The Walt Disney Company that oversees its owned-and-operated television content, assets and sub-divisions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porter Novelli</span> American public relations firm

Porter Novelli is a public relations firm, part of Omnicom Group. The company has 35 owned offices and clients in 60 countries.

Stephen B. Burke is an American businessman. He currently serves as the senior executive vice president of Comcast and chairman of NBCUniversal.

Kevin A. Mayer is an American business executive. He is currently the co-founder and co-CEO of Candle Media. He previously served briefly as the CEO of TikTok and the COO of its parent company ByteDance Ltd. Prior to joining TikTok, he was a senior executive at Disney for more than 15 years, including as head of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.

Teneo is a public relations and advisory company. The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band, and currently has more than 1,450 employees located in 40 offices. In 2019, Teneo sold a majority stake to CVC Capital Partners, at a total valuation of around $700 million. Today the company is led by Chairwoman Ursula Burns and CEO Paul Keary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Beirne Fallon</span> American political advisor

Katie Beirne Fallon is an American political advisor who served as the White House director of legislative affairs under President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ByteDance</span> Chinese internet technology company

ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Chinese video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 3 seconds to 10 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox Corporation</span> American mass media company, successor to 21st Century Fox

Fox Corporation is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Incorporated in Delaware, it was formed on March 19, 2019, as a result of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, which was closed on March 20. The company is controlled by the Murdoch family via a family trust with 39.6% ownership share, and by Rupert Murdoch himself to the effect of almost 40%.

Mike Fernandez is a business executive who has led communications, marketing, government relations and sustainability for a number of large companies. Fernandez also served as the US CEO for two agencies, Burson-Marsteller and Llorente y Cuenca. He was a full-time professor of practice at Boston University and an adjunct professor at several universities. He currently is the senior vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability at Enbridge which is headquartered in Calgary, AB, Canada.

Zhang Yiming is a Chinese internet entrepreneur. He founded ByteDance in 2012, developed the news aggregator Toutiao and the video sharing platform TikTok (Douyin/抖音), formerly known as Musical.ly. As of October 2022, Zhang's personal wealth was estimated at US$55 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the second-richest person in China, after Zhong Shanshan. On November 4, 2021, Zhang stepped down as CEO of ByteDance, completing a leadership handover announced in May 2021.

Kevin Brockman is an American businessman and former Executive Vice President of Global Communications at The Walt Disney Company. He later served in the same role at WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, where he helped launch the HBO Max streaming service.

Disney Media Networks was a business segment of The Walt Disney Company that oversaw the company's television networks, cable channels, television production and distribution studios, and owned-and-operated television stations. The segment's primary divisions were Walt Disney Television and A&E Networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Trump–TikTok controversy</span> 2020–2021 event

In 2020, the United States government announced that it was considering banning the Chinese social media platform TikTok upon a request from then-president Donald Trump, who viewed the app as a national security threat. The result was that TikTok owner ByteDance—which initially planned on selling a small portion of TikTok to an American company—agreed to divest TikTok to prevent a ban in the United States and in other countries where restrictions are also being considered due to privacy concerns, which themselves are mostly related to its ownership by a firm based in China.

References

  1. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca (7 November 2017). "Critics to Disney: Time to Grow Up". HWD. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  2. ↑ "Zenia Mucha". The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  3. ↑ Chmielewski, Dawn C. (2019-01-11). "Disney CEO Bob Iger's Pay Rises 80% To $65.7 Million". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  4. ↑ Sack, Kevin (1995-03-06). "For Pataki, a Gruff Protector; Communications Chief Is Also Influential Adviser". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  5. ↑ Casey, Bernadette. "Newsmaker: Zenia Mucha, The Walt Disney Company". www.prweek.com. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  6. ↑ "Zenia Mucha". www.holmesreport.com. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  7. ↑ "Bloomberg - Zenia Mucha". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  8. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (2021-07-13). "Disney's Brand Protector and Power Behind the Power Is Stepping Down". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  9. ↑ "Former Disney PR chief Zenia Mucha to head TikTok communications at a pivotal moment". The Los Angeles Times. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  10. ↑ "An Evening with ZENIA MUCHA". Ukrainian Institute of America. 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.