René Ridinger is Disney Studios Content’s new vice president, awards.

In this new role, Ridinger will oversee publicity, creative and media for awards campaigns for all content – film, TV, digital shorts – produced by Disney Live Action, Disney Animation, Pixar Animation, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and more. Searchlight Pictures’ awards publicity team will remain in-house at Searchlight.

Ridinger will lead a new awards group that will report to Michelle Sewell, executive vice president, global publicity, which is part of Disney Studios President of Marketing Asad Ayaz’ global marketing team. Also coming on board is Nikki Adler as director, awards, and Samy Gaballa, creative arts director.

Ridinger joins Disney from Netflix, where she led documentary publicity and oversaw campaigns for such films as American Factory and My Octopus Teacher, which won best documentary Oscars in 2020 and 2021.

She’s also worked on awards campaigns for Tiger King, which scored six Emmy nominations in 2020, as well as The Andy Warhol Diaries and jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Triology.

Ridinger is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the Academy of Television Arts Sciences and sits on the advisory board of the SXSW Film Festival. Additionally, she is a guest lecturer at USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism.

Adler most recently worked at Strategy PR where she led campaigns for such clients as Disney Studios Content, Amazon Studios, Focus Features, Hulu, Apple TV Plus and Sony Pictures on such titles as West Side Story and 2022 best picture winner CODA.

Gaballa, a 20-year Disney veteran, will spearhead all awards-related creative.

Ridinger and Gaballa start their new roles July 18. Adler joined the company in June.

Tags: career moves disney studios content rene ridinger


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