Apple Vet Is Going to Help Disney Build Its Metaverse

Disney hired Mark Bozon, a 12-year Apple veteran focused on gaming, to lead the creative vision of its next-gen storytelling projects.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter

Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.

Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials

Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)

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Joan E. Solsman

June 3, 2022 8:10 a.m. PT

Sarah Tew/CNET

Disney said Friday it's hired Mark Bozon, an Apple veteran of 12 years focused on gaming, to lead the creative vision for the Disney metaverse.

Bozon, who most recently was Apple Arcade's creative director for games, is joining Disney's team focused on what the company calls Next Generation Storytelling, a new group aiming to help Disney's entertainment bridge physical and virtual worlds.

Disney is the US' biggest media company by market value, exceeded only by Apple if you count it as a media company. Disney also wrote the playbook for interconnected entertainment, epitomized by the launch of Disneyland more than 60 years ago. With buzz about metaverses at a fever pitch, Disney has introduced a dedicated team to figure out what a more digital, virtual Disney universe looks like.

Bozon is tasked with building a multidisciplinary team working across Disney to interconnect entertainment experiences in new immersive forms drawing on gaming, film, TV, toys, parks and other parts of the company, according to Disney.

He reports to Mike White, a longtime Disney exec who was put at the top of Disney's overall metaverse efforts earlier this year.