Disney Television Animation adds to dev team to fuel content expansion

Disney Television Animation (DTA) has bolstered its development team with the promotion of Elizabeth Waybright Taylor and appointment of Lisa Fragner.

Elizabeth Waybright Taylor

Taylor has been upped to VP of development at DTA, having been a Disney employee for 11 years, most recently serving as executive director of development DTA.

She will oversee a team that identifies and steers new animated Disney Channel content for kids aged 6-11 and families. Prior to Disney, she worked in animation production at Nickelodeon and was an independent event planner and florist.

Among the projects Taylor has shepherded through development are the cartoon shorts The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse and series Amphibia, Kiff and recently announced Primos.

New York-based Fragner has joined DTA as VP of development, which the Mouse House said adds more depth to the animation studio’s senior ranks as it helps fuel the rapidly expanding content slate for Disney+.

Lisa Fragner

Between 2003 and 2021, Fragner served as VP and head of development at recently shuttered Blue Sky Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Studios since 2019, steering several creator-driven feature films from concept pitch to greenlight. These include Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs, Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, Rio, Spies in Disguise and Nimona.

Both Taylor and Fragner report to Emily Hart, senior VP of animation development at Disney Branded Television.

Hart said: “Elizabeth has an eye toward curating character-driven comedies and is a strong partner and ally to talent – a true champion of their creative vision.”

Meredith Roberts, senior VP and general manager of television animation at Disney Branded Television, added: “Lisa has deep experience in the animation industry, and her acute creative and business sense – especially as a longtime mentor of creator talent from underrepresented groups – is a hand-in-glove fit with our commitment to world-class storytelling.

“Emily’s team has demonstrated formidable talent and ability to collaborate across the company, and I have confidence that we will continue to meet our ambitious goals.”

DTA is part of Disney Branded Television, which encompasses the creative storytellers and production and marketing teams responsible for Disney-branded television series, movies and other programming spanning live-action, animated and unscripted formats.

The group helps fuel the Disney+ streaming platform and Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior linear networks with content geared toward kids, tweens, teens and families.

Recent projects include High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Monsters at Work, The Mysterious Benedict Society and Marvel’s Spidey & his Amazing Friends.