Hello Sunshine taps Disney alum Lauren Kisilevsky to lead family division

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has hired former Disney exec Lauren Kisilevsky to build and lead a new division focused on live-action family programming.

Lauren Kisilevsky

Kisilevsky, who was previously the senior VP of original movies at Disney Branded Television, has joined US-based Hello Sunshine as executive VP of live-action for family, kids and young adults.

Reporting to CEO Sarah Harden, Kisilevsky will oversee the expansion of the new division and build up a development slate of series and movies created for families, kids and young-adult audiences.

During her near 13-year stint at Disney, Kisilevsky oversaw dozens of movies for streamer Disney+ and Disney Branded Television, taking them from pitch through production. She shepherded titles including Descendants 3, Zombies 2 and Upside-Down Magic.

She also oversaw production on the 2022 Disney+ musical film Sneakerella and two upcoming projects, coming-of-age romcom Prom Pact and Christmas heist film Naughty Nine.

In previous roles, Kisilevsky held positions at Overture Films, Beacon Pictures, Witherspoon’s Type A Films and Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Films.

“Lauren is an expert developer who has consistently identified quality brand building material and IP for young audiences,” said Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden, adding that Kisilevsky has a “fantastic track record of developing and executing creatively distinctive projects with strong leadership.”

Recent titles from Hello Sunshine, which is backed by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media, include movies Your Place or Mine (Netflix) and Something From Tiffany’s (Prime Video) and series such as Daisy Jones & the Six (Amazon) and Tiny Beautiful Things (Disney+).

The company’s unscripted shows include Making the Cut (Prime Video), Get Organized (Netflix), unscripted romantic comedy feature To Paris For Love (Roku) and competition series My Kind of Country (Apple TV+).