DISNEY - Key Persons
Adrian Peterson is an American professional gridiron football player who is considered one of the finest running backs in the history of the sport. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the freshman rushing record with 1,925 yards during the 2004 season. Named a unanimous All-American that year, he became the first freshman to finish as a runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting. Peterson finished his college football career as the Sooners' third all-time leading rusher. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he set an NFL record for the most rushing yards in a single game and was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He was then named the MVP for his performance in the Pro Bowl and became only the fifth player in NFL history to have more than 3,000 yards through his first two seasons. In 2010, he became the fifth-fastest player to run for 5,000 yards, doing so in his 51st game. PERSONAL INFORMATION HOMETOWN: Palestine, Texas BIRTHDATE: March 21
Aisha Hinds was featured in the FOX event series "Shots Fired" and the cable film "All The Way," opposite Bryan Cranston and Anthony Mackie. She also received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman in the drama series "Underground." Hinds began her career in schools, churches, prisons, group homes and on the streets of New York City as a cast member with a local Brooklyn-based group of young artists called the Health Watch Players. She went on to obtain a B.F.A. in theater at the University of Miami and graduated with honors. Hinds' break came when she was cast on "NYPD Blue." Her additional television credits include a series regular role on the drama "Under the Dome," as well as recurring roles on "Hawthorne," "Weeds," "Dollhouse" and "True Blood." On the feature side, Hinds can be seen in the Netflix film "The Perfect Find," opposite Gabrielle Union, and in "The American Society of Magical Negroes" for Focus Features.
Angela Gibbs has a diverse history of accomplishments in the entertainment industry as actor, director, producer and coach.
Some of her current acting credits include television shows: "This Is Us," "Hacks," "Finding Happy," "S.W.A.T." and "On My Block"; and films: "Love Jacked," "Straight Outta Compton" and "Think Like A Man." She was also a series regular on Aaron McGruder's "Black Jesus."
An acting coach, Gibbs supported Michael Keaton on the film "Birdman" then rejoined with director, Alejandro Inarritu, coaching on "The Revenant," both of which won Oscars®. She coached Demetrius Shipp for the role of Tupac in "All Eyes On Me" and Richie Merritt in "White Boy Rick." Gibbs worked with Riley Keough and Gina Gemelle on their directorial debut film, "War Pony," which won the Camera d'Or award at Cannes. Her roster of clients include Janelle Monae and Ismael Cruz Cordova.
Gibbs produced the play "227" which became the NBC sitcom hit and the play "Checkmates" that debuted on Broadway with Denzel Washington - both won NAACP IMAGE Awards.
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer: the Rookie / Executive Producer a / Co - Creator: the Rookie: Feds
Originally focused on music, Alexi Hawley began writing as a creative outlet that didn't involve carrying drums up and down the stairs at 4 a.m. He gravitated toward the film industry, writing screenplays for Fox, Disney, MGM and New Line, before becoming the last writer standing on the infamous "Exorcist" prequel, "Exorcist: The Beginning."
From there, Hawley segued into television, working on a number of shows, including "The Unusuals," "The Following" and "Castle" - the latter two where he ultimately served as executive producer and co-showrunner. Along the way, he created the drama "State of Affairs" for NBC.
In 2018, Hawley created "The Rookie" for ABC. Starring Nathan Fillion as the oldest rookie in the LAPD, "The Rookie" is an aspirational police drama that follows an inclusive ensemble cast as they patrol the streets of Los Angeles. In 2022, a two-part embedded pilot starring Niecy Nash launched "The Rookie: Feds," a "Rookie" spinoff which Hawley co-created with Terence Paul Winter. In addition, Hawley has created a new drama series for Netflix starring Noah Centineo which is currently in post-production. The Netflix show follows a charismatic young CIA lawyer who finds himself in over his head when a former asset tries to blackmail the agency.
Hawley was born and raised in New York City, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, four children and an ever-evolving number of dogs.
Alexis Floyd plays Simone Griffith on "Grey's Anatomy," a first-year surgical intern at Grey Sloan.
Alexis Floyd is the daughter of a music educator, an attorney and the prized city of Cleveland, Ohio. Her love of art was first nurtured at the Cleveland Institute of Music where, with the help of her mother and support of her father, she studied the violin beginning at age 3. She went on to become a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and has performed duets with members of the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall.
As her interest in classical music deepened, Floyd began study at the Cleveland School of Ballet, soon expanding her love of movement to the disciplines of jazz and liturgical dance as well. She then found her way to the ice and began competitive figure skating at the Cleveland Skating Club. In pursuit of synthesizing her passions for movement and music, she naturally fell in love with the world of musical theatre and began performing locally at theaters such as the Cleveland Play House, Dobama Theatre and Cleveland Public Theatre. Floyd went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater from Carnegie Mellon University and has since settled in New York City.
She has starred off-broadway in "If Sand Were Stone" at Theatre Row, "Mitad Del Mundo" at LaMama Theatre and "Wanderlust" at Ice Factory Theatre. Her feature credits include "Life's Poison," directed by Malcolm D. Lee; and in television she recurred on Freeform's "The Bold Type" as Tia Clayton throughout season three. Floyd can be seen as Neff, a leading role in Shonda Rhimes' series "Inventing Anna" for Netflix. The limited series racked up more than a billion minutes of viewing time the first weekend of its premiere and dominated in the Netflix Top 10 for weeks.
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer on ABC 's "9 - 1 - 1"
Alfonso Ribeiro is most recently known as host of ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos," leading the show for the past six seasons. His iconic television personality danced its way into our hearts with his talents as an actor, TV director, award-winning dancer and Broadway star. Ribeiro has spent over 30 years leaving his unique mark on television, theater and pop culture worldwide.
Ribeiro also currently hosts the hit spinoff of the longtime ABC hit called "America's Funniest Home Videos: Animal Edition" that airs on Nat Geo WILD and brought lots of laughs into homes across America with hilarious clips of cats, dogs and other animals. In addition, he hosts Game Show Network's reboot of "Catch 21" and is joined by his partner from "DWTS," professional dancer and choreographer Witney Carson. The series is a fast-action blend of pop trivia with the excitement of the classic card game 21.
Ribeiro began his career as a child actor, most notably on Broadway playing the lead role in the Tony® Award-winning musical "The Tap Dance Kid." As news of Ribeiro's dancing and singing skills spread, he was offered a recording contract with Island Records, for whom he released several dance/pop singles, as well as his role in Michael Jackson's 1984 Pepsi commercial.
Ribeiro was then cast in the long-running NBC sitcom "Silver Spoons," making him an instant teen idol. After earning a theater arts education from Cal State University, Los Angeles, he was given the opportunity to choose a role on the established sitcom "A Different World" or a new pilot called "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Showing an adventurous streak, he chose the latter and created the iconic character of Carlton Banks for which he is known for throughout the world.
Having grown up in front of the camera, he knew that opportunities existed behind the scenes, too. His diverse resume as a TV director includes popular programs like "In the House," "Shake It Up," "Are We There Yet?," "The Wannabes," "Meet the Browns," "Cuts," "Eve," "One on One" and "All of Us."
Ribeiro continued to make good use of his dancing skills in 2014 when he won the 19th season of "Dancing with the Stars." After finishing in first place, he hosted the countrywide "Dancing with the Stars" tour.
Golf is also one of Ribeiro's passions, and he is currently a PGA TOUR Champions Ambassador.
He resides in California with his wife and four children.
Alyssa Diaz is an American actress known for her performances on both the big and small screens, and is of Colombian and Mexican American descent. She attended Bishop Alemany High School and later pursued acting at the beginning of the new millennium.
Diaz's career took off when she landed the role of Celia Ortega in the popular soap opera "As the World Turns" in 2005. She appeared in over 56 episodes and went on to have recurring roles in various television series such as "Lie to Me," "Southland" and "Greek." She also showcased her acting skills in two "CSI" franchises: "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: NY."
In 2011, Diaz gained further recognition for her role as Jasmine in the ABC Family series "The Nine Lives of Chloe King." She continued to make a name for herself with appearances in films like "How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer" and "Oh Baby!" In 2008, she played the role of Elena Validus in the TV movie "Ben 10: Alien Swarm."
Diaz's talent and dedication to her craft have earned her a variety of roles in both television and film. Her most recent roles include that of LAPD training officer Angela Lopez in the ABC crime-dramedy series "The Rookie" and as Mika Camarena, the wife of undercover DEA agent Kiki Camarena, in the Netflix crime drama "Narcos: Mexico."
In her free time, Diaz enjoys oil painting and training in the Muay Thai kickboxing discipline.
Amanda Setton is currently part of the ensemble of ABC's "General Hospital" playing Brook Lynn Quartermaine. She is best known to television audiences for her recurring role on The CW's "Gossip Girl," and her regular roles on "The Mindy Project" and "The Crazy Ones." Her additional television credits include guest-starring roles on "Blue Bloods" and "Golden Boy," recurring on "Hawaii 5.0," all on CBS, as well as NBC's "Mercy" and ABC's "One Life to Live."
Setton's feature film credits include "What Happens in Vegas," "Sex and the City," "Black Dog, Red Dog" and "That Thing with the Cat." She made her New York theater debut in the off-Broadway production of "Love, Loss, and What I Wore."
Born in Great Neck, New York, Setton graduated from Ithaca College, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in theatre, and completed the comprehensive Meisner Technique program at The Actors Workshop of Ithaca. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles.
Ames McNamara is a high schooler from Hoboken, New Jersey. He has been acting in local musical theater since age 5 and professionally since age 8. He stars as Mark Conner-Healy on "The Conners." When he's not acting, McNamara likes to direct his friends in short movies, go on hikes with his family, read fantasy novels, and play tennis and soccer. He's a huge Premier League and Formula 1 fan. Besides continuing to act and direct, McNamara hopes to work in environmental justice when he's older, and ultimately to become president.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Executive Producer
- Executive Producer and Athena Grant
Angela Bassett is an actress, director and executive producer known for captivating performances full of dignity in treasured films such as "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "Boyz n the Hood" and "What's Love Got to Do with It," for which she received a Golden Globe® Award and an Academy Award® nomination.
The honorary Oscar® recipient has made star-turns in the historic "Black Panther," "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" and "Bumblebee" films and "9-1-1" and "Master of None" series. Other projects include Disney/Pixar's Academy Award-winning animated feature "Soul," for which she lent her melodious voice for the character Dorothea Williams; feature films "Otherhood" and "Gunpowder Milkshake" from Netflix; and "The Flood" from National Geographic, for which she received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Further, she was nominated for two Emmys, including Outstanding Narrator for the "Imagineering Story: The Happiest Place on Earth" and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "A Black Lady Sketch Show."
Bassett recently reprised her role as the beloved Queen Ramonda in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," for which she received Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards, with Academy Award, SAG and BAFTA nominations, as well as the Variety Creative Impact in Acting Award, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's top honor Montecito Award, two Hollywood Critics Association Awards and an NAACP Image Award, including Entertainer of the Year.
Apple Original Films announced the documentary feature, "Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Women in Hollywood," which is to be directed by Shola Lynch with Bassett and Halle Berry on board as executive producers and will debut globally on AppleTV+. She co-stars alongside Millie Bobby Brown in the Netflix Originals feature film "Damsel," premiering March 2024.
Bassett is the recipient of a SAG Award, an AAFCA Honors Award, 16 NAACP Image Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Black Girls Rock! Icon Award. She was recently honored by Glamour's Women of the Year and Time Magazine's Women of the Year. She received a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Narration of "Good Night Oppy" and the Critics Choice Celebration of Black Cinema & Television Career Achievement Award and was honored with a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bassett earned multiple Emmy nominations and was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for the Whitney Houston biopic "Whitney," which was her
Job Titles:
- Vice President, ABC Entertainment Publicity
Avery Pohl joined the "General Hospital" cast, originating the role of Esme Prince, in August 2021, bringing life to the mysterious girlfriend of Spencer Cassadine. The two met at a French boarding school, and Esme, who has been described as dangerous and even unhinged, marked her arrival in Port Charles with such crimes as arson and theft.
Starting as a child model before shifting into acting, Avery has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry. She booked her first SAG National Commercial at 5 years old, and her first feature film at age 8, opposite Brit Marling in Zal Batmanglij's "The Sound of My Voice," which debuted at Sundance Film Festival. After spending her early career in New York City and Miami, Avery made the move to Los Angeles in 2013. She has tested for network pilots and had guest roles on several TV shows including "Dirty John", "Criminal Minds", "The Glades" and more, before joining the cast of GH.
Avery likes to believe she is kinder and more level-headed than her character, but she has always enjoyed sinking her teeth into multi-layered, unpredictable roles like that of Esme Prince. When not pursuing her acting career, Avery enjoys dancing ballet, cycling, playing basketball, and practicing stage combat. Avery also thoroughly enjoys spending time at the gym and working to push herself out of her comfort zone.
Job Titles:
- President, Disney Branded Television
Barbara Corcoran's credits include straight D's in high school and college, and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country: She borrowed $1,000 and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. Over the next 25 years, she would parlay that $1,000 loan into a $5 billion real estate business, building the largest and best-known brand in the business. Corcoran is the author of the bestseller "Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business" and host of top podcast "Business Unusual with Barbara Corcoran".
Corcoran is a motivational and inspirational speaker. She is a frequent small business and real estate contributor on every major network. Corcoran has been an investor/Shark for the past 13 seasons on ABC's four-time Emmy® Award-winning show "Shark Tank," investing in over 80 businesses to date.
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Executive Producer: Grey 's Anatomy / Executive Producer: Station 19
Betsy Beers is a groundbreaking producer and the longtime producing partner of Shonda Rhimes. Under the Shondaland banner, they have developed and produced some of the most industry-leading series in television. Through Shondaland's unprecedented exclusive deal with Netflix, Beers serves as executive producer on "Bridgerton," Shondaland's first scripted series with the streamer and the most-watched series debut in Netflix history; "Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker," following legendary choreographer Debbie Allen; and will serve as executive producer on upcoming series "Inventing Anna" and "Notes on Love" for the streamer.
In addition, she is executive producer of the award-winning series "Grey's Anatomy" and, along with Rhimes, developed and produced the hit series "Private Practice," "Scandal," "How to Get Away with Murder," "For The People" and "Station 19" for Shondaland and ABC.
Job Titles:
- Captain Robert Sullivan: Station 19
German native Boris Kodjoe is best known for his role in the television series "Soul Food," earning him three NAACP Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2019, he joined ABC's hit action-drama series "Station 19" as a series regular. Kodjoe also appeared on the final season of "House of Cards."
Kodjoe made his debut on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," opposite James Earl Jones. From there, he went on to appear in films that include "Resident Evil: Retribution," "Resident Evil: Afterlife," "Baggage Claim," "Love and Basketball," "Brown Sugar," Tyler Perry's "Madea's Family Reunion," "Addicted," "The Gospel," "Surrogates" and the animated 20th Century Fox feature "Ferdinand," opposite Jon Cena. Television credits include "Last Man on Earth," "Undercovers," "The Real Husbands of Hollywood" and "Code Black."
Off-screen, Kodjoe and his brother, Patrick Kodjoe, have launched various entrepreneurial endeavors. Almost a decade ago, they launched World of Alfa, an online clothing venture bringing the luxury of custom-made suits and shirts to market at affordable prices. They also created the Full Circle Festival, a cultural "year-of-return" event experience in Ghana honoring ancestry through legacy and heritage. In the first two years, the festival helped attract over a million people to Ghana and boost tourism, economic development and social impact in the country. In 2019, the Kodjoe family also launched the KoFit App, a health and wellness app that focuses on helping families introduce simple healthy habits into their lives. The app has already been ranked as one of the top fitness apps on iTunes since its debut.
In 2008, Kodjoe and his wife, Nicole, started The Kodjoe Family Foundation in honor of their daughter, Sophie, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth. The foundation launched the Center for Spina Bifida Research, Prevention and Policy in partnership with Emory University in Atlanta in 2012. Today, KFF is committed to supporting research and prevention of birth defects, as well as helping multicultural communities worldwide build healthy lifestyle habits one day at a time.
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer
- Executive Producer, Writer and Director
Brad Falchuk is a multiple Emmy® Award-winning co-creator, executive producer, writer and director behind some of Hollywood's most iconic and trailblazing television shows.
After a prolific decade at 20th Television, Falchuk signed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix where he co-created the dark action comedy, "The Brothers Sun," alongside first-time writer Byron Wu. The series, which premiered in early 2024, follows Charles Sun (Justin Chien), a Taipei gangster who's settled into his life as a ruthless killer but must go to Los Angeles to protect his estranged mother (Oscar® winner Michelle Yeoh) and younger brother (Sam Song Li) after his father is attacked by a mysterious assassin.
Falchuk's previous credits include FX's critically acclaimed series "American Horror Story," which won 16 of its 98 Emmy nominations; FX's Emmy-winning "Pose" and "American Crime Story"; "Nip/Tuck"; Fox's hit series "Glee," which won six of its 35 Emmy nominations; "Scream Queens"; "American Horror Stories"; "9-1-1"; "9-1-1: Lone Star" and Netflix's "The Politician."
Falchuk is one of the founding members of The Young Storytellers Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to develop literacy through the art of storytelling. Falchuk currently sits on the board of the foundation which serves more than 100 schools in Los Angeles, New York City and Denmark. The Young Storytellers Foundation facilitates self- expression for underprivileged students by mentoring them through the process of writing their own short screenplays and having those screenplays performed by famous actors.
Originally hailing from Newton, Massachusetts, Falchuk received his master's degree from the American Film Institute and currently resides in Los Angeles. He credits Bruce Springsteen and David Ortiz for making him into the man he is today.
Brandon Blackwell was born in Queens, New York, where he goofed off in school for most of his childhood and early teen years yet spent all his spare time reading and learning anyway. He also grew up watching game shows, so it wasn't long before he decided to have a crack at it himself, culminating with a win on "Million Second Quiz" worth more than a third of $1 million. Blackwell had appeared on three different quiz shows and won almost $400,000 by the time he turned 20.
In 2014, Blackwell decided to start quizzing seriously and joined the American circuit. In 2016, he made his debut internationally at the Quiz Olympiad in Athens and won two medals, including a gold in the world speedquizzing discipline.
In 2017, Blackwell left the American trivia scene for good to train in the UK, where he played for some of the top quiz clubs in the world. In addition to two fourth-place finishes in the British Quizzing Championship pairs competition, he has won multiple London Open medals and a President's Cup in the Quiz League of London. Perhaps most notoriously, Blackwell was a champion on and is one of the highest-scoring players of all-time on "University Challenge," a well-known British quiz show that many say "makes ‘Jeopardy!' look like a walk in the park."
Blackwell is still a regular in high-level quiz competitions outside the U.S., finishing second overall in the Under-30 World Quizzing Championships in 2020 and 38th overall in the World Quizzing Championships in 2021. He currently plays for one of the highest-ranked quiz teams in the world - a team whose star player is none other than fellow Chaser Victoria Groce.
Job Titles:
- Captain Robert Sullivan: Station 19
Job Titles:
- President, ABC Owned Television Stations
Job Titles:
- Director, Unscripted Publicity
Job Titles:
- President, National Geographic Content
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- President, Disney Television Group
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- Co - Chairman, Disney Entertainment, the Walt Disney Company
Job Titles:
- President, News Groups and Networks, Disney Entertainment
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- President, Disney Television Studios & Global Original Television Strategy, Disney Entertainment Television
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- President, FX Entertainment
Job Titles:
- Chairman, FX Content & FX Productions
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, International Original Television for Disney Entertainment
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- President, 20th Television
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- Director, Scripted Publicity
Adelaide Kane plays Jules Millin on "Grey's Anatomy," a first-year surgical intern at Grey Sloan.
Born in Western Australia in 1990, Kane had been acting since she was 6 and got her first major role in 2006, when she won the role of Lolly Allen on "Neighbours." She entered a Dolly Magazine competition and won the role in late 2006.
Kane wrapped production on the independent film "Songs of Revenge" for director Mathieu Bonzon. She recently appeared in a critical guest arc in "This Is Us" and in a recurring role on CBS' "Seal Team" opposite Max Thieriot. She recently appeared as the lead in Hulu's "Uncanny Annie," part of their new holiday anthology series. She can next be seen in the independent film "Cosmic Sin" opposite Bruce Willis.
Kane had a recurring role on the ABC series "Once Upon a Time." Prior to that, she starred in the hit CW series "Reign" as Mary Queen of Scots and had a recurring role on MTV's "Teen Wolf." On the film front, Kane co-starred in "The Purge" opposite Ethan Hawke and Lena Heady.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President, Publicity, and Head of Communications, Disney Entertainment Television
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- President, FX Entertainment
Job Titles:
- Head of Marketing, Disney Branded Television & National Geographic Content
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- President, Marketing, Disney Entertainment Television
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- Head of Casting, Disney Entertainment Television
Job Titles:
- President, Creative, Strategy and Digital, Multi - Platform Marketing, FX
Job Titles:
- Chief Counsel, Disney Entertainment Television
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- President, Onyx Collective
Job Titles:
- Head of Strategy, Business Operations and Finance, Disney Entertainment Television