Former Disney+ executive Johanna Devereaux is joining AppleTV+’s development team in Europe led by creative director Jay Hunt, known for greenlighting series including “Slow Horses,” “Hijack” and “Bad Sisters.”
Devereaux, who will be based in London, most recently served as vice president of scripted content and diversity, equity and inclusion strategy for Disney+’s Europe, Middle East and Africa division.
She has been a driving force behind the launch of 34 originals on the streamer, with more than 40 further titles greenlit, including “Wedding Season,” “Extraordinary,” “Culprits,” “Playdate,” “Renegade Nell,” and “The Good Mothers.”
Before joining the Disney+ EMEA team, Devereaux served as ABC Studios International’s director of development, where she established the studio’s first scripted strategy outside of North America and built a slate across the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions, spearheading series including “Harrow” and “The Gloaming.” Prior to Disney, she worked in intellectual property at Curtis Brown and as a development executive in the independent sector.
“I am enormously proud of what we’ve achieved over the past four years: producing and launching the first slate of EMEA originals for Disney+ has been the experience of a lifetime,” Devereaux said in a statement. “I will always be grateful to Liam Keelan who has led the Originals team with unfailing integrity and vision, and to Lee Mason, Sean Doyle, and the brilliant Originals gang across the region – their creativity and kindness have been an inspiration. Disney+ has some truly amazing UK and European series in the pipeline, and I’ll be cheering them on every step of the way.”
Going forward, Mason will assume responsibility of projects launching in January and beyond as well as the full scripted development slate. Meanwhile, Devereaux’s DEI responsibilities will be split between Mason for scripted and Sean Doyle for unscripted.