Joe D’Ambrosia has been named executive vice president and general manager of Silvergate Media, Sony Pictures Television said Friday.
In his new role, D’Ambrosia will be the creative and strategic business leader, overseeing day-to-day operations of the company, which develops, produces and licenses top children’s programming.
He will step into his new position April 1, taking over for Silvergate CEO Waheed Alli, who will be stepping down this summer.
“I am thrilled to be joining Sony Pictures Television and Silvergate at such an exciting and pivotal time in kids’ entertainment,” D’Ambrosia said in a statement. “In my 10 years at Disney Junior, I have had the good fortune of working alongside one of the best teams in the business. This is the ideal next step to be collaborating with Ravi and the incredibly innovative and creative teams at Sony and Silvergate to produce world-class storytelling for kids and families around the globe.”
D’Ambrosia joins Silvergate after over a decade at Disney. Most recently, he served as the Senior Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager for Disney Junior. In the role, he oversaw all extensions of the Disney Junior brand, on-and-off screen, as well as all development and production of Disney Junior original programming.
D’Ambrosia began his career at Nickelodeon, where he launched the family film division, serving as the development and production executive on their first live-action feature, “Harriet the Spy,” and their first animated feature, “Rugrats, The Movie.”
He later helped launch Sony Pictures Family Entertainment before co-founding Murray Hill 5 Productions with partner Tom Teves. Together, they developed, wrote, and produced “Astro Boy” and created “Golden Bridges,” based on the classic book series “Golden Books,” for The Learning Channel.
D’Ambrosia moved over to Disney in 2011 as Vice President, Original Programing of Disney Junior before being promoted to Senior Vice President in 2016 and then to General Manager in 2019.
He has led production and creative development for some of Disney Junior’s most popular series, including “Doc McStuffins,” “Sofia the First,” “Muppet Babies,” “Elena of Avalor,” “Mira, Royal Detective,” and “Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends.”
In his role at Silvergate Media, D’Ambrosia will report to Ravi Ahuja, Chairman Global Television Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment Corporate Development.
“Joe has a proven track record in leading a successful children’s programming business and knows this unique segment inside and out. His extensive experience in all aspects of the business and his passion for bringing inspired children’s content to life make him a natural fit for the role,” Ahuja said.