Walt Disney Studios promotes veteran publicist Melissa Stone to SVP of Publicity

Melissa Stone has been promoted to senior vice president of publicity at The Walt Disney Studios, Disney announced through an assignment reported by Deadline on August 12, 2026. Stone previously served as vice president of publicity at Walt Disney Studios, according to the report, and her new role expands her remit across the studio’s major production units and streaming brand.

In her senior position, Stone is set to lead the studio’s publicity function and oversee global public relations strategy for Disney’s production labels, including Disney Live Action, Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm and 20th Century Studios. The promotion consolidates publicity leadership across properties that have distinct production pipelines and audience segments, while keeping responsibility for message coordination and campaign strategy within a single senior role.

The responsibilities outlined in the report also include oversight of publicity for Disney+, the company’s streaming service, as part of the broader global PR strategy. By placing Disney+ alongside the studio’s film and animation labels under the same publicity leader, Disney is aligning communications planning across theatrical, streaming, and franchise marketing efforts.

The report characterizes Stone as a veteran publicist, but it does not describe specific career milestones beyond her prior vice president post at Walt Disney Studios. It also does not provide additional details on whether her promotion changes the reporting structure for team members or how the publicity organization is staffed across the different labels.

Stone’s promotion takes place as major studios continue to manage press strategy across multiple release platforms, including theatrical and streaming. For publicity teams, the operational challenge typically involves coordinating product launches, managing talent and spokesperson schedules, and harmonizing messaging across markets while tailoring coverage to different audience demographics.

For staff and business partners, the immediate practical effect is that Stone becomes the senior executive responsible for global publicity strategy across several Disney production labels. The report does not specify a start date for the new duties, but it ties the advancement to the announcement published on August 12, 2026.