Disney+ Canada Boss Jason Badal is Looking for the Next ‘Fleabag’ as Streamer Readies to Develop Canadian Content

variety.com:

Amber Dowling Disney+ is preparing to greenlight original Canadian content. However those seeking to place programming with the northern contingent of the Mouse House may not be preparing pitches the streamer is actually looking for.

Less than a year after former Shopify e-commerce director Jason Badal took the top job as VP and GM of Disney+ in Canada, he sat onstage for a spotlight Session at content Canada to discuss the company’s push into general entertainment content.

Specifically, he revealed the company is looking to blow out the Disney Star portion of Disney+. “That’s where all of our audience-expanding content is,” he explained. “I love to hear that people with older kids or younger kids love our product, but I’m always trying to, even on a one-to-one basis, remind people that there’s older-skewing general entertainment content.” He added that part of his job right now isn’t just to find more content to widen Disney+’s addressable market, but to educate people on the content within that subsection of the streaming service.

Currently, the Star box comprises various titles from entities like FX, Hulu and Fox. Some of it premieres day-and-date with the U.S.