In December 2013, Catherine was named as the next Managing Director of The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, starting July 2014. Ms Powell will be based in Sydney and will be responsible for driving the company’s strategy, coordinating and leading all company business divisions, overseeing Disney global franchises, expanding existing businesses and seeking out new business opportunities in this region.
Catherine Powell currently leads the Europe, Middle East and Africa Media Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. She is responsible for the design and implementation of commercial strategies for the linear TV and digital media distribution of The Walt Disney Company's channels and content including Walt Disney Studios movies, ABC Studios series, Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior programming, ABC News programming, music, mobile apps, games and other interactive content commercialised by business to business partners across all platforms. On a global scale the Media Distribution division licenses over 30,000 hours of content to 1300 broadcasters across 240 territories worldwide.
Catherine was previously Disney Media Distribution’s SVP, Sales, UK, Ireland, Nordic, Benelux and Israel; and prior to that the Executive Director, Sales, UK and Ireland. She joined the Company in 2004 as Creative Director, Portfolio Development Group, where she had responsibility for its formats and local production activity, for both entertainment formats and scripted revisions of shows from ABC Studios.
Before joining Disney, Catherine worked for BBC Worldwide for seven years, where she held various senior TV sales roles across territories including Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Germany, and Spain/ Portugal.
