Disney Creative Entertainment

Face it – at some point, every child wanted to be a Disney pirate or princess. But, did you know there’s a lot more to Disney Creative Entertainment than wearing fur or feathers and signing autographs?

Disney Creative Entertainment designs, writes, and produces large-scale stage productions, parades, holiday pageantry, special events, and, of course, fireworks displays. Disney entertainment is not restricted to the five parks, though. They produce shows on Broadway in New York City and London (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aida, Mary Poppins, and the forthcoming The Little Mermaid), sponsor the Disney on Ice performances, create shows and entertainment venues/events for the Disney cruise ships (see Cruise Jobs Section), and own successful movie studios such as Pixar, Touchstone Pictures, and Miramax. Also under the banner of Disney Creative Entertainment are jobs in stage production, music, dance and choreography, audio/visual, Radio Disney on air personalities and show content producers, pyrotechnicians, and scriptwriters.

A typical day for an Entertainment manager will involve focusing on the characters/actors/dancers in your shows, supervise tech tests, call show cues, schedule performances and performers, coach employees and guest talent, manage expenses, and understand and uphold union agreements.

It is nearly impossible to secure a Creative Entertainment job without already working in the Disney parks. Entertainment recruiters seek those with proven experience in show production, technical disciplines, previous coordinator or crew chief jobs, relevant college degree/plan of study (Communication, Theater, Directing, Performance, etc.), and/or stage performance. The successful candidate will also have a working familiarity with Collective Bargaining Agreements.

But, once employed by the company, there are a variety of ways to learn more about Disney entertainment and ingrain yourself with the key players in the department. Besides working as a character or character escort (the people who run the guest meet-and-greet line and keep the characters safe and on schedule), you can take advantage of other opportunities for partnering with Disney entertainment by shadowing Entertainment managers or by participating in an Entertainment event such as the Christmas-time Candlelight Processional or Disney affiliates Encore/S.T.A.G.E. community theater groups. By showing your talents through these mediums, you gain valuable entertainment experience, hone your craft, build your resume, and make valuable networking contacts. It also doesn’t hurt to pick up extra hours working crowd control at the larger productions and shows to demonstrate your dedication to learning all aspects of the entertainment field.