Dana Walden Talks Shogun, The Bear, and Why Kimmel Won’t Host

Dana Walden had an above-average morning on Wednesday. The co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, which owns a sprawling portfolio of platforms (Hulu, Disney+, FX) and studios (20th Television, Disney-Branded Television), saw her various teams earn a combined 183 Emmy nominations earlier in the day.

Driven by FX outputs like Shogun And The bearHulu’s perennial favorite There are only murders in the building and the ABC broadcast unicorn Abbott Elementary Schoolparent company is heading into the 2024 Primetime Emmys with its highest number of nominations yet. Hopping on the phone to discuss the feat, Walden also opened up about the decision to renew a one-off limited series Shogunwhat Ryan Murphy brings to the company now that he’s left Netflix, giving Jimmy Kimmel a pass to host the Emmys and why the type of shows nominated make it more optimistic in the face of gloomy Hollywood headlines.

Congratulations on all the good news this morning.

I am so happy and proud of our teams. 183 nominations is truly an extraordinary achievement, more than we have ever had at the Walt Disney Company.

Looking at the nominations breakdown, there were 93 nominations for FX alone. And since you probably won’t tell me, I will: that’s more than HBO, which is pretty incredible considering the network’s history.

Well, you said it.Laughs). What FX did, what John Landgraf and his team were able to do, it wasn’t a matter of luck or timing. It was Bob’s good fortune. [Iger’s] Our vision was to bring some of Fox’s brands to the Walt Disney Company and integrate ourselves into a strategy for the future that was going to be a real game changer.

Speaking of strategy, can you tell me a little bit about the conversations to renew Shogun? From the beginning, John Landgraf was very clear that this was an expensive series, a limited series and a unique event for FX in terms of scale.

I want to make sure that I respect John’s ability to speak on behalf of his strategy – but I will tell you John and [showrunners] Justin [Marks] and Rachel [Kondo] We had very thoughtful conversations about whether there was actually enough story to tell a second season and something that would work for all stakeholders in Shogun. They approached the project with great care and thoughtfulness, as FX does in every aspect. John is strategic and thoughtful. He is both data-driven and a leader who operates on incredible creative instincts. No decision is made lightly or impulsively. This was a choice that was made because all of those elements came together, and he and his team truly believed in a continuing story in this franchise.

Disney-owned ABC is hosting the Emmys this year. Is there any chance Jimmy Kimmel will host again?

Jimmy is always our first request. He’s always our first choice in terms of partners. He’s a great representative of our company and he’s done a remarkable job. But the Oscars are a lot of work. Hosting a daily show is a lot of work. So…