Four Disney Executives Named to Top International Posts.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1999--

Four executives of The Walt Disney Company have been named to newly created international posts as Disney expands and strengthens its international presence.

The executives and their new positions, announced today by Robert A. Iger, president of Walt Disney International, are:

Etienne de Villiers, 49, president and managing director, Walt Disney International Europe; Michael O. Johnson, 44, president and managing director, Walt Disney International Asia; Diego Lerner, 43, president and managing director, Walt Disney International Latin America; and Paul Saleh, 42, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Walt Disney International.

Iger was president of Disney-owned ABC from February 1996 to February 1999, when he was named to head Disney internationally and to expand and build Disney's international organization. Iger also holds the title of chairman of the ABC Group.

"Etienne de Villiers, Michael Johnson and Diego Lerner all have tremendous international experience and have managed a broad range of business activities and initiatives outside the United States," said Iger. "Paul Saleh brings to our new organization substantial experience in and understanding of international finance.

"The Walt Disney Company already has established a significant and wide-ranging international presence. As we seek to expand globally and explore the vast potential for continued worldwide growth, we must be organized to take advantage of our strengths and our brand."

Michael Eisner, Disney's chairman and CEO, said, "Bob Iger and his newly named senior executives will concentrate on further building the Disney brand internationally, while consolidating all our international operations under a coordinated leadership. Disney will be able to act internationally with the same voice and vision that it has demonstrated domestically.

"Each of our new international regional executives has a firm understanding of the Disney brand and the way it is perceived outside the U.S. I am confident they will strengthen ties to the international marketplace and increase international appreciation for The Walt Disney Company and its products."

Headquarters for the respective regional offices will be in London, Tokyo and Buenos Aires.

De Villiers, a 14-year Disney veteran, has been president of Walt Disney Television International since 1994, where he was responsible for international free, pay and pay-per-view television activities, including Touchstone Television, Disney Television, and ABC entertainment and news programming, for more than 100 markets. He also was responsible for the production of more than 40 weekly programs worldwide. Earlier, he served as president of Buena Vista International Television before assuming the additional responsibilities of managing director of The Walt Disney Company UK, a position he retains.

Under his leadership, eight Disney Channels have been launched internationally and production and distribution offices have been established in 16 countries. De Villiers directed and then oversaw Disney's entry into several equity agreements, including those with GMTV, Super RTL and Multicanal.

A native of South Africa, de Villiers will be responsible for directing and coordinating all of Disney's activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Johnson, who joined Disney in 1986, has been president of Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment since 1997, when the U.S. organization was merged into the international home video group he had headed since 1992.

Since reorganizing the U.S. and international video groups into a single business, Johnson has established a worldwide marketing organization, boosted Disney's video rental markets, and established Buena Vista Home Entertainment as the worldwide distributor for Hayao Miyazaki -- Japan's premier animator. Under his direction, Disney's original 34 home video markets have expanded to more than 80. Johnson struck video and theatrical distribution agreements and certain production agreements with Tokuma Shoten Publishing, Studio Ghibli and Daiei Studios.

Johnson's organization made "Simba's Pride" the best direct-to-video seller of all time and 1998's second-best-selling video title behind "Titanic." He negotiated to obtain the worldwide distribution rights to Japan's top animated film of all time, "Princess Mononoke."

Johnson will oversee and coordinate all of Disney's activities in Asia and the Pacific Rim, including Australia.

Lerner joined Disney in 1988 and has been executive vice president for Buena Vista International and Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Latin America. He directed Disney's entry into the Latin American video market, where Disney now has the leading market share.

He established and consolidated film distribution in Latin America, negotiated joint distribution ventures with Latin American companies and established Disney distribution facilities in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Argentina. Through his efforts, Disney's stage musical "Beauty and the Beast" has been viewed by more than 1 million people in Mexico and Argentina.

In 1996, Lerner conceived and oversaw creation of the Patagonik Film Group, a film-producing firm partnering Disney with the Spanish-language multimedia organization, the Clarin Group. Four films became box-office hits and Patagonik was the production company selected for the film, "Evita."

Patagonik is the only film production company outside the United States in which Disney is a partner.

A native of Argentina, Lerner will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing all of Disney's activities in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Saleh, a native of Lebanon, has been senior vice president and treasurer of The Walt Disney Company since 1997. Under his leadership, the Treasury organization has implemented a number of financing solutions to support Disney's worldwide growth initiatives in addition to managing effectively the company's currency and interest rate risks in a highly volatile market environment.

Before joining Disney, Saleh held a number of senior finance posts with other multinational organizations. In his new position, Saleh will be responsible for International finance, human resources and information technology functions.

De Villiers, Johnson, Lerner and Saleh will continue to handle their previous responsibilities during the transition.

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