Disney Digital Network

Disney Digital Network was an American multi-channel network located in Culver City, California. It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson II, Ben Donovan, Philip DeFranco, Glasgow Phillips, Michael Gallagher, Matthew Clawson, and Paul Ballon in 2009. Maker Studios was originally conceived as an incubator for YouTube talent through the use of Super Channels like The Station. Maker Studios adopted the multi-channel network (MCN) model after the initial model failed to take root. Maker Studios was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2014 for $500 million, and was absorbed into the newly formed Disney Digital Network in 2017.

Outside the United States, the former Maker Studios had significant audiences in the United Kingdom, Brazil and Australia, and was aiming to expand its Asian operations, where it once had 700 million monthly unique views. Run by René Rechtman (who now runs Moonbug Entertainment), president for the international division, Maker had plans to build a headquarters in London for its commercial, production and marketing activities outside the USA. An Asian hub had been established in Singapore, which offered limited commercial and marketing support before the company was sold to The Walt Disney Company.

Following the Disney acquisition, the company suffered multiple rounds of layoffs, executive shuffling, and partner cut-offs.