AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Disney delays Stage 9 - The Hollywood Reporter

Disney’s ABC has indefinitely postponed the debut of a unit charged with launching original online series.

The unit, known as Stage 9, planned to distribute its first offering in February with one of four shortform episodic programs scheduled to roll out this year. A Disney spokeswoman declined comment.

Disney isn’t saying why Stage 9 is being put on the back burner, but sources indicate the parent company does not want to risk inflaming the guilds with a venture intended to grab digital revenue — a sore point in strike negotiations. However, Stage 9 has been in operation since February, months before the strike began.

Disney has never officially announced the formation of the five-man unit, but Stage 9 is something of an open secret in online-production circles. In what could be an indication of its uncertain future, the operation was moved from its bungalow on Disney’s lot to a company office elsewhere in Burbank.

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