Walt Disney Studios names Tony To as head of physical production

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Walt Disney Studios named a television veteran, Tony To, as executive vice president of production, responsible for overseeing all aspects of physical production for the studio’s live-action movies.

The Burbank studio’s longtime president of physical production, Bruce Hendricks, left in February.

To, veteran TV producer and director, had worked on several HBO projects, including serving as co-executive producer with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg on the acclaimed 2001 miniseries “Band of Brothers,” and last year’s followup, ‘The Pacific.’

‘Tony is a gifted producer and director with an incredible wealth of experience with the best filmmakers in the world,’ Disney’s production president Sean Bailey said in a statement. ‘His unique point of view and deep working knowledge of the craft ... are a perfect complement to our motion picture team.’

Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross also spent much of his career in television. The hiring of To brings a seasoned executive into the fold who is accustomed to delivering ambitious projects to the small screen under the TV industry’s comparatively tighter budgets.

Earlier in his career, To also worked as a producer on the 1992 theatrical movie ‘One False Move,’ starring Billy Bob Thornton and directed by Carl Franklin.

--Dawn C. Chmielewski