Disney’s Top R&D; Execs to Leave for Own Firm

Walt Disney Co.’s top research and development executive said Friday he will be leaving the company to start a new firm with one of his top lieutenants.

Bran Ferren, 47, president of R&D; and creative technology at Disney Imagineering, said he and his R&D; vice president, Danny Hillis, are starting Applied Minds, which will consult on new technologies for entertainment companies and other clients. Disney itself will be one of the firm’s first clients, and the firm will be located on the Imagineering grounds in Glendale.

Ferren said that although he and Hillis are in “hiring mode” he did not intend to raid Imagineering for staff.

“We are not interested in hurting Disney in any way,” he said, adding that he would continue to run Imagineering as a consultant until a replacement is appointed.

The departure of Ferren and Hillis comes on the heels of other high-profile resignations at the giant entertainment firm. But Ferren said his move did not reflect discontent with the company.

“A lot of people have tried to spin this against Disney,” he said. “But it’s about Danny and I. It’s a time in our lives when we want to move on to do the next thing. We want to put together a company to change the world.” He said establishing an independent company will “give us the freedom of movement we need to do a variety of things that are not entertainment-related.”

In his role at Imagineering, which he joined in 1993 when Disney bought his technology and design company, Ferren was responsible for theme park design and construction, Disney’s entry onto the Internet, and even the design of the Times Square studio for the ABC network show “Good Morning America.” He also created the “Disney Fellows” program, which brought distinguished scientists and engineers to the company as full-time employees and consultants.

A man of bearish dimensions with a distinctively bushy red beard, Ferren is a popular speaker at technology conferences on the subject of using new technologies to enhance storytelling.

Hillis, 43, won renown as the designer of the “Connection Machine,” one of the first massively parallel supercomputers. He joined Imagineering in 1996 as the first Disney Fellow appointed by Ferren.