Wizards Beyond Waverly Place
The Challenge:
Reintroduce an iconic Disney Channel franchise to a generation that grew up with it — while simultaneously welcoming a new audience discovering the Russo family for the first time. The campaign needed to balance deep nostalgia with a fresh character arc, modern pacing, and serialized storytelling, all while reestablishing the brand’s cultural relevance in a crowded kids-and-family landscape and inherent challenges of the multi-cam sitcom format.
My Role:
Senior Manager, Writer/Producer and Creative Lead across the full campaign. Responsibilities included shaping the creative strategy and leading storytelling through 360 ideation across broadcast, streaming, digital, social, experiential, paid media, and synergy spots, working cross-functionally with strategy, PR, social, and marketing partners throughout. Oversaw execution across 30+ unique assets, guiding multiple external vendors alongside in-house editors, producers, and PAs, while directing talent, capturing on-set BTS, ancillary and social moments, and protecting key creative beats during production. Regularly presented creative strategy, pitch decks, and final spots to senior executives and show creatives from early concept through launch and sustained episodic momentum.
The Work:
The campaign positioned Wizards as a cultural “wand” handoff — from the legacy to the discovery generation. Creative leaned into character-forward storytelling, humor, and empowerment, using Billie’s POV as a modern entry point into the wizard world. The rollout spanned trailers, first-look teasers, demo sells to hit specific markets, social and digital storytelling, experiential moments, OOH, and paid media — all designed to feel platform-native and personality-driven while expanding the world of the IP beyond the screen.
Highlighted Creative:
WBWP - First Look Teaser: First audience view into the series, leaning deep into the nostalgia of the former. Used in Bob Iger presentations.
WBWP - “Halloween” episode: Hitting relevant cultural moments and seeding episodic viewing patterns.
WBWP - “Fuzzy Bee” : An assortment of shorter :15 pieces to fit various synergy, off-air placements.
WBWP - “Family” Trailer - DC/D+: Leaning into the core hook of family to intro not only Justin’s family but also Billie’s story to wider audience.
WBWP - “Hex” Sell: Drive urgency to view closer to premiere date.
WBWP - “Wand ID” Behind the Scenes: Iconic DC tradition highlights the literal passing of the wand to the next generation.
WBWP - Millennial Sell: Social placements and off-air aiming to reach millennial original series viewers.
WBWP - “Magic is Brewing”: Combining critic’s praise, red carpet moments and tease to the next batch drop to generate series excitement.
WBWP - 3-D Times Square Billboard, NYC: just one of many OOH placements and experiential activations.
The Results:
The series premiere became Disney Channel’s most-watched series debut on Disney+ ever, with 3.2 million global views in the first 12 days.
The official trailer achieved ~69 million views across social platforms in its first 10 days, setting a new record for a Disney Channel comedy trailer.
Social media activity generated 125 million+ impressions and 13 million+ engagements across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
The full first episode posted on YouTube drove 1.1 million+ views, marking the channel’s best-performing new episode release in years.
The series ranked as a top streaming title among key demos, including Kids 6–11, Teens, and Adults 18–24, in its early viewing window.
Nearly 30 original assets rolled out across broadcast, streaming, digital, social, paid media, and experiential, reinforcing the franchise’s return to cultural conversation.
Strong ongoing engagement contributed to a second-season pickup, extending franchise momentum and audience retention.