iWorld
Ricky Strauss moves on from Disney
NEW DELHI: Ricky Strauss, The Walt Disney Studio president marketing and one of the key executives who launched Disney+, is moving on from the organisation after nine years.
Post the big restructuring at Disney last year, Strauss was assigned a new role as president of programming and content curation for Disney+ and Hulu.
"I have come to the decision that it is time for me to move on to pursue new creative endeavours. It took much thought and consideration, but with our new structure and the changes to my role, the reorganisation does not provide me with the opportunity to do the kind of work I love to do and to continue making the intended impact I have been so fortunate to have achieved at Disney," Strauss wrote in an internal memo to his team.
He will stay on till the end of the month to help with the transition.
Media reports stated that in light of his departure, Disney+ EVP marketing and operations Joe Earley, who has programming experience from his tenure at Fox, will add content curation for Disney+ to his purview and continue to report into Michael Paull, president, Disney+ and ESPN+. Hulu’s VP content partnerships Brian Henderson, who oversees Hulu content curation, will report into Hulu president Kelly Campbell.
iWorld
Prime Video to stream Tamil thriller Exam from May 15
Seven-episode series from National Award-winner A. Sarkunam streams in India and 240-plus countries
MUMBAI: Prime Video announced on April 27th that Exam, a taut seven-episode suspense drama set against the crucible of high-stakes competitive testing, will premiere on May 15th in India and across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
Written and directed by A. Sarkunam, a National Award-winner, the series is produced under the Wallwatcher Films banner by the creative duo Pushkar and Gayatri, who have previously delivered Suzhal: The Vortex (both seasons) and Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie for the platform. Dushara Vijayan and Aditi Balan lead the cast, with Abbas in a pivotal role.
The show will stream in Tamil with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada, and subtitles in 15 languages, including English, a distribution sweep that underscores Prime Video’s push to globalise Indian regional content.
Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India, framed the series as both timely and commercially astute. “Exam is a very timely and relevant story that captures the emotional intensity of competitive exams and masterfully transforms it into a thrilling high-stakes drama,” he said. “We believe it is a story that will resonate deeply with millions.” Madhok noted that it was a privilege to once again collaborate with Pushkar and Gayatri following the success of Suzhal and Vadhandhi.
For Pushkar and Gayatri, the series is as much a moral reckoning as a thriller. “With Exam, we wanted to dig into ambition, injustice, and those moral crossroads that people face when pushed to the edge,” the creative producers said. “At the heart of this story is a young woman who refuses to remain powerless. Her journey is not about glamorising defiance, but about exploring the emotional and ethical cost of standing up to a system stacked against her.” They described Prime Video as “an incredible collaborator” and “the perfect home” to bring the series to global audiences.
Wallwatcher Films, which Pushkar and Gayatri founded and run, has been on a productive streak with the platform. Beyond Exam, the company is also readying Vadhandhi Season 2 for Prime Video, making the duo one of the platform’s most active regional creative partners.
The real exam, it seems, is for Prime Video itself: can a Tamil drama about systemic injustice and a young woman’s defiance crack audiences from Chennai to Chicago? If Pushkar and Gayatri’s track record is anything to go by, the answer is likely yes, and the results will be out on May 15th.
