Disney communications chief Kristina Schake will receive a one-year contract extension and a raise due to “an increase in her responsibilities.”

Kristina Schake, who joined Disney just over a year ago as EVP and Chief Communications Officer, is getting a raise and a contract extension.

In an SEC filing, the company said it made the move due to an “increase in its responsibilities,” though it did not elaborate. Disney said it changed the original employment contract with Schake effective June 29, 2022. The original term of her contract was extended to 29 June 2026, one year longer than the original contract. Her base salary was also raised to $780,000 on April 9 of that year, with “future increases at the company’s discretion,” the filing said.

Schake’s target bonus award was also increased to 150% of her base salary and her annual Long-term stock bonus award value was increased to 350% of her base salary. A previous SEC filing said Schake’s starting salary was $725,000 and her total compensation for 2022 was $6.2 million, including bonuses and stock awards.

The current situation of the company definitely requires an agile approach to image management. Disney is cutting 7,000 jobs to achieve $5.5 billion in cost savings, reshaping its operations at a time of historic media industry change, and facing provocations from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Schake succeeded Geoff Morrell, who had a short and bumpy tenure as chief communications officer during the reign of former CEO Bob Chapek, when a series of strategic missteps caused internal turmoil at the company and DeSantis publicly could refer to as “Woke Disney”. .”

Bob Iger, who handed over the CEO baton to Chapek in 2020, took over again last fall after Chapek was fired from the company. Zenia Mucha, the communications director whose tenure at Disney was closely intertwined with Iger’s 14-year tenure as CEO, officially left the company in late 2021, along with Iger and several other top executives.

Schake brings considerable political experience to her role, having led the Covid-19 vaccine campaign at the behest of President Joe Biden. She also previously managed communications for First Lady Michelle Obama and was one of the top communications officers in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. In business, her role includes Global Communications Director for Instagram.