A longtime motion picture production and marketing executive, Ricky Strauss joined The Walt Disney Studios as President of Marketing in January 2012. He oversees the Studios’ global marketing strategy encompassing creative, media, digital, promotions, publicity, research and synergy across all distribution channels for motion pictures released under the Walt Disney Pictures (including Walt Disney Animation and Pixar Animation), Marvel Studios, and Touchstone Pictures banners, which includes DreamWorks Studios films released via Touchstone. The Studios’ slate of 2012-13 films includes “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Disney•Pixar’s “Brave,” Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie,” Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Wreck-It Ralph,” Sam Raimi’s “Oz The Great And Powerful,” Marvel’s “Iron Man 3,” and Disney’s “The Lone Ranger,” starring Johnny Depp. Ricky previously served as President of Participant Media for seven years, presiding over all feature film production, acquisition and marketing efforts, as well as television and publishing activities. Among the acclaimed films that Participant produced under his tenure are the Academy Award®-winning 2011 blockbuster “The Help,” “Contagion,” “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Syriana,” “The Kite Runner,” “North Country,” “The Visitor,” the Academy Award®-winning documentaries “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Cove,” “Food Inc.,” “Waiting for ‘Superman,’ ” and “PAGE ONE: Inside the New York Times.” Participant’s companion books for “Food, Inc.” and “Waiting for ‘Superman,’ ” published by PublicAffairs, are both New York Times best-sellers. Prior to joining Participant, Ricky ran his own film and television production company, Ricochet Entertainment, where he executive produced “The Sweetest Thing,” starring Cameron Diaz, among other projects. Before Ricochet, Ricky served as Senior Vice President of Production at Sony, where he developed and supervised film projects for the studio. From 1988 to 1997, he served as an advertising executive at Columbia Pictures, creating award winning ad campaigns for many feature films. A longtime supporter of social issues and community service, Ricky served on the Board of Directors for Project Angel Food, the Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that delivers hot meals to homebound persons with AIDS and other serious illnesses. He is currently the Chair Emeritus of The Trevor Project Board of Directors, which operates the only 24 hour national suicide lifeline for troubled gay youth, and is a filmmaker mentor for Project: Involved, a fellowship program sponsored by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping independent filmmakers. Ricky attended the University of Vermont, graduating Phi Beta Kappa (cum laude) with a BA in English.