Douglas Looney
AI Production & Creative Operations Leader
917-603-4787 | doug@douglooney.com | linkedin.com/in/doug-looney | vimeo.com/showcase/DL-CMC
Award-winning media executive with 25+ years building the creative, technical, and operational pipelines that turn ambitious ideas into deliverable content — from launching Disney/ABC's first video-on-demand product and streaming platform in the late 1990s, to building generative AI production pipelines today. Proven at translating executive vision into scalable workflows, and at identifying exactly where new technology creates real leverage versus where it's just noise.
Core Competencies
Professional Experience
Doug Looney Creative Media Consulting
New York, NY
AI Production & Creative Operations Consultant
2025 – Present
- Directed an AI-generated proof-of-concept trailer for an independent feature film — closing a financing gap that would have required a traditional production budget of $100,000+, delivered for roughly 10% of that cost, now being shopped to investors.
- Rebuilt a branded commercial's production around AI, delivering a 90-second story across four locations on a budget that traditional production would have confined to 15 seconds in one location (80% cost reduction).
- Replaced a traditional 2-day aerial drone shoot with a single-day AI pipeline (85% cost reduction).
- Serve as strategic advisor to media and brand clients on AI production strategy, workflow design, and creative operations — SurvivorNet, Peloton, Loopwell, Life Hive Nutrition, Cornerhouse Media, and OMG Media. Board Advisor to two early-stage AI technology startups.
- Maintain an active network of AI-forward creative professionals through Future Film Collective.
Looney Advertising & Freelance Brand Production
New York, NY
Creative Director, Producer & Editor
2000 – Present
- Long-running independent brand production practice running alongside a senior corporate career — producing video campaigns, promotional content, and branded creative for clients across consumer, automotive, publishing, and lifestyle categories.
- Clients include Random House Publishing, Physicians Formula, Bahlsen, Benzel Busch Mercedes-Benz, and ongoing work for family-owned businesses and startups.
- Snake Hill Documentary (2006) — feature-length documentary, functioned as Creative Director across producing, editing, graphics package design, and color grading.
ABC News | The Walt Disney Company
New York, NY
Executive Director, Creative Operations
2022 – 2025
- Owned the creative operations function for ABC News — designing and running the intake system, resourcing model, vendor governance layer, and project management infrastructure that kept 200+ creative and production staff moving without losing visibility or quality.
- Led the complete creative operations reinvention of ABC News' move from 47 West 66th Street to 7 Hudson Square — 200+ staff, 10+ departments, out 13 days ahead of deadline, $2M+ in capital savings, zero disruption.
- Built and managed strategic platform partnerships with Hulu, Disney+, Roku, and YouTube — translating distribution relationships into audience growth and revenue-generating content arrangements, reaching 19M+ subscribers.
- Deployed Adobe Firefly for generative AI content creation in documentary production — among the first broadcast organizations to operationalize generative AI at scale. Reduced crewed shoot days and freed 3D artists for higher-value work, while maintaining ABC News' editorial standards.
Director, Post Production & Distribution
2017 – 2022
- Built the creative operations infrastructure for ABC News' long-form content division from scratch — intake, resourcing, vendor relationships, production workflows, and delivery pipelines for a new content vertical delivering to Hulu, Disney+, NatGeo, and Freeform.
- Managed $10M+ annual operational budget — $500K+ in annual savings while scaling output and maintaining #1 market position; separately managed $2M+ in capital budget across facility and infrastructure investments.
- Led the virtual production transformation for 500+ roles — new workflows, new tooling, change management, and sustainment, with zero disruption to output.
- Owned external production company and freelancer relationships at scale — contracts, onboarding, scopes of work, and accountability across a complex multi-vendor ecosystem.
Senior Manager, Editing Operations
2012 – 2017
- Led and developed 100+ producer-editors and live playout operators through multiple platform modernization initiatives — designing workflow efficiencies and adoption programs that doubled content output from 150 to 300+ annual hours without proportional headcount growth.
- Built a structured training and development program for emerging production talent — identifying high-potential staff, designing learning pathways, and creating the next generation of creative and technical leaders at ABC News.
- Led ABC News' SD-to-HD and tape-to-digital transition — a complete infrastructure and workflow overhaul executed without a single missed delivery.
Lead Editor/Producer, Promotions & Brand Marketing
2007 – 2012
- Led creative operations for ABC News' brand marketing and promotions team — owning intake, prioritization, resourcing, and delivery across simultaneous campaigns for GMA, World News Tonight, 20/20, and ABC News Specials.
- Produced Emmy Award-winning brand campaigns and dozens of sizzle reels that secured executive greenlight for programming — hands-on editor, scriptwriter, and creative producer in partnership with talent including Diane Sawyer and David Muir.
Producer, Editor & Designer / Founding Team Member, ABCNews.com
1997 – 2006
- Founding digital producer on Disney/ABC's first video-on-demand product and the original ABC News streaming channel — video delivered over 28K/56K modems, a decade ahead of industry adoption.
- Served as Creative Director, producer, and operational lead on an animatronic and video attraction built with Disney Imagineers for Epcot — promoting the coming era of broadband and fiber connectivity.
- Produced original viral short video campaigns decades ahead of the industry; contributed to ABC News' Peabody Award-winning coverage of September 11, 2001.
Technology & Tools
Generative AI: Adobe Firefly, Claude, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway, Fal.ai, HeyGen, 11 Labs, Kling, Figma-Weave, Veo
Agentic AI & Build: Claude API, Claude Code, Fal.ai API, Prompt Engineering, REST APIs, Artemis (custom POC)
Editing & Creative: Adobe Creative Suite, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid, Frame.io, iZotope
Infrastructure & Ops: Telestream, Signiant, Dalet, AWS, LucidLink, Evertz, Ross, Riedel
Collaboration & PM: Airtable, Smartsheet, Asana, Jira, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Visio
Awards & Recognition
Peabody Award — ABC News Coverage, September 11, 2001
Emmy Award — Outstanding Morning Program, GMA (2016 & 2014)
Emmy Award — Outstanding Promotional Announcement — "A Hidden America" with Diane Sawyer (2009)
Silver Horizon Interactive Award — "The Lost Generation: Zambia's Children Find Their Way"
BDA/Promax Gold — Animation in Interactive Television (2003)
Eppy Award — Best Overall Non-Newspaper Online News Service (2002)
Telly Awards — Gold & Silver for Television Animation (2003)
Executive Leadership Programs
Disney Director Experience | Disney Mentorship Program | Disney "IGNITE" Executive Leadership Development Series | Lean Six Sigma — Schwartz & Associates
Volunteerism & Community Leadership
Head Coach, New Providence Soccer Club — U14/15 Girls & U11 Boys | Board Member, New Providence Soccer Club | PAL Media & Video Production (Volunteer) | Villanova University — "At The Agency" Guest Speaker & Career Day Presenter
Education
Villanova University — Bachelor of Arts in Communications