Courteney Monroe

Courteney Monroe is president of National Geographic Content. She oversees the Emmy®- and Oscar®-winning National Geographic-branded content and production for Disney+ and the linear networks around the world, which include National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo MUNDO, as well as the brand’s digital footprint and iconic magazine.

Monroe continues to shepherd the National Geographic brand through high-profile upscale original series and documentaries that use the power of storytelling to further the knowledge and understanding of the world. Under Monroe’s leadership, National Geographic continues to attract best-in-class creatives including Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Will Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Gal Gadot, Chris Hemsworth, Julianna Margulies, Lynda Obst, Arianna Huffington, Katie Couric, Antonio Banderas, Ridley Scott, Gordon Ramsay, James Cameron, Jane Goodall, Darren Aronofsky and Jeff Goldblum.

Since 2017, Monroe has launched four of the most-viewed series and some of the most critically acclaimed and awards-recognized series and films in network history, including the Oscar and BAFTA-winning documentary “Free Solo.” Since its inception four years ago, National Geographic Documentary Films Banner has had several films on the Oscar shortlist including Ron Howard’s “Rebuilding Paradise” and Feras Fayyad’s Oscar-nominated “The Cave.” At this past Telluride Film Festival, the banner premiered four films to much critical acclaim – “The Rescue,” “Fauci,” “Becoming Cousteau” and “Torn.” The “Genius” scripted anthology series has been nominated for 20 Emmys, with latest installment “Genius: Aretha,” starring Cynthia Erivo, becoming the most-watched telecast on the National Geographic channel in the past two years. Most recently, Emmy-Award winning series “Life Below Zero” nabbed its fourth consecutive win for Outstanding Cinematography at the 2021 Creative Arts Emmys. This November, Monroe will bring back its most-watched scripted series, “The Hot Zone,” with the second season focusing on the Anthrax attacks of 2002 and led by Daniel Dae Kim and Tony Goldwyn.

With National Geographic now under the Disney umbrella, Monroe is furthering the brand’s unparalleled global reach, spreading purpose-driven entertainment. This past Earth Day, Disney+ premiered Nat Geo’s Emmy Award-winning “Secrets Of The Whales,” a four-part event series executive produced by longtime Nat Geo collaborator and Explorer-at-Large James Cameron and narrated by Sigourney Weaver. On the horizon, other Nat Geo content for the Disney+ platform, will include the fourth installment of the “Genius” scripted anthology series chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr.; “Welcome to Earth,” from Jane Root’s Nutopia and Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, where executive producer and host Will Smith will travel around the world to unlock the secrets of the most extraordinary and unexplained phenomena of nature; and “Limitless With Chris Hemsworth,” Aronofsky’s second unscripted series for Nat Geo, in which Hemsworth uncovers the limits of the human body.

With a key focus on diversity and inclusion across the company, Monroe also debuted the National Geographic Field Ready Program in 2020, designed to provide a clear career path for young, new diverse talent who are interested in working behind the camera in natural history production. Additionally, for the 10th annual “Sharkfest” summer event in 2022, National Geographic will partner with Minorities in Shark Science (MISS), whose mission is to encourage diversity and inclusion in the field of shark science and inspire the next generation of scientists. National Geographic will have access to MISS experts as talent and experts for current “Sharkfest” shows in production and for consideration in future shows.