Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
74 DGA QUARTERLY E N N Y O RT E G A H A S L O N G B E E N a double threat. His work as a chore- ographer on music videos and concert tours for the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson made him a well-known commodity in the pop world. ð He has since become a kind of 'tween phenomenon, having directed two of the Disney Channel's most popular made-for-TV film franchises, High School Musical and Descendants, which earned him DGA awards for children's programming in 2007 and 2016, respectively. Mark Hofeling, Ortega's longtime production designer on these series—both cash cows for the Disney brand from the beginning—hints at the kind of zealous fol- lowing these movies inspire. "This is an audience that loses sleep for two weeks before these movies air, and then they watch them 50 times," he says. "They completely inhabit the stories—their imagination is halfway down the road by the time you meet them." ð Descendants, which centers around the offspring of Disney's most iconic villains, is about to see its third entry hit the airwaves. And, as on the previous incar- nations of that and the High School Musical series, as well as 2006's The Cheetah Girls 2, the director and production designer worked in close collaboration to create the magic. Kenny Ortega and production designer Mark Hofeling are in sync when it comes to serving young audiences | By Matt Hurwitz [ c o l l a b o r a t o r s ] K Song and Dance Routine