In order to bolster its originals production teams in advance of the launch of HBO Max in the region, WarnerMedia has made three senior content hires in Asia. In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee joins WarnerMedia as entertainment content head, India.
In the Singapore-based team, Mark Francis has been appointed production and development (scripted and unscripted) group lead; and Wee Shi Ming has been named entertainment content acquisition lead for North Asia content. They both report to Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s content head- entertainment for Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The newly-created role, like Ew, reports to Clement Schwebig, MD of India, Southeast Asia and Korea.
“These are vital roles as we look to ramp up our original content and programming ambitions in this region. Saugata, Mark and Shi Ming have a great eye for a winning project and have enviable connections within the industry. With them all now in place over the past few months, we’re looking in great shape to entertain local audiences with a well-rounded and premium slate,” said Schwebig.
Former Astro OTT content head and chief content officer, Francis will lead a regional team to develop Asian original productions under the ‘Max Originals’ banner.
Wee Shi Ming, in the content acquisition team, started in late 2021 and will focus on securing Japanese, Korean, Chinese and anime titles. Prior to this role, Wee was at Viu and Sony Pictures Television Networks, where she was acquisition and programming head for Asian content. Wee now works alongside Katheryn Lim, who leads content acquisition for international and English-language entertainment titles, with both of them reporting into Ew.
Former SonyLiv and Disney exec, Mukherjee also joined in late 2021 and is responsible for commissioning local originals, as well as acquiring and developing Indian content across all general entertainment genres.
In September 2021, WarnerMedia also announced the appointment of Audrey Wee as the physical production lead for its growing line-up of regional entertainment content in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. And in July, May-Yi Lee was named development and production lead – unscripted for the same region. Wee reports into Ew while Lee reports into Francis.