Vanessa Brookman
WarnerMedia made a key appointment to its global kids’ business, naming Vanessa Brookman to the new role of Head of Kids EMEA. The announcement was made by Priya Dogra, President at WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia (excluding China), and Tom Ascheim, President of Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics (KYAC), to whom Brookman jointly reports.
Brookman, who has been with WarnerMedia for nearly six years in senior content, brands, digital and creative roles, assumes a newly created position which for the first time brings together the operational, editorial and creative responsibilities for all kids’ content and channel brands in EMEA into a single remit. The portfolio includes the iconic Cartoon Network brand, Boomerang, Boing and Cartoonito, as well as associated digital properties on third-party and on owned WarnerMedia streaming platforms.
Within the newly integrated remit, Brookman, who takes up her new role with immediate effect, will represent and drive EMEA’s interests at the global company level to create and deliver the best content for kids and families, while also developing and executing regional EMEA initiatives across content, branding, programming, marketing compliance, PR, and digital. She will also collaborate closely with Johannes Larcher, Christina Sulebakk, and their teams on HBO Max to help build a powerful kids proposition for the streaming service when it launches in due course in the EMEA markets.
As a member of both Dogra’s and Ascheim’s leadership teams, she will liaise with the consumer products, franchise management, home entertainment, theatrical and games teams under the purview of WarnerMedia’s EMEA Country Managers, with the advertising and affiliate teams across the region and with Ascheim’s global team, to ensure a consistent and aligned approach at the worldwide level.
“Vanessa’s proven track record across every aspect of the kids business, including multi-territory brand management, acquisitions, commissioning and programming, both in the linear and SVOD space, make her exceptionally well-suited to this role. This will be invaluable to our strategies for the ongoing success of our existing channels whilst also shaping the HBO Max kids offering for the EMEA region,” Priya Dogra said.
“Vanessa exemplifies passionate, innovative and inclusive leadership, and is a genuine fan of great kids content. She brings a strong business acumen honed from her career in different roles across the media industry, coupled with her ability to motivate teams, foster collaboration, and align around a unified vision,” Tom Ascheim added.