WarnerMedia bolsters its HBO Max team across Asia

WarnerMedia has made three more senior content hires in Asia to bolster its original productions teams ahead of HBO Max's launch in the region. “These are vital roles as we look to ramp up our original content and programming ambitions in this region," Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of India, Southeast Asia & Korea, said. "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.”

Mark Francis has been appointed Group Lead of Production & Development for both scripted and unscripted content in the Singapore-based team, and Wee Shi Ming has been named Lead of Entertainment Content Acquisition for North Asia content. They will report to Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s Head of Content – Entertainment for Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee joins WarnerMedia as Head of Content – Entertainment, India. The newly-created role, like Ew, reports to Schwebig. 

Former Head of OTT Content at Astro and iflix Chief Content Officer Francis will lead a regional team to develop Asian original productions under the “Max Originals” banner. In the Content Acquisition team, Wee Shi Ming started late last year and will prioritize securing Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Anime titles. Before this role, Wee was at Viu and Sony Pictures Television Networks, where she was Head of Acquisition and Programming 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 and 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 Lead of Development & Production – Unscripted for the same region. Wee reports into Ew while Lee reports into Francis.