WARNERMEDIA NAMES MIA EDDE AS HEAD OF HBO MAX’S TURKISH CONTENT

WarnerMedia has appointed MBC Dubai exec Mia Edde to the newly created role of executive director of HBO Max's Turkish content acquisitions.  “With HBO Max’s global expansion well underway, we are continuing to prepare for launches across Europe later this year," Priya Dogra, President of WarnerMedia EMEA and Asia, said. "Mia’s track record of identifying and acquiring high-quality Turkish local-language content will support our efforts to build a vibrant local programming slate for HBO Max.”

Edde, who had been with MBC since 2005, takes up the newly created role of executive director of Turkish content acquisitions on 1 August and will be based out of Dubai. She will report to Hannes Heyelmann, EVP and head of programming for EMEA and Tomas Yankelevich, EVP & chief content officer for Latin America.

Edde will be responsible for leading acquisitions of local language programming in Turkey for HBO Max in EMEA and Latin America, working closely with the head of programming & acquisitions for EMEA Ragnhild Thorbech, and Andres Mendoza, head of acquisitions & negotiations in Latin America. She will also work with Antony Root, EVP & head of original production in EMEA on the commissioning and production of original Turkish language content. “Turkish local language content has immense popularity amongst international audiences, and I am looking forward to bringing the very best of this content to HBO Max,”  Edde said.

Edde was most recently at MBC Dubai, where she created acquisition strategies and worked closely with the writing and adaptation teams on all original scripted commissions, including producers and directors in Turkey and the MENA region. The exec is the latest addition for HBO Max from the Middle East’s MBC Group, following Luis Duran’s move to the company as general manager of the SVOD in Lat Am earlier this year. He reports to Johannes Larcher, who left MBC-owned streamer Shahid last year to become the head of HBO Max International.

Last week it emerged that WarnerMedia is likely to delay the roll-out of its streaming service, HBO Max, in parts of Europe, as it focuses efforts on Latin America. Discussing Edde’s appointment, Dogra said the company is “continuing to prepare for launches across Europe” later this year, but declined to specify which countries would receive the streamer first.