WarnerMedia Int’l sets Asian top team

WarnerMedia International has unveiled its new leadership team for India, South-East Asia and Korea.

Clement Schwebig

The media giant is bringing together WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks, which includes the legacy Turner and HBO businesses, with Warner Bros, which covers areas such as theatrical distribution, TV syndication, home entertainment and gaming.

The combined media operation includes TV brands HBO, Cartoon Network and CNN, streamer HBO Go and Warner Bros franchises Looney Tunes and DC.

The organisation will be led by Clement Schwebig, head of WarnerMedia for India, South-East Asia and Korea.

The rejig will result in the departures of Siddharth Jain, senior VP and MD for South Asia, and Jessica Kam, senior VP of original productions, entertainment.

The leadership team for the region now comprises Yasmin Zahid, David Simonsen, Jae Chang, Vikram Sharma, Magdalene Ew, Athreyan Sundararajan, Shonali Bedi and Leslie Lee.

Zahid heads up affiliate and B2B distribution for all WarnerMedia linear TV networks and leads B2B carriage partnerships for HBO Go.

Simonsen continues to lead the development of HBO Go in South-East Asia and will work with Johannes Larcher’s global HBO Max team to lay the foundation for its launch in the region.

Chang heads up TV distribution and home entertainment, overseeing physical and digital distribution licensing for all WarnerMedia content in the region.

Sharma takes charge of consumer products, advertising and partnerships, while a new lead for theatrical distribution is being sought. In the meantime, all country MDs will report to Schwebig.

Ew takes charge of the company’s consolidated entertainment pillar, including all HBO channels, Warner TV and Oh!K, and will also oversee all entertainment original productions in the region, including those for HBO Asia.

Sundararajan leads an integrated group marketing team for all WarnerMedia business, while Bedi heads up strategy and operations and also takes on expanded responsibilities for research and insights.

Lee continues to lead all the kids brands for WarnerMedia across Asia Pacific, including India, South-East Asia and Korea.

Schwebig said: “We’ve put in place a unique organisational structure for growth that is designed to sharpen our focus on the consumer and build stronger relationships with our local partners.

“Integrating our commercial activities, content and marketing functions will enable us to leverage our enhanced scale and bigger footprint of consumer touchpoints across our varied businesses, brands, franchises and platforms.”

In related news, Warner Bros Television Group (WBTVG) has signed an overall deal with author, human rights activist and independent filmmaker Kimberly Latrice Jones.

Via the exclusive multi-year agreement, terms of which have not been disclosed, Jones will collaborate with WBTVG to develop and produce original programming for all platforms. This includes scripted dramas and comedies, unscripted series and original digital content.

The co-author of I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, Jones achieved widespread recognition earlier this after her video How Can We Win?, published during the protests over the death of George Floyd, went viral.

A former bookseller, Jones now hosts the Atlanta chapter of the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club. She has previously worked in film and television with figures such as Tyler Perry, Whitney Houston and 8Ball & MJG.