WarnerMedia scales up content and production teams across Asia

WarnerMedia has made three more senior content hires in Asia to bolster its original productions teams in advance of the launch of HBO Max in the region.

Mark Francis

In the Singapore-based team, Mark Francis has been appointed group lead of production and development for scripted and unscripted.

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. A launch date for HBO Max in the region has not yet been announced.

Wee Shi Ming has been named lead of entertainment content acquisition for North Asia content having started at WarnerMedia in late 2021, focusing on securing Japanese, Korean, Chinese and anime titles.

Prior to this role, Shi Ming was at Viu and Sony Pictures Television Networks, where she was head of acquisitions and programming for Asian content.

Shi Ming now works alongside Katheryn Lim, who leads content acquisition for international and English-language entertainment titles.

Francis, Shi Ming and Lim all report into Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s head of entertainment content for South-East Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Saugata Mukherjee

In Mumbai, Saugata Mukherjee has joined WarnerMedia in the newly created role of head of entertainment content in India. Like Ew, Mukherjee reports into Clement Schwebig, MD of India, South-East Asia and Korea.

A 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.

The appointments come after WarnerMedia hired former Shahid executive Jason Monteiro as general manager for HBO Max in South-East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In September last year it appointed Netflix exec Audrey Wee as physical production lead for its growing line-up of regional entertainment content in the region.

Earlier in 2021, May-Yi Lee was named lead of development and production for unscripted for the same region. Wee reports into Ew while Lee reports into Francis.

Schwebig said: “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.”