Sony hires new operations chief, still hunting for CCO

Andrea Wong has made her first senior hire since joining Sony Pictures Television, bringing Donna Cunningham to London to fill the vacant operation chief’s role.

Cunningham becomes VP, operations, international productions at (SPT), filling the role vacated by Jeroen Tielens who left Sony late last year. It is understood Tielens did not want to relocate from Amsterdam to London. He left Sony at the same time as Mike Morley and the company is still looking for a new chief creative officer.

Wong told TBI that the search for a CCO is at an early stage. “Chief creative officer is a key role that we need here,” she said. “It will be similar to the role that Mike ha, but expanded because we have made the central development budget bigger.”

Cunningham was previously managing director and executive vice president, production in Latin American and US Hispanic, where she oversaw the Hollywood studio’s production businesses in the region including Sony’s interests in Colombian producer Teleset and Brazilian producer Floresta Productions.

In the new role, she will be in charge of the day-to-day operations for all of Sony’s wholly owned and joint venture production companies. She will report to Andrea Wong, president, international production, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and president, international, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).

“Donna’s successful experience running our production business for the Latin American and US Hispanic regions, combined with her many years of operational production experience, makes her the perfect person to serve as a business partner to our 16 production companies and joint ventures around the world. She brings a cross-cultural and practical approach to business that is essential to this role,” said Wong.

The full Andrea Wong interview appears in the MIPTV issue of TBI Magazine.