HBO Max EMEA chief Christina Sulebakk names key execs, with HBO Nordic & HBO España to be phased out

Christina Sulebakk

HBO Max’s chief in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Christina Sulebakk has revealed details of her senior exec team in the region, which will oversee the transition of services such as HBO Nordic and HBO Go into WarnerMedia’s flagship streamer.

Sulebakk replaced former HBO Europe CEO Hervé Payan in July, before taking oversight of HBO Max in EMEA towards the end of 2020.

The former distribution exec will be responsible for “upgrading” services including HBO Nordic, HBO España, HBO Portugal and HBO Go in Central Eastern Europe into HBO Max. She will also oversee the expansion of HBO Max into more territories across the EMEA region and reports into Johannes Larcher, head of HBO Max International.

Johannes Larcher

Sulebakk was most recently general manager at HBO Europe and was behind the launches of HBO Nordic, HBO España and HBO Portugal. She also worked on the central European division’s shift to streaming and developed the ‘go-to market’ strategy for HBO Max Lat Am.

The leadership team for that region was revealed yesterday, with Luis Duran appointed general manager of the SVOD in Lat Am. He also reports into Larcher, who – like Duran – left MBC-owned streamer Shahid to take up his new role.

New EMEA team

Sulebakk’s HBO Max EMEA leadership team, meanwhile, includes Line Mykland leading the ‘content experience’ division, which will be responsible for developing and implementing the editorial strategy in the region. Mykland has been with HBO since 2012 and has worked on the launch of HBO Nordic and latterly HBO Europe.

Elsewhere, Roberto Soto is heading up growth marketing and will lead teams with oversight of commercial strategy and business development, as well as those focused on subscriber acquisition and publicity. He has previously worked for companies including Fox and film streamer Mubi.

Antony Root

Other appointments include HBO Nordic CFO Brett Horowitz leading data, insights & planning; HBO Europe’s Tobias Andersson becoming EMEA regional legal lead; and Andreas Ferdinand – who was also at HBO Europe – overseeing product experience.

Sulebakk’s team also will work closely with WarnerMedia International execs, including Priya Dogra, president of WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia (excl. China) and her team. This includes Hannes Heyelmann for programming; Antony Root for original production; Pierre Branco for affiliate sales; and Vanessa Brookman for kids.

Sulebakk said her team would help WarnerMedia “upgrade” existing streamers in the region to HBO Max, as well as launch the fledgling streamer into “many new territories across EMEA in the years to come.”

The appointment mark the latest rejig outside of the US for WarnerMedia as it prepares to roll HBO Max out globally. The company has already instigated a raft of restructuring in Europe, which saw new-look teams installed in France, the Benelux and Germany, as well as the UK, while its EMEA kids operations was also affected, with Brookman promoted and execs including Cecilia Persson among those leaving, as revealed by TBI.