Warner Bros. Discovery shakes up APAC management, with further senior departures

Clement Schwebig

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has unveiled its new core APAC team structure under regional bosses Clement Schwebig and James Gibbons, along with further senior exec departures.

The announcements herald new and expanded remits for some and another wave of exits for others, and follows yesterday’s confirmation of the company’s new EMEA team, under Priya Dogra, following the giant company’s $40bn merger.

Clement Schwebig, regional president and MD for India, Southeast Asia and Korea (INSEAK), named his new regional team in a note to staff in which he said it would be “structured with a territory focused approach to be more agile and locally relevant.”

• Jeeyoung Lee will serve as GM for Korea, having helped to build a strong production unit, that will be a fundamental pillar of WBD’s future strategy in Korea.
• Arjun Nohwar becomes GM for India, having previously been responsible for the launch of HBO MAX in India.
• Shonali Bedi will lead affiliate distribution and digital partnerships for Southeast Asia, while also continuing to head up business development and insights
• Cindy Ma will lead affiliate distribution and advertising sales for Taiwan.

In Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Magdalene Ew will continue to head entertainment, while Christopher Ho will head kids and Lynn Ng will take on factual & lifestyle, while also continuing in her current role for content ops for the wider region.

Meanwhile, spanning across the entire INSEAK region:

• Kurt Rieder will continue to lead theatrical distribution as well as being part of the international theatrical operations headed by Andrew Cripps.
• Jae Chang will continue to lead TV distribution and home entertainment.
• Vikram Sharma will lead consumer products licensing, while he continues to oversee advertising sales for Southeast Asia.
• Jason Monteiro will head an integrated marketing team across INSEAK in addition to his coordination role for streaming services. He will manage marketing and creatives services across all lines of business, while working closely with the D2C marketing team.

Several execs from both sides of the merger are exiting the INSEAK team, among them Megha Tata, who oversaw the Discovery portfolio and brands in India including the launch of Discovery+ in the country. Three-decade HBO/WarnerMedia veteran Yasmin Zahid is also departing, as is WarnerMedia Kids APAC boss Leslie Lee, who oversaw the recent launch of Cartoonito, and Warner’s Athreyan ‘Auto’ Sundararajan.

James Gibbons

Reflecting both legacies

The Japan and Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) team under regional president and MD James Gibbons has also been confirmed, with WBD telling TBI that there will be no exits from this team as part of the reorganisation.

• Masami Takahashi has been appointed country manager, head of studios, Japan, based in Tokyo. He will continue to oversee all theatrical activity, local production, content licensing, games and consumer products.
• Glen Kyne has been appointed head of networks, Japan and Australia & New Zealand. Based in Auckland, he will oversee all networks activity for all three markets across pay-TV, free-to-air and BVOD.
• Michael Brooks continues as MD of Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia, and has additionally been appointed as head of studios, Australia & New Zealand, where he will be responsible for content licensing, and optimising studio-related activities across both markets, for which he will report to Gibbons. Brooks is based in Sydney.
• Robi Stanton has been named head of franchise development & affiliate relations, Australia & New Zealand,based in Sydney, and will manage affiliate partnerships and the optimisation of WBD franchises.
• Andrew Brommel continues in the role of VP consumer products, Australia & New Zealand, based in Sydney.
• David Macdonald has been named VP networks, Japan, based in Tokyo. He will continue to manage network activity, reporting to Glen Kyne.

“These appointments reflect the strength of leadership from both legacy companies, bringing an impressive track record and deep knowledge of our diversified Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio,” said Gibbons.