WarnerMedia made a key appointment to its global kids business Friday, naming Vanessa Brookman to the new role of Head of Kids EMEA. The announcement was made by Priya Dogra, President, WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia (excl. China) and Tom Ascheim, President, Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics (GKYAC) to whom Brookman jointly reports.
Brookman, who has been with WarnerMedia for nearly six years in senior content, brands, digital and creative roles, assumes a newly created position which for the first time brings together the operational, editorial and creative responsibilities for all kids content and channel brands in EMEA into a single remit. The portfolio includes the iconic Cartoon Network brand as well as Boomerang, Boing and Cartoonito, as well as associated digital properties on third-party and owned WarnerMedia streaming platforms.
Within the newly integrated remit, Brookman, who takes up her new role with immediate effect, will represent and drive EMEA’s interests at the global company level to create and deliver the best content for kids and families, while also developing and executing regional EMEA initiatives across content, branding, programming, marketing compliance, PR and digital.
Brookman will collaborate closely with Johannes Larcher (Head of HBO Max International) and Christina Sulebakk (Head of HBO Europe) and their HBO Max teams to help build a powerful kids proposition for the streaming service when it launches in due course in the EMEA markets.
As a member of both Dogra’s and Ascheim’s leadership teams, Brookman will liaise with the consumer products, franchise management, home entertainment, theatrical and games teams under the purview of WarnerMedia’s EMEA Country Managers, with the advertising and affiliate teams across the region and with Ascheim’s global team to ensure a consistent and aligned approach at the worldwide level.
“Vanessa’s proven track record across every aspect of the kids business, including multi-territory brand management, acquisitions, commissioning and programming, both in the linear and SVOD space, make her exceptionally well-suited to this role. This will be invaluable to our strategies for the ongoing success of our existing channels whilst also shaping the HBO Max kids offering for the EMEA region,” said Dogra.
Ascheim commented, “Vanessa exemplifies passionate, innovative and inclusive leadership, and is a genuine fan of great kids content. She brings a strong business acumen honed from her career in different roles across the media industry, coupled with her ability to motivate teams, foster collaboration, and align around a unified vision.”
Vanessa Brookman most recently served as Vice President of Content, Brands and Digital, U.K. & Northern Europe, responsible for defining and executing content strategy for the company’s kids’ and general entertainment portfolio across the U.K., Nordic and Baltic countries. She oversaw the programming, creative, marketing, digital and presentation teams, setting the creative and digital agenda and ensuring programming was market leading and output was packaged in engaging and compelling ways. As a result, Cartoon Network ranked the number 1 Pay TV channel in the U.K. for the past three years and secured prestigious awards including several BAFTA Children’s Award wins, and most recently the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Specialist Channel 2020.
Prior to joining the company in August 2015, Brookman was VP of Programming for MTV and at Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). During her tenure there, MTV U.K. doubled its audience share. Before that she was Head of Fiction and Children’s, Commercial Agency at BBC Vision, and previously held roles at Channel 4 and Channel 5 in the U.K.
