HBO Max Announces Leadership Team For Latin America In Advance Of Rollout This Year
WarnerMedia, a division of AT&T Inc, announced today that Luis Duran will join the company in February as General Manager for HBO Max Latin America. He will report to Johannes Larcher, Head of HBO Max International, and will be responsible for the rollout and management of WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer product HBO Max in the Latin America region, which is expected to launch later this year.
Duran most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer for the digital unit of MBC Group, the Middle East’s leading media company based in Dubai, where he was part of the successful relaunch of the group’s flagship digital product, Shahid, overseeing all revenue streams and leading the Marketing, Distribution and Analytics and Support teams. Previous to MBC Group, Duran held senior leadership roles at iflix, a VOD service focused on emerging markets, and TIMWE, a global provider of digital and traditional content solutions. Duran also has an extensive Management Consulting background after a 10-year career at Delta Partners, where as an Associate Partner focused on the Telco and Media industries.
Johannes Larcher said, “HBO has a stellar reputation as the go-to destination for premium programming throughout Latin America, and HBO Max will build on that foundation to offer a broader selection of entertainment content that will appeal to the entire household. We have set ambitious goals to make HBO Max a compelling and accessible streaming option in Latin America, and I am confident Luis and his team are ready to help realize this aspiration.”
Joining Duran’s leadership team in Latin America are Dionne Bermudez as Head of Product, Jose Calderoni as Head of Growth Marketing, Dainira Falk as Legal Lead, Maria Huntsberry as Talent Lead, Jesus Rodriguez as Head of Content Experience and Dario Tonelli as Head of Data, Insights & Planning.
Dionne Bermudez will be leading the Product Experience group, with a dual reporting line to both the LatAm team and the HBO Max Global Product team under Sarah Lyons to shape the app experience across all major platforms throughout LatAm. She will also collaborate closely with the growth marketing, content experience and data teams to ensure product excellence in Latin America. Bermudez led the launch and integration of the HBO GO streaming platform on multiple access and purchase points in Latin America and has been with HBO Latin America since 2000.
Jose Calderoni is spearheading the Growth Marketing team, responsible for leading a multidisciplinary group from key growth areas like Acquisition, Brand, Creative, Lifecycle Management, and Business Development, as well as Publicity and Activations, Social Media and Customer Service. Calderoni has extensive experience growing new digital services, previously serving as SVP of International Marketing for the Direct to Consumer service at Starz, Marketing & Social Director North Latin America at Netflix and leading marketing and ecommerce at startup airline Volaris.
Dario Tonelli will lead Data, Insights & Planning, providing financial, strategic and competitive insights to the HBO Max Latin America leadership team. Prior to joining, Tonelli was Head of Corporate Development and Financial Analysis with Turner Latin America, where he played a critical role in establishing Turner as a key player in the sports field through a combination of partnerships, new ventures and acquisitions.
Jesus Rodriguez will be leading the Content Experience team, overseeing the editorial strategy for HBO Max Latin America. With over fifteen years of experience in the entertainment industry, Rodriguez transitions from his past role as General Manager of HBO Networks Latin America, bringing a strong connection to what consumers want to watch and applying insights to content and programming strategy.
Dainira Falk will be the Legal Lead for HBO Max in Latin America. Reporting to David Ho, Global Legal Lead for HBO Max, Falk trained as an attorney in both the US and Latin America and has an extensive career in the entertainment industry. She transitions from HBO Latin America, where she provided legal counsel to the region in several key areas of the business, including regulatory, consumer protection, advertising sales, litigation, and marketing.
Maria Huntsberry will be the Talent Lead, reporting into the team led by Michele Golden. Huntsberry will be instrumental in aligning the business needs of HBO Max in Latin America with talent management strategies that can help develop the people, culture and business into the future. Huntsberry has over 25 years’ experience and was most recently the VP & HR Group Lead at Warner Bros., where she led the development and execution of solutions around organizational structures, roles and processes to meet the shifting business demands.
HBO Max Latin America’s team will build on the partnership with Whit Richardson, President, WarnerMedia Latin America, and members of his team – including Jorge Carey, Head of Distribution; Tomás Yankelevich, Chief Content Officer, General Entertainment; and Pablo Zuccarino, Head of Kids, Latin America – in a collaboration that’s pivotal to the success of HBO Max in the region. This close collaboration with WarnerMedia Latin America, which is responsible for the MVPD distribution of HBO Max, the production of local original content and the overall HBO Max content strategy, will ensure a wide availability of the service, as well as a new and unparalleled content offering strengthening the entertainment experience with beloved local and global programming.
About HBO Max®
HBO Max® is WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer platform, offering best in class quality entertainment. HBO Max features the greatest array of storytelling for all audiences from the iconic brands of HBO, Warner Bros., DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and much more. The streaming platform initially launched in the United States in May 2020. This year, it will expand into Latin America and the HBO-branded streaming services in Europe (the Nordics, Spain, Central Europe, the Baltics and Portugal) will be upgraded to HBO Max.