Warner Bros. Hires Amazon MGM Exec as Chief Business Officer for Film Division

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Preparing for a bustling year filled with major movie premieres, the film branch of Warner Bros. has brought on board an executive from Amazon MGM Studios to serve as their top business officer.

This week, Ted Lim, who previously held the position of global strategy and business development head at MGM, will be starting his new role at Warner Bros., as stated by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, co-chiefs of the Motion Picture Group, in a memo to their team on Tuesday.

In 2018, Lim transitioned to MGM from Participant Media, where he held a senior position focusing on strategic planning and business expansion through investments and acquisitions. Prior to this role, he was a member of the corporate strategy and business development team at Disney earlier in his career.

In his tenure at Amazon, Ted played a significant role in designing their future film strategy. Specifically, he supervised the strategic growth of their upcoming movie lineup that included titles like The Accountant 2, Project Hail Mary, Masters of the Universe, and The Thomas Crown Affair. He also implemented distribution strategies for recent releases such as Creed III, Challengers, The Beekeeper, and American Fiction. Additionally, he advocated for and managed global release timings for Red One and Air, and oversaw Amazon’s international theatrical distribution partnership with Warner Bros. (De Luca and Abdy wrote).

Last year, the Chris Evans and Dwayne Johnson holiday movie titled “Red One” turned out to be one of the most popular films streamed on Amazon Prime Video, according to Nielsen’s 2024 report. This was true even though it was only recently released in theaters on November 15 and had a brief timeframe for streaming afterwards.

Warner Bros. has several upcoming movie releases on their calendar. First, there’s the sci-fi thriller “Companion” set for release on January 31st. Following that, on March 7th, you can catch Bong Joon-ho’s film titled “Mickey 17”. After these, expect bigger films such as “A Minecraft Movie”, scheduled for April 4th, the Brad Pitt-led “F1” on June 27th, and finally, a new take on “Superman” hitting theaters on July 11th.

The full memo from De Luca and Abdy is below:

Team Motion Picture Group-

In line with what I mentioned previously this month, my unwavering commitment lies with the evolution of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group. By operating as a united entity, I aspire to deliver movies that resonate globally, while simultaneously catering to our team’s requirements across various markets.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve added a new team member to our global department family! Please meet Ted Lim, who is joining the Motion Picture Group as our Chief Business Officer. In this newly established position, Ted’s expertise will help propel our growth and offer enhanced support to various critical areas within our organization.

Or:

We’re excited to bring you all up to speed with a new addition to our global team! Meet Ted Lim, who’s joining the Motion Picture Group as our Chief Business Officer. In this brand-new role, Ted will contribute significantly to our ongoing growth and offer increased support to key divisions within our company.

As our Chief Business Officer, Ted will collaborate closely with top management to establish and execute strategic and operational plans for the Motion Picture Group. He will also be responsible for discovering and pursuing new business ventures and growth prospects that align with Warner Bros. Discovery’s long-term corporate goals.

In addition, he will spearhead efforts to streamline internal operations within production, marketing, and distribution, offering advice on the integration of emerging technologies and innovative methods in collaboration with the heads of finance, Planning & Control, Global Business Transformation, ensuring harmony with OneWBD’s objectives.

In collaboration with our counterparts in finance, streaming, franchising, content sales, licensing, and consumer products, Ted will work together with each department to maximize the reach of every Warner Bros. Pictures release past its theatrical release period. This new setup has Ricky Tydus, who is currently the Senior Vice President of Creative Strategy & Film Operations, and his team now reporting directly to Ted.

From Amazon MGM Studios, Ted joins WBD, having previously held the position of Head of Global Strategy and Business Development. In this role, he was responsible for corporate strategy, content strategy for films (both theatrical and streaming), international originals, creative planning, franchise management, and strategic partnerships. At Amazon, Ted played a significant part in designing the future film strategy, notably expanding the theatrical lineup with forthcoming projects like The Accountant 2, Project Hail Mary, Masters of the Universe, and The Thomas Crown Affair. He also implemented distribution strategies for recent titles such as Creed III, Challengers, The Beekeeper, and American Fiction. Additionally, he advocated for global theatrical window arrangements for Red One and Air, and managed Amazon’s international theatrical distribution partnership with Warner Bros.

In the past, Ted served as Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning and Corporate Development for MGM Studios. He was an essential part of the team that orchestrated the groundbreaking sale of the company to Amazon. Apart from this, he aided us in our respective roles as Chairman and President of MGM’s Motion Picture Group, contributing significantly to decisions regarding films such as No Time to Die, House of Gucci, Dog, Licorice Pizza, The Addams Family 2, the formation of United Artists Releasing (a US theatrical distribution joint venture with Annapurna), and the plan for Orion Pictures’ relaunch. After the completion of the MGM acquisition, Ted played a crucial role in leading integration efforts to establish a unified model for film and television across Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and MGM. Following these endeavors, he moved on to assume a broader role at the combined studio.

Before joining MGM, Ted held the position of Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Participant. Prior to that, he was part of the Corporate Strategy and Business Development team at The Walt Disney Company. Kicking off his career in management consulting at Bain & Company, Ted also boasts an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Harvard University.

We look forward to introducing him to the team when he joins us officially this week.

Mike & Pam

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2025-01-28 21:25