WarnerMedia has hired former Disney senior manager Carlene Tan (pictured, left) as its new director of original production and development for its APAC kids division. Her remit is to identify new IP and produce original series for linear kids channels Cartoon Network, and linear kids channels Boomerang and POGO.

Based in Singapore, she will oversee the region’s slate of originals, including Vahibav Studios’ Lamput, Animasia’s Roll No. 21 and Cosmos-Maya’s recently-commissioned Titoo and Lambuji Tinguji, which launches on POGO later this year. She started this month, replacing Silas Hickey in the same role, and reports to WarnerMedia’s head of kids in APAC Leslie Lee, according to a WarnerMedia spokesperson.

Prior to joining WarnerMedia she worked as the senior manager of animation development at The Walt Disney Company for nearly two years and previously held senior roles at Singaporean studios, including serving as business development director of Omens (Leo the Wildlife Ranger) and the studio head at One Animation, where she produced Oddbods and Insectibles.

The media conglom’s APAC kids division also recently promoted Hoyoung Jung (pictured, right) to director of acquisitions and co-productions. He’s based in Japan, and is responsible for discovering and negotiating third-party programming for its kids platforms in the region. He will also be the face of the APAC networks at international markets and trade shows.

Before his promotion in March, Jung served as the senior manager of acquisitions and co-productions for North Asia. Prior to that he was the senior manager of content distribution at Mattel, and senior manager of licensing agency Daewon Media that represented Japanese brands such as Power Rangers and One Piece.

WarnerMedia has been shaking up management in the APAC region in the last year following the AT&T-Time Warner Merger in June 2018, and the hire of Lee in April as Turner Asia Pacific’s new head of kids content for the channels in the region.

On the content side, Cartoon Network commissioned Melbourne-based Studio Moshi to produce new series Monster Beach.

Created by director Patrick Crawley (Exchange Student Zero) the 48 x 11-minute series takes a trip with a pair of siblings to an island with a bunch of mischievous thrill-seeking monsters. The six- to 11-skewing show debuted on CN in Australia and New Zealand on April 11, and premiered on its network in Southeast Asia April 25. Some episodes are in-production and the show will roll out globally in Q4 and into 2021.

Studio Moshi is a full-service animation studio that has produced a number of kids shows, including Space Chickens in Space for Disney EMEA, Spin Master’s Dragamonz and Nelvana’s The Day My Butt Went Psycho.