BritBox International Taps WBD & Netflix Alums

BritBox International has appointed Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) alum Nimesh Kataria as its new CFO, effective April 2024, and Netflix alum Alana McGaughey as VP of global PR and comms.

Kataria served as GVP of finance, international sport, at WBD and previously held roles at Discovery Networks in international content, as well as FD of the U.K. and Ireland business. He joins BritBox International at a pivotal time of growth and will support CEO Reemah Sakaan and the leadership team to deepen BritBox’s reach across the eight territories in which it operates.

McGaughey joins from Netflix, where she launched publicity campaigns for several hit series, including the final season of Ozark and, most recently, Shawn Levy’s adaptation of All the Light We Cannot See. Prior to that, she spent nearly a decade with Starz Entertainment, where she oversaw the publicity and awards efforts for its tentpole original series, including Outlander and titles in the Power universe. She also held roles at Bravo, 42West and Focus Features.

At BritBox International, McGaughey will head up the global PR and comms function, working with local teams and overseeing activity across the company’s eight territories.

In addition to these two appointments, BritBox International has created a global editorial team based out of London, New York and Sydney to be a key driver of its commissioning and acquisition strategy. As part of this change, the roles of executives Robert Schildhouse and Kerry Ball are growing.

Schildhouse, general manager for BritBox’s largest market, North America, will now also be taking on the additional role of global group editorial, responsible for editorial and programming strategy. Having seen the service grow significantly across the U.S. and Canada since the start of his tenure, Schildhouse will build on his prior content experience at Hulu and CBS to take responsibility for creating global synergies in content original, co-productions and acquisitions.

Ball will take on the new role of chief commercial and strategy officer, with increased focus on strategy and research, alongside her commercial and business development remit. Having handled acquisitions for the company, she will hand this side of her role to Schildhouse and the editorial team.

Reemah Sakaan, CEO of BritBox International said: “Bringing executives of the caliber of Nimesh and Alana onto the fantastic BritBox leadership team is testimony to the exciting mission and results we’re achieving,” Sakaan said. “They bring a wealth of global streaming and content experience to us and join a business that has a unique clarity and model in today’s landscape. I can’t wait for them to unleash their ideas and energy onto our business and our ‘make it happen’ culture.

“With these new appointments, together with Robert and Kerry, who have already made a significant contribution to the success of the service in their expanded roles, we are building a powerhouse of a senior leadership team that will equip us to take BritBox into the next stage of its growth and success story.”