The Fierce Video editorial team is proud to present its second annual Emerging Leaders Awards, recognizing the brightest young professionals rising up the ranks of the streaming TV industry. Throughout the months of May and June we’ll be featuring these profiles with each of our finalists. We will announce the winners during our StreamTV Show with an awards ceremony June 17 at 3:15 p.m. ET. Not yet registered for the StreamTV Show, running June 15-17? Be sure to register now and save your spot at this free virtual event!
Naivasha Dean/WarnerMedia:
Naivasha Dean is the vice president of editorial at HBO Max. She manages the overall editorial vision for the HBO and HBO Max domestic services and oversees a team of strategists, writers and campaign producers to execute an experience for subscribers in-app that delights viewers through engagement and discovery. Her department is responsible for creating targeted and curated content experiences across consumer touch points, and for developing merchandising plans for licensed, acquired, and original content in-app and across owned channels, with the goals of increasing engagement and extending lifetimes via an agile, data science-validated approach. Prior to joining WarnerMedia, Dean worked at Redbox as director of editorial strategy, where she led all aspects of curation and merchandising for the digital content storefront. At Fullscreen Media, she managed the editorial, content operations and program planning functions for the SVOD service. At Hulu, she worked on the editorial and ad operations teams and was part of the effort to launch Hulu Plus.
What her colleagues are saying:
“Naivasha is a force to be reckoned with on the team. Her expertise and knowledge in all things pop culture is unmatched, and her passion for storytelling allows us to create some of the best data driven content curations in the streaming industry. Her depth of experience continually helps our viewers discover new programming, and her dedication and creativity keeps them coming back to HBO Max.” - Katie Soo, senior vice president of growth marketing at HBO Max
“We’re so privileged to have Naivasha on our team. She’s a dynamic leader that was one of our first employees devoted to editorial for HBO Max. From building out her 20-person team from scratch while working remotely to launching the service successfully and seamlessly, her role was pivotal in helping HBO Max reach 44.2 MM in the US subscribers by the end of Q1 2021.” - Brad Wilson, executive vice president of growth and revenue at WarnerMedia
Streaming Industry Q&A:
What streaming services do you subscribe to?
HBO Max, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Apple TV+
Describe your biggest career highlight so far.
Launching HBO Max as the very first editorial team employee would have been a career highlight by any measure but pulling it off as successfully and as seamlessly as we did in the middle of a global pandemic felt like a true accomplishment. I was only in the office for two months before we were all sent home to work remotely, but I still had a 20 person head count to fill. Despite the adversity, I was able to pull together an incredible team who came together to launch the service seamlessly and continues to produce outstanding work on a daily basis. Right before launch, we were told a last-minute deal had been struck to get every Harry Potter movie on to the service. Pivoting quickly and working across departments, we were able to get all eight of the films packaged and ready to be featured in-app prominently in time for the May 27 launch—a huge upheaval to our calendars, but one that paid off perfectly for our consumers, who loved the movies. We had our “agile” framework put to the test immediately as a brand-new team and passed with flying colors.
What has been your biggest career learning experience?
Early in my career in the streaming space, I took a year off to volunteer with the AmeriCorps via the Jesuit Volunteers. The program involved committing to simple living, communal living and social justice as a lifestyle, and I had a stipend of only $175 a month - $75 which went to the 8-person community that I lived with for communal food. My placement was as a membership organizer for a criminal justice reform advocacy group, and I spent my time working with people inside and outside of prisons and survivors of crime. After work each day, myself and my community members (who were all working with underserved and disadvantaged communities), would come together for a simple meal and discuss what we’d experienced that day. I went back to work at Hulu after this experience—but taking this “break” from my career ended up being my biggest learning experience as it informs the work I do today at HBO Max—especially when it comes to the communities-first approach that we prioritize as part of our editorial strategy. It’s crucial for me that we are curating a platform that will resonate with multicultural audiences and uplifting storytellers from diverse communities. Recent campaigns that embody this approach that have originated with my team include the “Black History is Our History” page for Black History Month, “See Us: AAPI And Our Global Community” page in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, and upcoming initiatives for Juneteenth and Pride Month. Being proactive, not just reactive, about equity and representation is so important in all forms of media and entertainment and is at the cornerstone of my team’s work.
What's next for you in terms of new challenges in streaming TV?
Our viewers have noticed that there is a white-glove approach to the HBO Max app and how the content there is organized, and that’s because my team of curators makes it special. Many of our competitors rely on machine learning to organize their storefronts, but we believe the special sauce is a mix of powerful personalization algorithms and bespoke experience with a human touch. Ensuring that we are partnering closely with the product team to show our viewers the right content discovery experiences at the right time is a priority for our team. That approach also extends to making sure we are always elevating underserved communities and voices, not just when there are seasonal beats, but all year round. As the lead human behind the human curators that power the HBO Max machine, I’m looking forward to making HBO Max increasingly feel like a destination for fandoms as we build out cutting edge ecosystems inside the product than superserve fans. The recent TCM Classic Film Festival partnership is a great example, where the network is hosting their festival on HBO Max in an incredibly customized spotlight environment that my team helped to execute for the fans. With the launch of our AVOD product in June, I’m also looking forward to bringing the service to more people when we offer a lower price. There’s so much to look forward to!