Disney hires Netflix APAC’s co-head

Disney has hired Netflix’s vice president and regional co-head for APAC as its general manager in the same region.

Tony Zameczkowski will work across Disney’s streaming efforts in APAC in his new role of senior vice president and general manager of direct-to-consumer, reporting into regional chief Luke Kang and US-based streaming president Joe Earley.

Zameczkowski’s departure from Netflix comes after nearly a decade with the streamer, which he helped to establish in APAC.

He was most recently working as a co-head for the company and oversaw its partnerships, having earlier in his career held roles at YouTube and Warner Bros. International Television.

Disney+ has been ramping up its efforts in APAC over recent years, with shows such as Japan’s Gannibal and Australia’s The Artful Dodger, the latter of which has been extended into a second season.

The streamer unveiled a raft of new programming from the region late last year, including a second series of hit Korean drama Moving and new shows such as The Murky Stream, while nine of the top 15 most-viewed international originals of 2024 hailed from Korea.

Disney+ has also struck a pact with Japanese broadcast Nippon TV, with whom it is working on travel reality show Snow Man, which was commissioned last year. 

“We have made significant progress building streaming into a core driver and establishing Disney+ as one of the leading players in this region,” Kang said.

“I believe Tony’s unique background in scaling businesses across media, entertainment and technology sectors will help accelerate our next stage of development in this vibrant and high-growth region.”

Zameczkowski described APAC as “a region with immense growth opportunities to unlock”.