iWorld
AVIA appoints Celeste Campbell-Pitt as a new chief policy officer
KOLKATA: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has appointed a new chief policy officer to be based in its Singapore office, a first for the role. Celeste Campbell-Pitt will join AVIA on 3 May, and work with the current chief policy officer John Medeiros, who will retire after the transition period.
Medeiros, who is based in Hong Kong, and joined the Association then known as CASBAA, in 2005 as ice president of government relations and regulatory affairs, has been chief policy officer since 2013.
AVIA’s key focus has been to represent the combined positions of its members and engage in constructive dialogue with governments so they may better understand the curated video industry. The chief policy officer spearheads this goal, developing and executing policy initiatives relevant to the video industry, in consultation with and on behalf of AVIA member companies. According to AVIA, the role has evolved over the years and become a lot more critical as regulatory policies continue to develop alongside the sweeping changes the video industry has seen in recent years.
“This role is critical for AVIA and we have taken a long time to find the right person. While taking over from John who has made the role his own will be no easy task, I am delighted that we have found Celeste who has such a passion for the industry and a clear vision for how to build and develop the role,” AVIA CEO Louis Boswell said.
Campbell-Pitt comes with over twenty years of business and legal experience in the media and entertainment industry across both Europe and Asia. Before joining AVIA, she was consulting with various global media and technology companies as well as private equity firms that were looking to expand into the Asia Pacific region.
Campbell-Pitt was previously the vice president and head of Business Development and Advertising Sales at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, after her stint at Endemol Shine Asia Group as the director and head of Commercial and Operations. She has also held senior legal counsel positions in international media companies including Star, Turner, and Channel Four in the UK.
iWorld
Netflix cuts jobs in product division amid restructuring
Layoffs hit creative studio unit as leadership and strategy shifts unfold.
MUMBAI: The streaming wars may be fought on screen, but the latest plot twist is unfolding behind the scenes. Netflix has reportedly begun laying off several dozen employees from its product division as part of an internal reorganisation, according to a report by Variety. The cuts are believed to have primarily affected the company’s creative studio unit, which works on marketing assets such as in app trailers, promotional visuals and live experience content for the streaming platform.
The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees impacted.
According to the report, the layoffs were not tied to employee performance. Instead, the restructuring eliminated certain roles while other employees were reassigned to different teams within the organisation.
The roles affected are understood to include designers, producers and creative specialists responsible for marketing and brand experience initiatives.
The job cuts come as Netflix adjusts its leadership structure and reshapes its product and creative teams. Last month, Elizabeth Stone was promoted from chief technology officer to chief product and technology officer, giving her oversight of product, engineering and data operations across the company.
Earlier, in December 2025, Netflix also appointed Martin Rose as head of creative for global brand and partnerships, a move seen as part of a broader restructuring of the company’s brand and product functions.
Despite the layoffs, Netflix remains one of the largest employers in the streaming sector. The company is estimated to employ around 16,000 people globally, with roughly 70 percent of its workforce based in the United States and Canada. In 2023, the company reported approximately 13,000 employees, indicating that its headcount had grown significantly before the latest restructuring.
The workforce changes arrive at a time when Netflix is navigating a shifting financial and strategic landscape in the global entertainment industry.
The streaming giant recently secured $2.8 billion in additional cash after receiving a breakup fee from Paramount Skydance following its withdrawal from a deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Netflix co chief executive Ted Sarandos explained that the company had evaluated multiple scenarios during the negotiations but chose not to match the competing offer once it learned that a higher bid had been submitted.
Netflix had capped its offer at $27.75 per share and ultimately stepped back rather than pursue Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition deal, which included a personal guarantee.
Sarandos also cautioned that the financing structure behind the Paramount Skydance transaction could have ripple effects across the entertainment industry.
According to him, the debt heavy deal could trigger significant cost cutting, with David Ellison, chief executive of Paramount Skydance, expected to eliminate about $16 billion in costs and potentially cut thousands of jobs as part of the integration process.
For Netflix, the current restructuring appears to be part of a broader attempt to streamline operations while continuing to invest in product, technology and global content even as the streaming industry enters a new phase of consolidation and financial discipline.
