Film Production
Agnieszka Veriga named VP program management for Apac global experiences at WBD
MUMBAI: Warner Bros Discovery has elevated Agnieszka Veriga, widely known as Aga, to vice president, program management for Apac global experiences, placing her at the helm of the company’s fast-expanding experiences business across the region.
Based in Dubai and working closely with teams across Asia Pacific, Veriga will lead Warner Bros Discovery’s portfolio of owned and licensed experiences. Her remit includes the Warner Bros Studio Tours in Tokyo and Shanghai, alongside shaping the company’s long-term growth strategy for experiences in Asia.
The appointment follows a landmark year in which Veriga worked closely with Sarah Roots to deliver the Harry Potter Studio Tour Shanghai project. Developed in partnership with Chinese hospitality major JingJiang, the project marked a major step in Warner Bros Discovery’s global experiences ambitions and stood out for its scale and complexity.
In her new role, Veriga will partner with Tony Qiu and the regional leadership team, focusing on strong programme delivery, clear governance and close collaboration across markets as the experiences portfolio continues to grow.
Veriga brings deep international experience to the position. Prior to joining Warner Bros Discovery, she served as director, strategic project management and business operations for Asia at Paramount, where she led major transformation initiatives and played a key role in launching Paramount Plus in South Korea and Japan. Her earlier career spans senior strategy and operations roles across Asia, Europe and the Middle East within the Discovery ecosystem and beyond.
Sharing the news, Veriga said she was grateful for the trust and support she has received and excited about what lies ahead. With studio tours and immersive entertainment gaining traction across Asia, her expanded mandate signals Warner Bros Discovery’s intent to scale experiences with precision and pace.
Film Production
Disney to cut 1,000 jobs under new chief executive
The entertainment giant’s freshly installed boss inherits a restructuring already in motion, with marketing and corporate roles bearing the brunt
CALIFORNIA: Walt Disney is preparing to slash up to 1,000 jobs in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the entertainment giant’s freshly installed chief executive moves swiftly to trim fat and tighten the ship.
The cuts, less than 1 per cent of Disney’s global workforce of 231,000, will fall hardest on marketing and corporate roles. The planning, notably, began before D’Amaro formally took the top job in March, suggesting the new boss inherited a restructuring already in motion rather than one of his own making.
Driving the push is Asad Ayaz, Disney’s newly appointed chief marketing officer, who in January assumed command of a unified, company-wide marketing operation spanning film, television and streaming. His consolidation drive has been given a suitably cinematic internal name: Project Imagine.
The move is modest by Disney’s recent standards. Between 2023 and 2025, under former chief executive Bob Iger, the company eliminated roughly 8,000 positions across several brutal rounds of cuts, saving $7.5 billion, comfortably exceeding its own targets. As recently as June 2025, several hundred more jobs were axed across Disney Entertainment, hitting film and television marketing, publicity, casting, development and corporate finance.
Disney’s structural headaches are well-documented: shrinking streaming margins, a weakened box office, and fierce competition from Amazon and YouTube gnawing at its flanks. The company is merging its Disney+ and Hulu teams into a single app, has brought in consultants from Bain & Co to guide its broader cost strategy, and is betting heavily on digital growth.
The wider entertainment industry offers little comfort. Sony Pictures, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery have all taken the knife to their workforces in recent years, and further cuts loom if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner goes through.
For D’Amaro, the message is clear: there will be no honeymoon period. The magic kingdom still has some cost-cutting spells left to cast.
