Justin Weng and Keith Mak appointed as Vice President, Game Development and Licensing and Director, Channel Distribution, respectively.

 19 April, 2011, Hong Kong–Celestial Pictures, the Chinese filmed content company and operator of regional pay-TV channels, announced today the appointments of Justin Weng as Vice President, Game Development and Licensing and Keith Mak as Director, Channel Distribution, signaling the company’s entry into the social games business and the expansion of its channels business.

 In announcing the new additions to Celestial Pictures, CEO Ross Pollack said,”We are continuing our momentum of strategic growth and new business development with the appointment of two experienced and well-regarded executives. Justin joins us with a proven record at top gaming companies to help launch our social games business. Keith will drive our channels’ expansion with the experience he gained growing the BBC channels in this region.”

 Working from Celestial Pictures’ Beijing office and reporting to CEO Pollack, Weng will be in charge of developing social games based onCelestial Pictures’ Shaw Brothers Film Library as well as the Company’s new feature films and TV content. He will also be responsible for licensing the games to various online and mobile platforms.

 Prior to joining Celestial Pictures, Weng was Senior Business Development Manager at Giant Interactive, one of the largest online game providers in China, where he was responsible for the international licensing and business development of Giant’s game portfolio. A veteran of the online and gaming industry in China, Weng has spent the last 13 years working for and with top gaming companies such as Ubisoft Entertainment China, Nintendo and Electronic Arts Pogo Shanghai.

 “The social games business continues to grow along with the growth in social media networks and casual and mobile gaming. Celestial’s Shaw Brothers Film Library, with its iconic characters and stories, is a rich source to tap for the gaming industry. I am very excited to have this opportunity to leverage my experience to grow this business for Celestial,” said Weng.

 For its channels business, Keith Mak has been appointed Director, Channel Distribution responsible for the distribution and development of the Company’s channels: Celestial Movies (CM), Celestial Classic Movies (CCM), and WaTV. Mak will be based out of Celestial’s Hong Kong headquarters and report to Ofanny Choi, Senior Vice President, TV Channels.

 Mak joins Celestial Pictures with almost ten years of experience at BBC Worldwide, where he was most recently Manager, Distribution and Development, East Asia for their global channels business. Prior to his promotion to the channels role, Mak handled BBC Worldwide’s content distribution in Asia excluding Japan. During his tenure at BBC Worldwide, Mak grew their channels’ business by launching CBeebies in Indonesia and the Philippines and BBC Knowledge in Indonesia, as well as launching the complete suite of non-news channels on iCable in Hong Kong.

 "I am thrilled to be joining Celestial as the company looks to aggressively extend the penetration of its channels and explore new channel opportunities. With three strong and distinct channels representing a complete Chinese entertainment package, I look forward to growing Celestial’s channel bouquet in the region and beyond,” said Mak.