Endemol Shine Australia has appointed Jessie Hughes as senior vice president of innovation to lead its newly launched ESA Innovation Lab, a division focused on accelerating the company’s capabilities across emerging technologies and next-generation content formats.
Hughes joins ESA from Canva and its generative image and video platform Leonardo.Ai, where she helped drive adoption and innovation at a global scale, working at the intersection of technology, creativity and user experience.
Earlier this year, she designed and delivered AI for Women in Screen, a two-day generative AI masterclass for women and gender-diverse screen leaders held at Bond University on the Gold Coast ahead of Screen Forever. The program, supported by the Screenrights Cultural Fund and delivered in partnership with Screen Producers Australia and Screen Queensland, offered participants hands-on guidance on applying generative AI to storytelling, production value and development and pitching workflows. Before the initiative, she delivered a supersession on the topic at the Hollywood Professional Association Tech Retreat.
In her new role, Hughes will establish and lead the ESA Innovation Lab, which will work across television production, digital content, social formats and post-production, and partner with external technology companies, startups and creative talent. She will report to ESA managing director of production and innovation Jane Macaulay.
ESA chief executive Peter Newman said Hughes’ background made her well placed to lead the company’s innovation push.
“Jessie brings a rare combination of creative thinking, technical expertise, and commercial acumen,” he said.
“Her experience collaborating with some of the world’s most innovative technology companies makes her uniquely positioned to help us tackle how content is developed, produced, and distributed. The launch of the ESA Innovation Lab marks a significant step forward in our ambition to be a leader in innovation for the screen industry.”
Hughes said her appointment came at a pivotal moment for the industry.
“The convergence of technology and storytelling is creating entirely new possibilities for creators, producers, and audiences,” she said.
“The ESA Innovation Lab will be a space to experiment, build, and scale ideas that push the boundaries of how content is made and experienced.”