Endemol Shine Australia (ESA) has appointed Jessie Hughes as senior vice president of innovation and has launched the ‘ESA Innovation Lab’, a new 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 played a key role in mobilising adoption and innovation on a global scale, working at the intersection of technology, creativity and user experience.
The ESA Innovation Lab will work across all areas of the business, including television production, digital content, social formats, and post-production, while also partnering with external technology companies, startups, and creative talent.
ESA said Hughes’ appointment reinforces its commitment to investing in innovation as a core driver of growth in an increasingly dynamic media landscape.
She brings deep expertise in new media, digital ecosystems and scalable creative tools, positioning her to lead ESA’s strategic push into future‑facing content development and production technologies.
As a regular keynote speaker, she has shared stages with senior leaders from major global technology companies, helping to shape industry conversations about the future of creativity and new tools.
In this new role, Hughes will establish and lead the ESA Innovation Lab, a dedicated unit designed to explore, prototype, and operationalise new approaches to content creation, production workflows, audience engagement, and monetisation, while also identifying new IP opportunities and commercial models.
Peter Newman, CEO of ESA said: “Jessie brings a rare combination of creative thinking, technical expertise, and commercial acumen. 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: “I’m incredibly excited to join ESA at such a pivotal moment for the industry. The convergence of technology and storytelling is creating entirely new possibilities for creators, producers, and audiences. 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.”
Hughes will report to Jane Macaulay, ESA’s managing director – production and innovation.
