Former Sony Pictures Entertainment SVP/GM Dai Huang has joined mainland Chinese production house Youhug Media as managing director of Youhug Hong Kong. Based in Beijing, Huang’s brief is to drive the international business.

She joins at a time of unprecedented interest in Chinese premium drama, driven by the global success of series such as iQiyi/Tencent Video’s “Pursuit of Jade”, Youku’s “The Early Spring” and Huace’s “Swords into Plowshares”, along with the more recent urban workplace romance “Irreplaceable”, produced by Youku with international distribution on Netflix and Viki. 

Youhug unveiled its AI roadmap in March this year and plans to release the first of its premium AI series later this month.