Last month Hwei Loke was upped as the new head of Amazon Prime Video Australia and New Zealand, ahead of perhaps the territorys biggest ever local originals launch, the Aussie version of The Office, which debuts everywhere except the U.S. on Oct. 18.

Loke, a 15-year marketing veteran who has had stints at Disney, Australias SBS and Nickelodeon, takes the reins at Prime Video ANZ as the company basks in the critical glow and global ratings success of a number of recent local originals including the Aussie noir comedy Deadloch (boasting a 100% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and ranking in Prime Videos Top 10 TV shows in more than 165 countries including the U.S., the U.K., and Canada) and the Sigourney Weaver-starring drama The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (Prime Video ANZs biggest local release globally to date that reached the top five overall in 78 countries). Despite the streak of successes, The Office, the first female-led iteration of the famed comedy franchise, is already drawing the most global attention admittedly both positive and negative for a Prime Video ANZ original due to how beloved both the U.K. and U.S. versions are. The company insists that The Office is Australia-first programming but it cant deny the interest outside its core market, with the YouTube trailer for the show already racking up 2.2 million views in just four weeks and coverage and discussion of that trailer being featured in major international publications.

As part of that promotional push, The Office was given maximum visibility during SXSW Sydney 2024, as Prime Video ANZ launched the experiential space Primeville that saw a raft of local and international talent, including The Office star Felicity Ward, come through to tout the companys content offerings.

As Primeville got underway, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Loke about the imminent debut of The Office, Prime Videos recent successes with its Aussie originals and sports, the companys push to become an entertainment hub and the potentital for consolidation in Australias incredibly crowded streaming market.

First things first, congratulations on the promotion. How does it feel?

Its a dream job for me, honestly. I have been working in this industry for almost two decades throughout APAC, and its nice to be home and in this position in a company that I feel so passionately about. At the core of my career has always been creativity and storytelling, and I think that Amazon is doing it so well. So its really exciting, and the innovation behind it allows us to do things in market like the entertainment hub that no one else is doing and it couldnt be a more exciting time to do it.

You have a long career in marketing and also creative. Was is it both of those things or, one more than the other?

I am predominantly a marketer. My background is brand marketing, and Ive been in the entertainment industry marketing for a variety of different brands and stories and content types, and then that led me really beautifully into the creative space. Ive been so passionate about content and creativity my whole career that it was like another dream job of mine to step into doing pure creative. I started to do that at Amazon, actually, and what a great way place to innovate because thats really when you can make magic happen is when you make the data mix with creativity to make innovation.

You have the marketing background, you have the creative background, but you also work for a tech company. So how does the tech aspect come into that?

Its not really something you consider. You are dealing with the creative aspect of content with the beauty of tech and data. Thats when you can make magic. So things like [Rapid Recap an AI tool that can quickly compile highlights] what were doing with our live sports. Youre bringing in the tech of Rapid Recap, which is when you can come into a game at any point in that game and be caught up to speed with a two minute grab. Another thing that I love is X-Ray where youre watching something you might be like who is that actor? like Ive seen them somewhere. We have a function that if you toggle up, it will show you exactly what actor is playing what role on screen at that time, that kind of capability mixed with content. I mean, thats magic, right?

Does the tech come first and then you try to fit the content around it?

Its the consumer always for us. At Amazon, were customer obsessed. So its what is the need of the customer first, and then how do we build on that? What do they want to watch? How do they watch it? And then we build a story around that. For instance, right now, what we know is there is a lot of content out there so much content it couldnt be a better time to be a consumer, but its fragmented, [people] dont know where to go for what content. Thats the consumer problem. Were solving that content chaos by presenting a hub experience that brings all that content into one seamless interface for you so you can have your Prime Video experience, everything that comes with Prime Video thats included in that subscription. But you can add on other things so you can add on other subscriptions to other platforms like Paramount+, Britbox, sports, and its all integrated into the one platform. You dont have to toggle in and out. Plus the blockbusters you can rent or buy that content, its all one seamless click.

So Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. announced they will have Apple TV+, is that going to happen in Australia?

Correct.

OK, is it happening at the same time?

It probably wont. I dont have the exact dates for you right now, but its definitely coming, though.

Regarding Primeville, whats the idea behind that?

This is the second time weve been at SXSW Sydney. Its such a great partnership because south by SXSW is all about creativity and innovation. This year, we stepped it up a notch [with Primeville], and its a holistic entertainment experience. Im calling it an edible entertainment experience because you essentially eat your way through our entertainment choices. Im not sure if youre aware of what a what a pick n mix is, but in Australia you can create your own [sweet treats]. You create your own through this personalised experience. Thats exactly what our entertainment hub is. Its exactly the entertainment that you want from Prime Video. You can pick and choose your subscriptions what you rent or buy.

Hwei Loke with Prime Video talent at the Primeville experience at SXSW Sydney 2024. Amazon Prime Video Back to programming. There seems to be a lot of interesting things going on with the streamers in Australia and Amazon in particular, because it seems like youve geared up to become more outward facing. Is that fair to say, in terms of your content? If so, whats the impetus behind making originals that have an eye on an international audience?

Ultimately our focus is on an Australian consumer and what they want. And we know that what consumers want is diverse, compelling storytelling. At the end of the day, thats our focus. What were seeing across what consumers are responding to in our global slate, were seeing a tremendous response for content like Fallout, Reacher our Roadhouse film that launched earlier this year, Rings of Power. But then youre right, were seeing a compelling audience come through globally for our local content. Even last year, The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart and Deadloch, these were two launches that that did so well for us locally. Were seeing global audiences come through from them. Both of these shows reached top 10 status in over 65 countries globally. Were not marketing in a big way globally, we focus on the Australian audience first and foremost, but people are talking. While these are great priority titles for Australia, we support them heavily if our international audience see potential, [the global company] will support them, too. What were seeing is organic word of mouth organic coverage of [Deadloch for example]. Its all fantastic for us. But at the end of the day, were focused on our Australian audience.

Deadloch stars Madeleine Sami and Kate Box. Prime Video Bradley Patrick Moving on to The Office, could you talk a little about why Prime Video wanted to make an Aussie version of the show?

We saw an opportunity here because fandom for The Office U.K. and U.S. series is so passionate. What we aim to do with The Office is to have something thats familiar but fresh, and we wanted to create something uniquely Australian with it. So we have episodes that center around unique Australian themes, like the Melbourne Cup. We have a female lead, but theres still the same situational humor that youll find from the U.K. office the same kind of boss archetype, the same love story duo. But then [we have] the beautiful Australian sense of humour and language and characters and personalities that again people will find relatable. Although it is a global franchise, it has a local heart. Thats why we think Australians are gonna love it.

Theres a key phrase that you said there passionate fandom, now passionate fandom is obviously in the news a lot at the moment, because passionate fandom can be a bit of a pejorative sometimes, especially with a female lead in a in a well known IP. Have you considered what that reaction might be?

We saw an opportunity here for a great character at the end of the day, and thats what its all about. A great character who is relatable to audiences. And shes a female boss. And thats certainly relatable. I mean, Im a female boss, too. I see, maybe not some of the awkward things, but its something that everybody can see in themselves. We see beyond the gender there, and [the character Hannah Howard played by Felicity Ward] is someone who people are going to fall in love with, just like Michael Scott.

I noticed that Steven Merchant and Ricky Gervais have both publicly backed the Aussie version, was that support important to get, or is it something thats just a bonus?

It was a bonus, definitely. I mean, to have them on board. There were a lot of inspirations that we took from the U.K. version, obviously, and they created it so to get their blessing that was fantastic for us.

How do you plan to push The Office globally?

Our priority is the Australian launch. Its releasing in all markets excluding the U.S. and all our other Amazon teams are also excited to have it on the platform.

The cast of The Office Australia, (from left) Sebastian Roy, Susan Ling Young, Josh Thomson, Edith Poor, Felicity Ward, Shari Sebbens, Steen Raskopoulos, Jonny Brugh and Lucy Schmidt. Amazon Prime Video When I look at Amazon as a consumer, theres a lot of what people would consider Dad content, things like Bosch, Reacher, The Boys. But to me, and you can correct me here, a lot of the Australian originals seem more female-focused. Is that just a happy accident, or is it something thats deliberate?

There are great female focused stories to tell and we saw an opportunity with that with Deadloch last year. But it comes back to the core these are great stories. Were happy to present that to an audience and youre right, it does give us a very beautifully well rounded slate.

Lets talk about sports. Of course, sports are very important in Australia and you have the ICC cricket and you have [the cricket docuseries] The Test. In terms of live sports, are you keen on picking up more rights?

You know, I think that theres always like discussions that are happening and different rights cycles happen at different times.

So youre always keen on being involved in all of these discussions?

We see an opportunity there for audiences and we can see that they want live sports. We know Aussies love sport, its intrinsically in our DNA and cricket is one of those sports. So when we saw that partnership opportunity with the ICC, we jumped on it because we knew thats what Australians wanted. Next year, were going to have the NBA, we specifically have 66 games.

Sigourney Weaver in The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. Courtesy of Hugh Stewart/Amazon Studios Zooming out a little, Im always amazed by the number of streamers operating in Australia. Do you think its sustainable to have so many different streaming players in the Australian market? Can consumers afford that many?

I think that the more content is available to consumers, the better. I think its the way that we deliver that content to consumers thats gonna be very cool because, as I mentioned before, fragmenting content means that consumers are gonna be confused. I think our solution and our proposal [with the entertainment hub] to the consumer is to find it in one place. And thats whats gonna make the key difference here. You dont need to go anywhere else for your needs. It doesnt mean that you cant be a subscriber to many different other services it can all be through that one place. Thats what were seeing is really the need of consumers now, its not about more platforms. Its about one place to find everything.

Do you think there will be consolidation in the market?

I cant speak to that. What I can say is I think consumers want value. So Prime, for instance, its what you get in your Prime subscription. You get your Prime Video offering, and whats great about us is you also get free shipping with your Amazon deliveries. You also get Prime Gaming, Prime Music, Prime Reading. Value, I think, is important to consumers, thats what theyre looking for.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.