Sheila Green, Vice President of Retention, Curation, Programming, Metadata Strategy, & S&P at Crunchyroll, will be speaking at Future of Video, November 19-21, 2024. In anticipation of this event, Sheila shares her insights on team building, personalized content, and the future of video services in this exclusive Q&A.

Reflecting on your career journey, what has been a standout moment or achievement that you're especially proud of?

I really like building teams. I think most recently at Crunchyroll I’m very proud to put together a leadership team of people who are all very different but complement each other in both skills and personalities. Almost more importantly though – they like each other and get along and genuinely seem to enjoy working together. I’m doubly proud that they’ve taken the same care in building their own teams. 

What role do you believe personalized content recommendations will play in enhancing the user experience and driving engagement on streaming platforms?

Whenever we sit down to watch something we have a need – Do we want to feel better about our day? Or feel some sort of connection through a story? Or just be distracted? I can’t wait for the algorithms to crack the idea of predicting that need and fulfilling it. 

In an increasingly competitive landscape, what are the key differentiators that will set successful video service providers apart from the competition?

Content discovery is key for me, but it’s not just about machine learning algorithms and AI. As someone who’s been in curation and programming for 20+ years I welcome my robot overlords - they make me better at my job! However, I think that everyone is realizing now that it still helps to have humans in the loop to bring that authenticity into platforms. The machine may make a great recommendation, but, for now, it still takes a human to make it feel like that recommendation is coming from a trusted friend. 

How do you envision the future of advertising in the streaming era, and what strategies should advertisers and content providers embrace to deliver targeted, non-intrusive ad experiences?

It may sound silly, but whenever we’re at a point of rapid technological growth I always like to go back and look at the past.  What are the things we outgrew a while ago and no longer use? Could they actually be innovative again? It’s like fashion - yesterday’s high-waisted boot-cut jeans can feel fresh with a few tweaks.

Sheila Green is Vice President of Retention, Curation, Programming, Metadata Strategy and S&P at Crunchyroll. In this role, Green is dedicated to giving anime fans the best experience possible by focusing on content discovery, engagement, and user retention. Green also drives programming and metadata strategy as well as standards and practices for the company. Specializing in the journey to take users from the casual to the super fan, Green brings more than 15 years of experience in marketing, content strategy, and operations to Crunchyroll. Prior to joining, she was Head of Editorial (Content Programming and Merchandising) at Roku, where she managed data-driven AVOD programming strategies to increase reach and engagement for The Roku Channel. Prior to Roku, she was Vice President of Content Programming and Curation at Discovery Inc, where she led content strategy and publishing operations for the company’s AVOD and SVOD businesses. She also directed digital and social media strategies as Content Director at Syfy.com, and produced content for such companies as Reuters, AOL and CNET. Green is the Executive Sponsor of the A.D.A.P.T. (Abled & Disabled Allies Partnering Together) Employee Resource Group at Crunchyroll. She earned a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in Theater from Goucher College. Green is based in Crunchyroll’s Culver City offices.

Join Sheila and other industry leaders during the seventh annual Future of Video conference in Marina del Rey, register here.