Hong Kong-based Celestial Pictures has appointed Justin Weng as vice president, Game Development and Licensing, marking the company’s entry into the social games business.

The company is also expanding its channel distribution business with the appointment of Keith Mak as director, Channel Distribution.

Working from Celestial’s Beijing office and reporting to CEO Ross Pollack, Weng will be in charge of developing social games based on the company’s Shaw Brothers film library as well as new feature films and TV content. He will also be responsible for licensing the games to various online and mobile platforms.

Weng was formerly senior business development manager at Giant Interactive, one of China’s leading online game providers, where he was responsible for the international licensing and business development of Giant’s game portfolio. He has also had stints with Ubisoft Entertainment China, Nintendo and Electronic Arts Pogo Shanghai.

Mak, who joins Celestial from BBC Worldwide, will be responsible for distribution and development of the company’s channels – Celestial Movies, Celestial Classic Movies and WaTV. He will be based out of Celestial’s Hong Kong headquarters and report to Ofanny Choi, senior vice president, TV Channels.