GoPro hires former Hulu exec to lead original

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GoPro is turning its lens toward beefing up original content with its latest hire.

The maker of cameras for adventure enthusiasts has hired Charlotte Koh, the former head of Hulu’s original-content initiatives, to fill a newly created position as head of features and series, according to a Variety report. Koh will be responsible for forming partnerships with Hollywood creatives, studios and networks to develop original content using GoPro’s action cameras.

“It’s really about creating a GoPro content banner on top of the technology,” Koh told the entertainment-business newspaper.

Koh had been at streaming-video company Hulu for three years before her departure in April 2014. Her initial focus at GoPro will be on unscripted and documentary content, Variety reports, but scripted content is not out of the question.

GoPro’s interest underscores the greater attention original content is getting of late. New challenges to Amazon, Netflix and Vevo, among many others, are coming from the likes of PlayStation Network, which launched its first original show in March, and even Snapchat, the messaging service that recently hired a former Onion executive to lead its original-content effort.

Koh’s hiring also spotlights GoPro’s efforts to move beyond its roots of selling video cameras to skiers, race drivers and other sports-adventure enthusiasts. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company said in May that it plans to enter the virtual-reality market later this year with a six-camera array capable of capturing high-resolution images and video from different angles that can then be stitched together to create a 360-degree virtual reality environment.

GoPro is also getting into another burgeoning technology by building a quadcopter, or drone. The company’s cameras are frequently attached to drones to record landscapes for real estate companies and film movie sequences, making GoPro’s interest in producing original content a natural expansion for the camera maker.

GoPro representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company’s shares finished at $52.25 on Tuesday, up $1.31, or 2.6 percent.