Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., was expected to announce the hiring of Ms. Tellem later on Tuesday, these people said.
Ms. Tellem will oversee a Microsoft production studio based in Los Angeles that will create both traditional “linear” programming and interactive programming that fuses video and gamelike content, they said. She will report to Phil Spencer, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, part of the Microsoft entertainment division that oversees the company’s Xbox console.
A Microsoft spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
The move echoes an effort by Netflix to invest more heavily in original content to give its video-streaming service an edge on competitors. Netflix has licensed new episodes of the comedy “Arrested Development,” and will exclusively distribute “House of Cards,” a mini-series based on a BBC political drama.
For several years, Microsoft has been working on turning its Xbox Live service into a destination for all kinds of entertainment, rather than just games. Xbox Live has more than 40 million members and delivers a variety of programming from providers like Netflix, Comcast, ESPN and Verizon FiOS to people with the Xbox 360 console.
Rumors about Ms. Tellem joining Microsoft have circulated for months in the entertainment press.