HBO Max puts international front and centre

HBO Max is open to sharing rights on its European output and is looking to “develop, develop, develop” to fuel its expanding service, but a UK originals team is not in the plan.

Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s head of originals, told Broadcast International the service – which launches in the UK on 26 March – is “open to different business models” and is looking to ramp up its originals across Europe with increased development spending.

During a far-reaching interview here at Series Mania in Lille, Aubrey also outlined how her team is working with talent across Europe and said rights flexibility has become a frequent topic of conversation.    

“One of the things we pride ourselves on at HBO – and something we really want to support our local teams in doing too – is ensuring that we don’t have rules written on the wall that no one shall break. We’re a much more bespoke operation than that,” she said.

“What works in one territory may not work somewhere else. The consistency we aim for is more of a creative ethos, and across our business strategies we’re more open to trying things.”

Rival streamers such as Disney+ and Netflix have struck a raft of deals over recent months with both national broadcasters and their BVoD services, and Aubrey said similar deals are being explored for HBO Max.

“We’ve certainly talked about this – if we didn’t have all the rights, but a show is really good for the French market and we wanted it, would we be open to doing something like that? It’s definitely a conversation that we’re having right now.”

‘Develop, develop, develop’

Aubrey, alongside her Warner Bros. Discovery colleagues, has watched on over recent months as Netflix and Paramount Skydance battled to acquire HBO, with the latter emerging as the winner – at least at present.

The wider implications of the deal remain unclear for the streamer, which Paramount chief exec David Ellison has suggested would be combined with his Paramount+ service, but with the transaction yet to close, Aubrey’s response to takeover questions yielded a standard response.

“It’s business as usual – David [Ellison] is a huge supporter of HBO so we’re excited to see what comes next,” she added, pointing out that her international strategy is building momentum. 

The former TNT exec has been working with European creative teams over recent months to ensure shows share “the same creative ethos” and can sit alongside its US-based flagships such as House of the Dragon or The White Lotus.

Shows from major European territories such as Spain, France and Germany do not need to travel outside of the home country, she stressed, but the goal is to expand the slates.

The streamer unveiled a German murder thriller, inspired by Heinrich Hoffman’s 19th century children’s book Struwwelpeter, in Lille with the six-parter produced by local prodco Dark Ways.

“We’re different from other services. We have these huge pieces of IP that have shows attached to them, whether that’s Penguin or Harry Potter coming up, which are my shows, or shows from Franny [Francesca Orsi, executive vice-president, head of HBO drama series and films] like The Last of Us or the Game of Thrones franchise with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

“So we have the benefit of these big tentpoles and that relieves the pressure to make local shows global hits, or try and retrofit it. When a story is good and it’s told well, that’s when it breaks out.

“If you’re approaching it with a mentality of: ’it works for this territory, but let’s have a little of this so it can travel here’, that’s when you end up with something I like to call ‘feathered fish’– it’s in between everything, it’s nothing.”

Aubrey added that regional leaders are tasked with “identifying deals with the right people and to look at certain IP”.

“Frankly, we want to just develop, develop, develop and we’ve given them more money to spend in the territories because we feel strongly that when you have a healthy development slate, you’re able to pick the best shows when they are ready.

“Pick the best projects and push them forward when they’re ready to be made – that’s the plan. Because often shows get pushed out the door, perhaps prematurely, because there’s a slot and it needs to be filled.”

Part of what makes a healthy development pipeline, she added, is creative relationships with key producers, underlining HBO’s creative pact with former Movistar Plus+  exec Domingo Corral - unveiled here at Series Mania.

The first-look deal covers TV shows in Spain, with the first project in development about the disappearance of petty criminal Santiago Corella aka ’El Nani’. Written and directed by Alberto Rodríguez alongside Rafael Cobos, the show is set against the backdrop of Spain in the early 1980s, as it transitions to democracy, and follows young small-time thief who goes missing after being wrongfully arrested.

Singular UK strategy

A more nuanced strategy to originals applies to HBO Max in the UK, however. Aubrey is not fazed by entering the competitive market later than rivals, pointing to the now-ended Sky deal that has opened viewers up to the HBO brand.

“We’re very lucky that the HBO name and brand is one of the few in entertainment that actually has a strong consumer sentiment around it,” she said, laughing at the reminder the streamer had been rebranded in the recent past as simply Max.

“Our lateness will be offset a little bit by that reputation and people’s interest in that. And then I’m working on this little show called Harry Potter, so I think that show should also make some noise.”

Aubrey pointed to UK co-productions such as Industry with the BBC, as well as originals like Sharon Horgan’s Youth (w/t), and her own experience on co-producing It’s A Sin, as examples of her team’s deep ties with the UK industry.

And it’s those ties that mean a dedicated UK-based HBO Max team is not in the current strategy.

“Amy [Gravitt, HBO’s comedy chief] and Franny have for years had both comedies and dramas in the UK, and c-oproductions with UK partners. What I anticipate is that we will always have a steady drum beat of high-quality British shows.

“I don’t think we will originate in the same way in terms of setting up an office, at least right now, with a dedicated head in the UK, because we have those relationships already and a flow of business already,” she explains.

“We have our UK strategy but it’s not standing up a person there and having a team just to hear open door pitches from everybody. We have all these long-standing relationships through HBO with talent in the UK, and they organically come to us. We’ll continue to partner and make those partnerships stronger, that’s the strategy.”

For those looking to get shows away, however, there are some recent successes – not least The Pitt, which is coming to the UK for the first time despite debuting in the US almost a year ago.

In that vein, Aubrey said she is looking for more “prestigerals”, although she added that the John Wells hit drama is not a “typical” procedural, because it needs to be watched in order, ideally.

Another key focus is getting shows returning for their second seasons in a timely manner, but Aubrey tempered any suggestion of delivering a show before it is ready.

“It’s all we talk about - how quickly can we get a show back? But these shows are massive and we are not going to sacrifice creative to rush something back,” she said.

“What we do for our bigger shows is start the writing earlier. So even if we haven’t picked up a second or a third season, if we’re feeling good we say: go do a writers room so at least all the materials are written or on their way to being written.

“We do everything we can to hedge – we get the directors we love on the hook to come back, we do everything we can just short of starting to make it in advance of airing it.

“But I think that’s still something that Casey [Bloys, HBO content chief] has very wisely held onto: you’ve got to wait and let it air. And he very rarely picks up a season before a current season has aired.”