Casey Bloys has been on HBO since 2004 and knows what an “HBO program” is.
As head of content for both the premium cabler and HBO Max, he now has the task of expanding the recently launched streamer with programming that cannot yet be found on HBO, while developing his linear network for a new one. generation. Oh, and harness the power of the parent franchises of parent company WarnerMedia, including DC Comics, The Game of Thrones it is yes, Harry Potter.
After a morning of Zoom presentations promoting originals like the next HBO / Max fare including Kate Winslet Mare of Easttown and input YA Generation, Bloys talks to The Hollywood Reporter about your expansion vision War of Thrones, unraveling the multiplatform worlds of the original DC and how programming for young adults is a key genre for linear and streaming.
A number of Buffy alumni presented their own experiences with Joss Whedon with statements that support Ray Fisher. How the allegations surrounding him and the showrunner changed his marketing campaign to The Nevers? His name was not in the teaser trailer, which could not be his original plan.
When I read Charisma Carpenter’s accounts, it was distressing. On The Nevers, he left the show. You saw your statement. We were already planning, as you saw, not to say “De Joss Whedon” or “the director of [Avengers]. “It didn’t really affect the campaign. Yes, you would expect to have that name [in marketing materials] but the show and the creative will speak for themselves. A marketing campaign can do a lot; the show and the creative have to be independent.
How to make your expansion plans for The Game of Thrones compare with Disney +? The expansion will be as aggressive as something like Disney’s 10-show Star Wars slate?
The way we try to approach it is not because [saying], “We need five programs in three years”, but “What stories are worth telling?” We have developed several approaches in different worlds. What I want to do is one that I think is the best creatively. I prefer to talk about the stories and the showrunners and their vision, rather than reaching some arbitrary target for the right number of programs.
Is there a wrong number?
Zero?! (Laughing.)
There is! But is The Game of Thrones a franchise that you plan to saturate the way Disney is doing with Marvel and Star Wars Television programs?
No. I look at HBO Max and WarnerMedia looks at this in general, that we have these big brands: HBO, DC, whatever we are going to do with The Game of Thrones. I don’t think that, as a company, you necessarily want to think about it in terms of just what’s on HBO Max or just what’s in theaters. In general, what do we have? In terms of excessive saturation for me and HBO Max, for any list, whether on HBO or HBO Max, you try to have some diversity and variation on the list, so it’s not all DC, so it’s not all adult animation, it’s not all programming acquired. You find the right level of subscribers to which they really respond and are always finding something new and different to watch. At HBO Max, I don’t want to do all the shows on DC; I don’t want to do all the Game of Thrones spinoffs. But a good mix of them. They are great properties to have in the mix.
There is no agreement – yet! – for Harry Potter TV series. There is no agreement, but meetings are underway with writers for ideas. NBCU controls streaming rights until April 2025. How much does this complicate its approach to bringing Harry Potter to TV?
I will not add anything to what you have already disclosed. You are correct in saying that there are no deals in place. I would go back to a more global statement on franchising: I think DC, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter – Warner Bros. has decades of important intellectual property, Harry Potter being one of those. It is a huge advantage for WarnerMedia and of course we want to use them in a way that makes viewers, subscribers and fans happy.
We know from sources that executives have met with writers and heard ideas for potential Harry Potter Series. How would you describe the process and the arguments you’ve heard so far?
I have nothing to add other than your diligent report.
You’re making a big effort to get content that’s appealing to younger viewers, not just Max – with shows like Generation – but also HBO itself with things like We are who we are and Euphoria. How much of that is a strategy for courting and training a younger generation to make HBO – and HBO Max – a mandatory subscription?
Yea! Part of Euphoria and We are who we are I was aware – even before HBO Max – that any brand has to continually redefine what it is and ask who it is attractive to. We were doing this on HBO. And at Max, it’s a big part of what we’re trying to do. Regardless of the origin of the program, as we build a brand for young adults, I’m very happy that we’ll have Euphoria, We Are Who We Are, Generation, Gossip Girl, The Sex Lives of College Girls as well as the Warner Bros. library content. taken together, it is a really attractive offer for a segment of young adults that, historically, has not been served in the long term by HBO. Having this content for young adults is one of the ways to make HBO Max’s offering in general seem much broader than that of HBO alone.
There’s a lot of brand confusion in the DC world, you have movies, TV-related spin-offs, DC Universe stuff, CW content and Max originals, like Green Lantern by Greg Berlanti and Justice League Dark by JJ Abrams. Is there a goal here?
I started getting involved with DC content in August. Peacemaker it is one of the first programs that I gave the green light and one of the first programs to come out, in January 2022. It is a great example of what HBO Max can do with DC content, as we are producing at all levels that we have not seen DC content on TV so far. It has been one of [WarnerMedia CEO] Ann Sarnoff’s priorities for organizing the DC world exactly for what you’re talking about – to make sure the universe is logical and makes sense. She talks about the steering wheel: that films speak to TV programs that speak to films – that everything is connected. There is a lot of work being done at DC and Warner Bros. This is something that Ann prioritized and the company is doing. It’s one of the things in terms of WarnerMedia today vs. Time Warner five years ago, I have regular conversations now with [Warner Bros. film chief] Toby Emmerich and [DC content chief] Jim Lee and we talked about everything in a way that would never have been discussed before. That’s probably how you got some DC here, a little DC about over there, etc. The idea going forward is that we are speaking with one voice about the DC universe. It is a really valuable world and we want to make sure that we are using it correctly.
Right, and right now the CW is apparently building a secondary DC world outside of Greg Berlanti’s multi-show world with Naomi from Ava DuVernay …
You see confusion, I see a lot of opportunities for DC fans! (Laughing.)
In conclusion, what is the situation of the We are who we are, lookouts and Can I destroy you? Will any come back?
[We Are Who We Are creator] Luca Guadagnino is doing other projects, so I don’t know. There are currently no plans for the second season. There is no update on watchmakers. Is at I can destroy you, Michaela Coel is thinking about what she wants to do next. I don’t think there will be another I can destroy you, there is no second season coming. But she’s thinking about what she wants to do next and, hopefully, we’ll be lucky to be her partner again. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.