Warner Bros. Discovery’ HBO Max made an important expansion on its European operations, where the streamer did a rollout in the UK and Ireland following recent market entries in Italy and Germany. Operating across 112 territories with a base of 130 million subscribers, the company’s head of original programming, Sarah Aubrey, detailed its regional development strategy recently. A presentation, during Series Mania Forum, outlined an approach that prioritizes extended development timelines, allowing for extensive script refinement and the production of pilot episodes before full commissioning. Rather than engineering shows specifically for global export, the strategy relies on regional executives to source narratives suited for their specific domestic markets.
The platform’s recent localized slate includes titles such as France’s The Seduction, Poland’s The Eastern Gate, Italy’s Portobello – The Fall of Enzo Tortora, Brazil’s Scars of Beauty, and Mexico’s Chespirito: Sin querer queriendo. Alongside the April return of the US drama Euphoria, Aubrey announced several new European partnerships and projects. In Spain, the streamer has signed a first-look agreement with Domingo Corral, the former fiction executive at Movistar Plus+. The Spanish development pipeline also included a new drama from Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos. Set during Spain’s 1980s democratic transition, the narrative focuses on a specialized police unit composed of former Francoist officers and the subsequent disappearance of a wrongfully detained petty criminal.
For the German market, the company is collaborating with Dark Ways, the production banner led by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar. They are currently filming a thriller created by Matija Dragojević, featuring Lisa Vicari and Norbert Troschitz. Attendees were shown preliminary footage of the series, which tracks a police investigation into ritualistic murders connected to the 1844 children’s book Struwwelpeter. The presentation also confirmed the development of 4 Blocks Zero, serving as a prequel to the established German crime franchise.
The industry showcase concluded with visual updates on various upcoming productions, including early footage from the Harry Potter television adaptation currently shooting. Additional previews featured the Polish drama Proud, which centers on a gay man assuming custody of an infant following a family tragedy, and the second season of the Spanish title Rage, featuring Carmen Maura. Finally, the company scheduled the premiere of the French drama Privilèges for March 27. The six-part series, created by Marie Monge and Vladimir de Fontenay and starring Manon Bresch and Melvil Poupaud, is set within the operations of a Parisian hotel.
La ejecutiva también aprovechó la instancia para hablar de la fusión con Paramount y cómo incidirá esto en el camino creativo del servicio: ‘aunque HBO Max y Paramount se vayan a unir, la estrategia de originales en Europa permanece estable. Doy fe que seguimos abiertos a estrategias de coproducción con players de primera línea, con creadores, con directores, y con todo aquel cuya idea resuene con nuestro ADN y con nuestra audiencia’.
