Starting today, Tuesday, May 21, the HBO Max streaming platform will be simply referred to as Max. As he explains to us in this interview, what might seem like an insult to a brand as revered as HBO is actually almost an attempt to protect what the brand stands for. Casey Bloys, president and CEO of HBO and Max Content. A rare opportunity to delve deeper into the work and creative vision of one of the entertainment industry’s great leaders.
‘When and why did you decide to remove HBO from HBO Max?
It was quite an internal debate. My conclusion is that ‘HBO is not just HBO, it’s Warner Bros.’ It did not make sense to put it in the name of a platform that compiles content from other brands, such as television funds and Discovery materials. For example. If you call something ‘HBO’, that brand defines everything in it. It made more sense for HBO to just go back to being HBO and express what it’s always meant: high-quality drama series and comedies, documentaries, specials, things like that.
Max will be like a modern cable television package, with HBO representing only a portion of the offering, but a very prominent one.
HBO has always been part of a larger programming package. I was with CMT [Country Music Television], from VH1… Offers that he probably doesn’t have much in common with, but that he doesn’t have to take responsibility for. The decision we made to keep the name Max seems to me to be the best. From a consumer perspective, maybe so many name changes caused confusion, but in the end we came up with the best possible solution for HBO.
How did you decide which series would be HBO and which would be Max?
One of the things I wanted to do when I started taking charge of Max was to provide clearer explanations of what to expect from a range of brands. When we do a Max series, we’re trying to do something we wouldn’t do on HBO. For example, something that was just announced: We’re going to do a procedural medical series with John Wells, who did ‘ER’. And at a reasonable price, not the very expensive price of a prestigious drama series. Everything happens in the hospital, so we won’t need more than one location. Each episode will tell a different story, so if you watch one of them you’ll be pleased with what you see, but it will also have an element of serialization. Since it was not expensive, we were able to order fifteen episodes. The idea is to see if people will accept something like this once they’ve gotten used to the eight- to ten-episode seasons that we’ve introduced to some extent.
Max is supposed to be the brand for series based on popular series, but we also see some with the HBO seal: ‘What’s left of us‘ adapts a famous video game series; ‘House of the Dragon‘This is a prequel to ‘Game of Thrones’ and it’s about supporting a new universe…
It is difficult for a situation where there is perfect separation to arise. But I always try to do things on Max that I wouldn’t normally do on HBO. For example, DC’s audience doesn’t necessarily have to be HBO’s. They are usually younger and male; It’s not the same demographic. That doesn’t mean great stories can’t be told in that medium. For example, ‘The Peacemaker’: not necessarily an HBO series, but really engaging, entertaining and interesting.
Two of HBO’s latest phenomenons, the aforementioned ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘The White Lotus,’ won’t return until 2025. As for ‘Euphoria’, no one seems to know when it will return. Do you have any trump cards for the second half of 2024?
We will move on from ‘House of the Dragon’ to ‘Penguin’ with Colin Farrell. And then we have the ‘Dune’ prequel series [‘Dune: La profecía’]It will be published in the autumn.
Can you promise HBO purists that there’s a new ‘Succession’ on the horizon, a 100 percent original series with a singular voice? Writer Marlon James’ first series ‘Get Millie Black’ attracts my attention.
I’m going to talk about the series we did with Rachel Sennott [coprotagonista y coguionista de ‘Bottoms’]Comedies in line with our classics such as ‘Insecure’, ‘Girls’ or ‘De culo y corazón’, that is, comedies starring and created by the same person. On the other hand, Issa López is bringing us another season of ‘True Detective’ and Brad Ingelsby, who created ‘Mare of Easttown’, is preparing a new crime drama based in Philadelphia. There are projects at HBO that excite us all, with current stories and no special effects.
And I think they’re in business with David Simon again [creador de ‘The wire’ y otros muchos títulos de la marca]. According to ‘Variety’ a few months agoThey are collaborating again on ‘The System,’ a series about foster care and the child welfare system in the United States.
David and I have a long history and are developing a few projects, but there’s really nothing that can be announced at the moment.
Another project I need to hear about is the adaptation of the book, ‘The Shards’ [‘Los destrozos’] A film directed by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Luca Guadagnino.
It’s improving.
What about the ‘remake’ series of the Cronenberg classic, ‘Scanners’?
I’m not sure about your status but there is no flashing green light at the moment.
There are projects at HBO that excite us all, with current stories and no special effects.
After Warner Bros.’ merger with Discovery, a handful of interesting titles were removed from HBO Max for tax and financial reasons, including animated wonders like ‘Infinity Train’ or ‘Summer Camp Island.’ Are you considering taking back some of these titles if there is significant demand?
Most of the removals were getting few views. The idea of keeping everything at all times is a relatively new concept. There’s little point in having something in the background if almost no one sees it. And the series we broadcast can go to other places; Warner Bros. sells or licenses many of them. We don’t want to keep all this, and no one has it.
Interestingly, among those eliminated was ‘Westworld’, which recently became HBO’s flagship series.
Creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy chose to make it available on FAST channels twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. [siglas en inglés de televisión en ‘streaming’ gratis con anuncios]Another form of distribution we tried. I think FAST is interesting. There is a generation that is used to streaming and where the idea of having something happen with ads in the background seems exotic. That was the idea with ‘Westworld’: to try it in another format.
What are your expectations for the next Emmy awards, the second of which will be held this year? For example, do you hope that the ‘Golden Age’ will be recognized?
I have high hopes for her, too, for ‘The Sympathizer’, ‘True Detective: Polar Night’, ‘Hacks’… Kate Winslet always dazzles with her performances, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she was nominated for her role in this movie. ‘Diet’.
Some HBO fans, myself included, aren’t the best experts on Discovery’s universe of documentaries and reality shows. What titles do you think are recommended?
There’s a certain belief that people who watch HBO don’t watch anything else, but I don’t think that’s actually the case at all. The HBO viewer is an entertainment enthusiast and consumes many other types of content elsewhere. I’ve always been a fan of shows like ‘Home Finders’ and ‘Your Home in the Case’. My kids got me into things like ‘Chopped’ on the Food Network. And I don’t even like cooking!
How many hours of television do you watch a day, between what you watch for work and what you watch for pleasure?
A big part of my job consists of reading scripts and monitoring edits, so I’m immersed in TV series for most of the day. I recently watched ‘My Stuffed Reindeer’ for fun and thought it was incredible. My husband and I are watching ‘Comrade Travellers’. I always like to have something I can enjoy without work reasons. Things like ‘Home Finders’ or ‘Chopped’ are easy to watch and great for family viewing when your kids are a bit older. They were the ones who got me into ‘Shark Tank’. They don’t want to see it now, but I don’t miss it either.
Source: Informacion
Barbara Dickson is a seasoned writer for “Social Bites”. She keeps readers informed on the latest news and trends, providing in-depth coverage and analysis on a variety of topics.