In Spain, Warner Exec Explains the HBO Max Rebrand
Warner Bros. Discovery's decision to return to the HBO Max brand for its streaming service was the elephant in the room that Jose Maria Caro, director of Max Local Original Production at WBD, Spain, addressed right at the start of his appearance at the Conecta Fiction & Entertainment in Cuenca, Spain on Tuesday.
'Many of you are asking what has happened,' he said, addressing the industry audience directly, showing a slide with an advertising message with the slogan 'Max becomes HBO Max.'
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and 'Jurassic World Rebirth' Cast Stun London at World Premiere
Eurovision Drama and 'The Nameless': Movistar Plus+ Exec Touts Focus on Event Programming
Lewis Hamilton Signed Off on Brad Pitt and Damson Idris' Driving in 'F1: The Movie'
'What does it mean? In terms of the content, we can't lose the value of HBO,' the top executive explained. 'It contributes much value.'Caro highlighted that the brand also represents the core 'editorial line' and focus areas for the company when greenlighting original content. 'The creator is the pillar from which we begin a project,' he shared, emphasizing that ideally that a creator is 'someone with great ambition who can make a difference in the market.'
Developing appealing original characters is also in focus for his team, he shared. 'We are also looking for new characters,' the exec said.
Highlighting that HBO Max is about quality rather than volume of original fare, Caro also reiterated WBD's commitment to local originals. 'Without local productions, we are not going to reach the local spectators,' he explained. If they also travel, that is a wonderful bonus, he added.
Originally, the WBD streaming service launched as HBO Max in 2020. Then, in 2023, the company controversially changed the name to simply Max — ditching the venerable network brand name. Ahead the company's mid-May upfront presentation in New York at Madison Square Garden, WBD president and CEO David Zaslav unveiled though that the name will be changed back to HBO Max.
The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming,' he said in a statement back then. 'Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.'
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started
Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023
Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
This artist just spray painted a public square in Switzerland
Thousands of artists are being featured at hundreds of galleries as Art Basel opens its doors in the Swiss city this week. But before visitors even enter the art fair, they will cross a large public square sprayed with white and magenta paint — an artwork by Katharina Grosse. The German artist is known for using spray paint to transform spaces, from an abandoned property in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans to a condemned structure in the Rockaways, New York. Her massive, in-situ paintings have been commissioned by contemporary art museums like MoMA PS1 in New York and the Centre Pompidou-Metz in Paris. In Basel, her work covers the Messeplatz, and the structures — from a fountain to benches and bins — it contains. 'Even the clock will get painted a little bit,' she told CNN in early June, before she started painting, referring to the huge timepiece on the facade of one of the exhibition halls. That required some logistical preparation, like emptying the fountain and covering it with an anti-graffiti coating so the paint can be washed away later, explained Natalia Grabowska, of the Serpentine Gallery in London, who curated the work. The square measures several thousand square meters, or about the size of a soccer field, said Grabowska. She added that Grosse is someone who can 'work at scale and really transform spaces.' Grosse says that the sheer size of the work, her largest to date in an outdoor setting, was a challenge for her. 'For me, it's an amazing possibility to develop my work further and test my thinking and painting,' she said. Although the artist created models of the work beforehand, she said that things always change on site as she responds to the situation on the ground. 'I have a lot of different surfaces. I have distances to bridge. I have to make it work and be vivid but coherent,' she said. The fact that her 'whole painting has to be invented on site' means that it might be 'the youngest work at the fair,' Grosse added. That made it particularly interesting to watch her paint, said Grabowska. 'She works very intuitively with her body and sees where it takes her,' she said. 'She walks back and forth — it is a bit like unscripted choreography, a bit of a dance.' Grosse's work might also be the shortest lived at the fair. After seven days, the paint will be peeled and pressure-washed away. 'I think it's the shortest lifespan of a piece I've done outdoors,' said Grosse. 'There's a beauty that it appears for a minute, and it's only in your memories and the pictures we've taken and the way we talk about it.' Still, she hopes that for a few days, it can help transport visitors. 'It's almost like a poetic space that's slipped under your familiar existence,' she said. 'Her work is so powerful that you get immersed in it instantly,' said Grabowska. 'You can't ignore it.' Grosse also hopes that her work will help people reconsider what forms painting can take, as they enter one of the world's most important art fairs. It 'doesn't have to be like a pancake on a wall,' she said.
Elle
an hour ago
- Elle
Cynthia Nixon Confirms That Each ‘Sex And The City' Storyline Was Based On A True Story
If you've ever wondered why — nay, how — Sex and the City has retained its relevance in the 20 years between the pilot episode's premiere and today, you don't have to look far. Speaking to ELLE UK, Cynthia Nixon (who plays inimitable lawyer Miranda Hobbes), attributes the show's longstanding resonance with the fact that each and every one of its storylines are drawn from real-life events. Yes, every single one. 'Our writers have always based our plot lines on things that have actually happened to them or happened to someone that they directly know, so they can quiz them about it,' Nixon says. 'So these crazy, outrageous things, particularly back in the day [during Sex and the City], that happened to these characters were always rooted in truth, and an audience can smell that a mile away.' Sex and the City, which was based on Candace Bushnell's New York Observer column of the same name, premiered in 1998 and spawned six series, two feature films and a currently-airing lightning rod sequel, And Just Like That. The series has caused contestation among fans of the original series for tarnishing its lasting legacy. Miranda, in particular, was criticised for becoming out-of-touch in the 20 years since audiences last saw her. Nixon claims that she doesn't read reviews of the show, but the viewing figures speak for themselves: when And Just Like That debuted in December 2021, 1.1 million households were reported to have tuned in during the live-plus-three-day viewership window. For the third season's premiere on May 29, that number stood at just 429,000. As for potential seasons of And Just Like That (that have yet to be greenlit by HBO), Nixon is clear that as long as the series' creator Michael Patrick King will keep on writing Miranda's world, she'll be there. 'I'd love a season four and I'd love a season five,' she says. 'I love this world and it's so lovely to be a part of it. I mean, who gets to do this? To play a character for 30 years? It's really, really special.' And Just Like That... season three streams weekly on HBO/NOW TV. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
Vogue
2 hours ago
- Vogue
Miley Cyrus Has Some Very Different (And Very Literal) Takes on French Girl Chic
Miley Cyrus has been lighting up Paris with look after look. 'Paris is already something beautiful, but with all of you it's even more magical. Je t'aime,' the singer wrote on Instagram. Taking her latest album title—Something Beautiful—and its continuing promo tour seriously with her sartorial choices, Cyrus and her stylist Bradley Kenneth have been having a lot of fun with combining her own sense of style—maximalist but refined, '70s inflected aesthetics with modern, sexy twists by way of strong-shouldered Saint Laurent jackets and suiting, Alaïa gowns, and lots of leather—with some French girl chic details. Yesterday evening, Cyrus was photographed leaving her Paris hotel, continuing her vintage rhythm. She wore a sweeping sheer gray blue sheer gown with an undulating layered skirt and a peacock feathered, spiral coned bra. She paired it with long leather gloves, and chocolate brown cut-out sandal boots. As usual, her hair was blown out in dramatic, heightened '80s curls. Photo: Backgrid On another occasion, Cyrus greeted fans in a more low-key but still chic and sleek black strapless top with a leather bow on the chest, with matching tailored black pants and black pointed boots. The monochromatic look gained a pop of color from a bright bouquet of flowers she received from fans. Cyrus was also spotted wearing an Eiffel Tower motif rhinestone-studded archival black dress by the late designer Patrick Kelly—the first U.S. designer inducted into France's Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter back in 1988—which featured in his fall winter 1989 collection. Cyrus added some dark angular oval sunglasses, sheer tights, and pointed black stilettos with a delicate ankle strap.
