Warner Bros. Discovery France Boss Pierre Branco Steps Down

Elsa Keslassy
·3 min read

Pierre Branco, general manager for Warner Bros. Discovery in France, Benelux and Africa, is stepping down from his position, Variety has learned.

Branco took the job a year ago and was previously country manager for WarnerMedia in France, Benelux, Middle East and Africa and head of affiliates and ad sales for EMEA. A source close to the company said it was Branco’s decision to exit the banner. He’s the fourth high-ranking WBD executive to depart in recent months amid an internal shakeup, following EMEA boss Priya Dogra, Hannes Heyelmann, who headed Germany, and Robert Blair, the former boss international TV distribution.

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“My 17 years at WBD have been ones of immense pride and satisfaction,” Branco said in a statement.” The executive said it gave him “the privilege of working on the best brands and content in the business, collaborating with incredible colleagues and partners across the globe and leading the most passionate and committed teams from Paris and London across very diverse markets.”

Branco went on to saying that “the business has evolved dramatically during this time.” “I have enjoyed taking advantage of the commercial and creative opportunities this has brought my way along the years, launching new pay tv channels like Toonami or Warner TV, creating a new service with the Warner Pass on Amazon’s Prime Video, releasing global hits like ‘Barbie’ or French phenomenon like “Simone” and building a strong slate of local theatrical movies and original series for streaming.”

The position will not be immediately replaced. WBD’s international president Gerhard Zeiler confirmed the news in a note to staff, in which he praised Branco’s achievements, commercial skills and creative spirit. He also said Branco will stay on board “until the new international structure is finalized.”

The combined Discovery+ and HBO Max platform has been expected to launch in France at some point in 2024 but the exact timing of the roll out has not been communicated. In the meantime, Warner Bros. Discovery has a deal with Prime Video in France and is available on Amazon Prime Video Channels as part of its exclusive ‘Warner Pass’ offer. The end date of that deal hasn’t either been communicated.

The offer will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video Channels in France, and will boast all of HBO programs, along with 12 channels, including Warner TV, Eurosport, Discovery Channel, Cartoon Network and CNN, as well as their associated on-demand services. The offer will be available to Amazon Prime members via subscription from March 2023.

While Branco is leaving the company, the commissioning team for HBO Max in France is still in place and a few premium series have already been ordered, including  “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan.”

Following the merger last year, Warner Bros. Discovery scaled down its programming strategy in Europe as part of a cost-saving strategy and stopped producing originals for HBO Max across the Nordics Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey. France and Spain, which were identified as key, strategic markets, were spared as the company vowed to continue investing in original content in those two territories. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery said the plan to back original content in France hadn’t changed in light of Branco’s exit.

In an exclusive interview with Variety back in April, Vera Peltekian, VP and head of streaming original production for the banner, said “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan” was part of WBD’s ambition to deliver “bold and director-driven Max originals targeting adult audiences.” The four-part series inspired by the true story of a woman who conned her way into a victims’ association and quickly became one of its pillars. The series shot in Paris and was directed by Juste Philippot with a solid French cast led by Laure Calamy (“The Origin of Evil,” “Call My Agent!”).

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