Warner Bros. Discovery Sets Out Leadership in France, Benelux and Africa Under Pierre Branco
As it continues to cement its European leadership structure, Warner Bros. Disccovery has set out the team working across France, Benelux and Africa under Pierre Branco, general manager for the region.
Branco, who reports into EMEA boss Priya Dogra, was previously country manager for WarnerMedia in France, Benelux, Middle East and Africa and head of affiliates and ad sales for EMEA.
The changes on his team take effect immediately.
As part of the executive shuffle, Caroline Lang, senior VP et managing director for France and French-speaking territories of Warner Bros. International Television Distribution since 2010, has stepped down from her position.
In the new layout, Romain Carbonne will manage the insights and research teams across the EMEA region, while Guillaume Coffin will lead affiliate sales, ad sales and content licensing for the region.
Yves Elalouf will lead the retail business across home entertainment (video, games and digital) and consumer products.
Tatiana Lagewaard will lead content and programming for general entertainment and factual brands in the region, including local unscripted productions for Discovery+ and Discovery networks.
Meanwhile, Stephane Queneudec will continue to lead the French theatrical local production business, reporting into Branco. He will also have a dual role, managing the content licensing team and reporting into Guillaume Coffin.
Elsewhere, Gregory Schuber will lead group marketing and PR for the region. Marketing and PR teams for general entertainment and factual brands and for content licensing in the region will now report into Schuber.
Finally, Olivier Snanoudj will continue in his role as head of theatrical distribution for France and Benelux.
Branco said: “The new leadership team will work with me on writing the next chapters for our organization with a ‘one company’ mindset. I am convinced that we have the content, brands, talents and passion to grow our business even further and position ourselves strongly for the future in a competitive and challenging region that is also full of opportunities.”
Speaking at the Warner Bros. Discovery-hosted Royal Television Society London conference on Tuesday Gerhard Zeiler, president of international for the business, re-iterated his belief in cinema as well as his commitment to “local stories,” despite the fact that HBO Max recently halted local original programming across a number of European territories, including in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The combined Discovery+ and HBO Max platform is not expected to launch in France until 2024. It’s still unclear when the streamer will launch in Africa. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery told Variety that the commissioning teams for HBO Max in France and Spain are staying in place amid the reorganization because these are “key, strategic markets in which Warner Bros. Discovery is investing.”
A number of premium series have already been ordered in both Spain and France, and will premiere on the platform when it launches, said the spokesperson.
Elsa Keslassy has contributed to this report.
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