HBO Max – Europe

HBO Max’s local commissioners for Europe are on the hunt for a diverse range of scripted projects and price points. Michael Pickard reports.

Antony Root

HBO Max’s arrival in Europe just five months ago has made an already congested broadcast landscape across the continent a bit busier. Yet the message from Max’s European commissioning team is that the streamer’s arrival signals an adjustment rather than radical change.

At last week’s Series Mania, original production head Antony Root and his commissioners from France, Spain, Central Europe and the Nordics outlined what the move from “HBO Europe” to HBO Max would mean for both local audiences and content suppliers in the region.

HBO Max launched in the Nordics and Spain in October last year, before rolling out in 15 more countries earlier this month. Further launches are imminent in Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Turkey, where a team is already in place in Istanbul, while France is expected at a later date.

Since establishing itself in 2010, HBO Europe has already secured itself a strong legacy, totalling 29 series, 45 seasons and 700 episodes of television, with productions ranging from local adaptations of Israel’s BeTipul (In Treatment) to recent series such as Norway’s Beartown and Spain’s 30 Monedas (30 Coins).

Johnathan Young

While HBO Europe stood for “a local interpretation of the HBO brand in America, strong points of view, big authorship,” said Root, potential commissions will need to fit into four key programming pillars for HBO Max: local first, broad appeal, distinctive storytelling and a diverse slate.

With HBO Max having pledged more European launches this year, the streamer is seeking shows that are “bold and not retreads of other shows” across the board, Root explained. He noted that his commissioners are on the lookout for programmes that can push genres forward while at the same time retaining a commitment to top-tier production values, considered the hallmark of the HBO brand.

“We do want different price points,” he added. “We can’t make everything a super-high-expense drama series, and that’s one of the things we’re working hard at.”

At a local level within the region, Johnathan Young, VP and commissioning editor for Central Europe, highlighted new series including ‘Baltic noir’ thriller The Thaw from Poland, launching on April 1, and Hungarian espionage drama The Informant, which he believes offer fresh perspectives on well-trodden genres.

‘Baltic noir’ series The Thaw comes from Poland

“Ultimately it’s [about] the passion of the writer,” he said. “If it’s an idea that has a spark of interest, it’s about how you connect with the writer, their passion, vision and commitment and why you think it’s their story. What we’re looking for are writers who really feel it, and that was totally the case with The Thaw and The Informant.”

When considering new commissions, the writer’s passion must also cross over to the viewer – as well as Young himself. “We ask the question, ‘Why would we come back to this story?’ We’re looking for big hooks and big characters. Really, you have to keep me interested. That’s the crucial thing.”

For HBO Max in Spain, VP and commissioning editor Miguel Salvat highlighted the return of 30 Coins for a second season, as well as teasing forthcoming graphic novel adaptation Garcia. He also pointed to 2020 historical drama Patria as the kind of project that “ticks all the boxes, and many more,” adding: “We’re looking for new points of view and new perspectives on themes that may have been covered in other cases.”

Interestingly, Salvat also spoke of the need to understand the difference between complex and complicated. “We don’t like complicated, we do like complex,” he said. “We’re constantly looking one step further than something that has been made in the past. We always say everyone is looking for the lottery ticket that won yesterday. That’s not going to win anymore, so we’re looking for the next winner.”

Christian Wikander

Christian Wikander, HBO’s VP and commissioning editor for the Nordics, is clearly enjoying his return to commissioning after a stint in production following a number of years as head of drama at Swedish pubcaster SVT. Among his commissions is recently launched Swedish comedy Lust, from prodco Miso Film Sverige. The eight-part series about a group of sexually frustrated 40-somethings was was co-created by Frans Milisic Wiklund (Alex) and Åsa Kalmér (Hammarvik) together with Sofia Helin (The Bridge, Atlantic Crossing), Anja Lundqvist (Heder, Gåsmamman) and Julia Dufvenius (Blinded, Missing). The latter trio also star in the show alongside Elin Klinga (The Unlikely Murderer, A Class Apart).

Written by Wiklund, directed by Ella Lemhagen and produced by Sandra Harms and Karl Fredrik Ulfung, the show is exec produced by Wikander and Camilla Curtis for HBO Max. Lust launched on March 18 in all HBO Max territories, covering Europe, the US, Latin America and the Caribbean, illustrating the potential global reach of its local productions for producers.

As for what he’s currently looking for, Wikander said: “I don’t have a clue.” Keen to invite potential pitches that could become the next Squid Game, he explained: “There’s a flood [of content] in the Nordics and if we are to stand out in that flood of great content, we need to have a red flag that makes it clear for the audience what it’s about. Something like Squid Game, how do you have a brief to get that? We need to be so open. That’s why I say I don’t know. Please come forward.”

Recently launched Swedish series Lust

The newest member of the HBO Max commissioning team is Vera Peltekian, already a familiar face to many in the content industry, having worked at Canal+ since 2006 and overseeing shows such as The Returned, Spiral and The Tunnel. As VP and commissioning editor of original productions in France, she is now building her first slate of shows since arriving at HBO in November last year.

“We want to challenge some preconceived ideas in France,” said Peltekian. “We have many cop shows. I want to do something different, so it’s not the top priority to have another cop show. We want comedy, dramedy, romcoms but also fantastical [shows].”

Emphasising that HBO Max is very much open for business right across Europe, Root reiterated: “We still offer the legacy of the brand, both with talent and with the public, even if Max is a modification of HBO, not a disappearance of HBO.”

Additional reporting by Gün Akyuz