Warner Bros targets ‘meaningful’ international projects

Warner Bros Television Group’s Channing Dungey expects to offer more “meaningful opportunities” for production firms outside the US and admitted that streaming had caused “bloated” series.

Dungey, chairman chief exec at WBTV, said that co-productions were “not something that we were very interested in doing” previously, but shifts in the market are now making them more appealing.

“What has happened over the past few years is that we’ve seen so many changes and in some ways it has made it harder than ever to get ideas onto screen.

“For us, it’s how we put these things together and could mean taking on different partners,” Dungey told delegates at her keynote conversation at Mipcom yesterday (21 October), adding that she would be heading to London in December “to see what might arise”.

Network discipline

While Dungey’s division produces a raft of shows for sibling streamer Max such as Penguin, it is also behind third-party series including Ted Lasso for Apple TV+ and network shows such as Rescue: HI-Surf for Fox and Brilliant Minds at NBC.

The exec, who will expand her remit early next year to take on the US network group that houses WBD’s cable networks, ranging from Own to Cartoon Network, said streaming had led to “bloated” productions.

“The forcing function of broadcast provided a discipline in storytelling, it forced showrunners to make choices in terms of where the story is going, of where to begin and where to end,” she said.

“Now, without those forcing functions and with streaming, things have got a little bloated.”

Dungey also touched on the “period of transition since the start of the decade”, reflecting the challenging landscape as streamers seek profitability.

She said Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) continues to navigate the “economic challenges” of recent years that have afflicted all US studios – WBD has seen its share price fall from $24.43 ($18.82) at WBD’s launch in April to $7.55 (£5.82) today – and emphasised the industry had “fundamentally changed.”

Dungey pointed to the role of writers as one area that continues to face challenges, despite the lengthy US writers’ strike that was finally settled last year.

“There had been a consistency [for writers] and even if your show wrapped there was another one around the corner,” she said.

“The changes in the business have been really hard, from doing 22 episodes a year to 8-10 a season – and that might not even be a year because it might end up taking 18 months – it is not surprising that it built up to that point.

“But everyone understands now we are not going back to where we’ve been… so it’s where we go next. But ultimately, audiences still want great stories, and it’s our responsibility to create structures to do that.”