Warner Bros. has a new French TV boss, on Wednesday naming former Fremantle executive Bruno Henriquet to run operations for Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) in France.
Henriquet is best known in the local industry for adapting such formats as Family Feud and Game of Talents for the French market, as well as developing original shows like The Artisan and All Your Wishes in his position as deputy managing director at Fremantle France. Before joining Fremantle in 2008, Henriquet worked at Studio 89, a subsidiary of commercial network M6, and as a journalist for Canal+. He takes up his new job at Warners on June 1, reporting directly to WBITVP head Ronald Goes.
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“In a short period of time, our French business has had a huge amount of success and has gained a strong position in the market,” Goes said in a statement. “In Bruno, we have found a great leader for our French operations. He has a highly respected creative reputation, and we are confident he will build on our teams’ success, helping us continue to produce exceptional content and formats for our clients.”
Warners’ French TV production arm was set up in 2016 with the goal of adapting WB and third-party formats as well as developing local-language originals. Local hits include True Story, a comedy format featuring French stars, which streams on Amazon Prime, and the adaptation of Korean competition show I Can See Your Voice for M6.
WarnerMedia has ramped up its non-English-language production as it plans the global rollout of its HBO Max streaming service. Last week, the studio said it will develop more than 100 local productions across Latin America under its Max Originals label, 33 of which are already in production.
But while HBO Max is set to launch across Latin America’s 39 markets in June, the service’s rollout in Europe will be more staggered. Warners’ stand-alone streamer will drop in the Nordics, Spain and Portugal later this year, with bows in Central and Eastern Europe to follow, but HBO’s existing output deals with pay-TV platforms in Europe’s biggest territories — the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy — will delay HBO Max’s bow there.
For now, Warner Bros. is focusing its European television production operations on nonscripted fare. In April, the studio named Dutch TV executive Annelies Sitvast its new head of unscripted programming for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region.
