Warner Bros. Discovery has set out Pierre Branco’s leadership team for France, Benelux and Africa. It also also emerged in the past few minutes that long-serving Warner Bros distribution exec Caroline Lang is exiting in the restructure after a quarter of a century.
Branco, General Manager of Warner Bros. Discovery for the territories, said the team would operate with a “one company” mindset after naming Tatiana Lagewaard has lead for Content and Programming in general entertainment and factual and confirming Stephane Queneudec as French Theatrical Local Production boss and Olivier Snanoudj as Theatrical Distribution for France and Benelux.
Lang, who was Warner Bros. Discovery’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director, TV Distribution, France and French-Speaking Territories is leaving after 25 years with Warner Bros. businesses, a rep confirmed to Deadline. “After the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery, and with it the creation of a new regional structure for the company in France, Benelux and Africa, Caroline Lang has decided to seek new challenges,” they added.
The full line-up comprises:
- Romain Carbonne as manager of the Insights and Research teams across the region.
- Guillaume Coffin leading Affiliate Sales, Ad Sales and Content Licensing for the region.
- Yves Elalouf as lead for the retail business for the region across Home Entertainment (Video, Games & Digital) and Consumer Products.
- Tatiana Lagewaard taking on Content & Programming for GE and factual brands in the region, including Local Unscripted Productions for discovery+ and Discovery networks.
- Stephane Queneudec continuing to lead the French Theatrical Local Production business reporting into Pierre Branco and will have a dual role, also managing the Content Licensing team reporting into Guillaume Coffin.
- Gregory Schuber leading Group Marketing & PR for the region. Marketing and PR teams for GE and Factual brands and for Content Licensing in the region will therefore now report into Gregory.
- Olivier Snanoudj will continue in his role as head of Theatrical Distribution for France & Benelux.
Branco added: “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,” he added.
This means the final piece of the international jigsaw is now in place for Warner Bros Discovery, with its senior teams in Southeast Asia, UK and Ireland, Germany, CEE/MENAT and Spain, Italy and Portugal already in place.
France remains a strategically important territory for Warner Bros Discovery. While most the rest of Europe has seen the company pull back from development for streaming service HBO Max, it and Spain will continue to develop new shows, ahead of the platform’s merger with Discovery+ in 2024. On Monday, Warner Bros Discovery’s International President Gerhard Zeiler stressed the success of HBO Max Spain originals such as 30 Coins during the RTS London conference.
He also talked up the importance of local content, saying: “There is one rule in our industry, which is if you want to be a successful global player you have to have relevant local stories. In order to be a top three player, you have to complement big hits with local relevant stories.”