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Oh, and then theres that littleGame of Thronesprequel, which starts shooting a pilot later this year.
Of course, a jam-packed roster of new projects doesnt mean smooth sailing is guaranteed at HBO.
While Pleplers exit resulted in a slew of What Now for HBO?
What follows is an edited and condensed transcript of the conversation.
Whats your mood asGame of Thronesprepares to exit?
But all good things come to an end.
Right now theres a lot of focus onGame of Thrones, and rightly so.
HBO is more and always has been more than just one show, and it will continue to be.
Nobody knows where the nextGame of Thronesis going to come from.
But that doesnt stop what were doing.
Weve just made this big increase in the programming budget for substantially more hours.
Every day, theres another announcement aboutJake GyllenhaalorKate Winslet.
If one of them emerges into anotherGame of Thrones,well be thrilled about that.
But you never know when thats going to happen, and its oftentimes the show you least expect.
Were bulking up in the right way, which is more volume, but not excessive.
Ideally, how often would you want to premiere a major bit of programming now?
Do you want to have something big every week the way Netflix does?
Casey Bloys: A show doesnt need to be a gigantic tentpole to do what it needs to do.
What you dont want is the shows to get lost.
And if you are premiering big shows once a week, the message can get lost.
That could be a big, new high-budget series.
People were talking about HBO incessantly for several weeks because we had those docs one after the other.
I think its a mix of all of the strata of what goes into this place.
And it already is coming together like that.
Years ago, HBO used to make a lot more original films.
Is that one way to increase your output?
Casey Bloys: Were talking about the right strategy for HBO films.
I do think theres been a little bit of fatigue with the biopic.
So I think that is a much more viable option for us going forward.
So were doing more of those along with more longer-running series as well.
Casey Bloys: Next year, weve gotThe Plot Against AmericaandI Know This Much Is TruewithMark Ruffalo.
Both couldve been and probably wouldve been movies five years ago.
Disney just outlined its plans for theDisney+ streaming space.
What did you think of its presentation?
Bob Greenblatt: I havent pored over it in any great detail, but the messaging was really strong.
The pricing is really good for the market they want to be in.
You know, its hard to have anything but respect for what Disneys doing.
Getting back toThrones, youre going to have a huge audience to which you might market your upcoming slate.
What can we expect you to emphasize?
Casey Bloys: Itll be everything we have coming through the end of the year.
We have a lot of stuff to promo.
Will we get one big new trailer premiere during the next few weeks?
Casey Bloys: You have to tune in to watch.
I have to ask for a status update on theGame of Thronesprequel pilot.
What are the odds theres something from theGOTuniverse by the end of 2020 or in 2021?
Casey Bloys: Were mostly cast and were shooting in June, so that is a go pilot.
Ive been to table reads.
Were thrilled with the scripts.
So youre saying 2020 is not unfeasible?
Casey Bloys: I didnt saythat.
One of your bosses mentioned something a bit ago about maybe doing ashort-form version ofGame of Thrones.
Is that something in which youre interested?
I dont think he literally meant that we were going to do that.
What about short-form programming overall as a genre?
Bob Greenblatt: It is something that we have been talking a lot about.
Short-form stuff is conducive to that.
Its not ready to really be spoken about yet, but its very much on our minds.
But were just in the early stages of really getting into it.
So Bob, youve been on the job a couple weeks now.
Whats surprised you or not surprised you about working with the people at HBO?
Bob Greenblatt: It didnt surprise me at all because this company is the same as its always been.
This companys just soaring at the moment, and Im really happy to be a part of it.
Theres other things that are more challenging, but HBO is cruising right along.
Youve confirmed thatWestworldwont return for season three until 2020, whichisnt a shockgiven how intense its production process is.
But looking at your slate, I also noticed yourepushingInsecureuntil 2020.
Casey Bloys: Well, Issa became a big movie star!
Issa, I think, partly wanted a break to come back to it fresh.
In this new world of WarnerMedia, how do Casey and Kevin interact when it comes to programming?
Casey Bloys: Its not like we dont want to talk to each other!
Bob Greenblatt: I dont want them ever to talk to each other!
Kevins going to be focusing on all the genres and all the demos that HBO doesnt focus on.
Casey Bloys: The good news is I like Kevin and [WarnerMedia streaming programming chief] Sarah Aubrey.
We have good relationships prior to this, so theres an easy relationship there.
Bob Greenblatt: It just makes sense for everybody to know whats going on.
Bob Greenblatt: Well, I decline to answer that question.
So, you could read that however you will.
How is that for a nonanswer?
Are Netflix and Ted Sarandos excited in this scenario?
Teds happy about so many things that I dont need to make him any happier.
So, all good.
