CEO Richard Plepler talks about the state of HBO, remembers the original Game of Thrones pitch

The media landscape is changing. Companies like Netflix are inspiring more and more people to cut the cord, Amazon is getting into the TV game with a billion-dollar Lord of the Rings show, etc. What’s an industry institution like HBO to do? CEO Richard Plepler talks about that on a new episode of Variety’s Strictly Business podcast. Have a listen:

With so much competition around these days, Plepler says that the way for HBO to stay relevant and profitable is to ensure that it remains a “magnet” for talented people and to give consumers something unique. “he optionality that is out there for consumers is greater than ever,” Plepler said, “so your brand has to stand for something and deliver on that promise so that people feel they are buying, they are acquiring differentiation.”

He also said that HBO is always asking itself if it’s “building addicts,” which might not be the best choice of words but we get the idea.

But there’s a tension here. HBO prides itself on making shows people haven’t seen the like of before — it’s what they did with Game of Thrones, after all. “When came in to pitch Thrones, that was a fantasy show,” Plepler remembered, fantasy being something the network didn’t have much experience with at the time. “‘You’re nervous about this. There’s dragons in it. It’s fantasy. This isn’t typical HBO.'”

"And the way [Benioff] pitched it was he said, “Look, this is about power, and it’s about archetypes of power. And it’s Shakespearean, it’s Biblical. If you just forget where you are, you could be in 10th century France, it doesn’t really matter.” And we believed their vision."

Good call, that.

But now, with Game of Thrones ending, HBO is readying an array of prequel series. How does that square with HBO’s desire to bring viewers something new?

Plepler doesn’t really answer that question (another good call), but does say that “we’re looking at a range of different pilots right now.” I guess it doesn’t matter. Thrones is ending, the audience is hungry for more, and HBO is willing and able to give it to them. Bring it on, I say.

Of course, Plepler didn’t say word one about what those prequel series are about, or about what’s coming in Game of Thrones season 8. Show composer Ramin Djawadi, who’s currently touring Europe with the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, was similarly silent when speaking with News 18, although according to him, he couldn’t divulge anything even if he wanted to. “I have no idea what’s gonna happen,” he said. “I’m just as much in the dark as everybody else.”

"I definitely get to see it earlier than everybody else, because I obviously have to write the music for it…I meet with David and Dan, and we discuss all the scenes at length, and then I write the music and we come back and we tweak…People have asked me what am I planning on writing, and there’s really no answer to that until I see what’s going to happen…Looking back on some of the other seasons, if you had asked me before I had written “Light of the Seven”…from season 6, I wouldn’t have guessed that I would have written it until I actually saw the scene and saw what the scene needed."

“Season 8…we’ll see what happens,” he concluded. Indeed we will.

Next: Check out splendid fan-made posters for Game of Thrones season 8

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