Caleb Weinstein

TV Real Weekly, May 7, 2008

Senior VP

Discovery Enterprises International

Since its launch in 1985, Discovery has evolved from a single linear channel to a portfolio of franchises and brands that span television, digital media, merchandising and licensing. To support this continued evolution, the company recently launched Discovery Enterprises International, which is being positioned as the single access point to its content and brands in the international market.

“We’re not just selling television production,” explains Caleb Weinstein, the senior VP of the newly created group. “Our focus is to platform a content franchise across international markets by working with local third-party broadcasters in addition to our own portfolio of cable and satellite channels, as well as consumer products and retail. The goal is to take a content franchise originally developed for TV and surround the consumer with multiple touch points to that story, [we] really think of ourselves as a content company or a brand company much more than just a television company.”

Working with third-party platforms is a top priority for the new group, and some key deals are already in place. Discovery recently closed an agreement with Five in the U.K. for 44 hours of programming, including six additional hours of My Shocking Story, ten half hours of How Do They Do It? and ten one-hour episodes of Crimes That Shook the World. Weinstein says that the deal is “a great example of the opportunities we can bring to a terrestrial broadcaster,” because Discovery can “combine the power of its unparalleled library of finished product with the work of development teams around the world focused on factual entertainment.”

In France, meanwhile, Animal Planet has teamed up with France 5 to produce Pandamonium, a 5×1-hour series that examines the world’s leading panda breeding, research and conservation facility in Wolong, China. The series, shot entirely in high definition, will be broadcast on Animal Planet in international markets and on France 5 later in the year. Closing up this deal means “achieving broadcast reach in a market where we don’t have a dedicated Animal Planet platform to drive awareness around a property that can continue to live in the consumer-products arena,” says Weinstein.

DVDs are another area that Discovery sees as a “ripe opportunity” for growth. “We have a successful DVD business,” Weinstein explains. “Looking at the opportunity that Blu-ray is bringing around some of our renowned franchises, such as Discovery Atlas” has provided an exciting prospect for the company. Discovery is also marketing its feature-length documentary Encounters at the End of the World, written and directed by renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog, which will be released in theaters in the U.S. on June 11. Discovery Enterprises International is currently offering the film across the international marketplace. “This is a project that we have the ability to offer all rights around to a third party, which is really distinct for us and something we are looking to continue to do in the future,” Weinstein says.

After holding senior VP positions in business development units at both New Line Cinema and MTV Networks, Weinstein is now based at Discovery’s global headquarters in Silver Spring for the initial portion of his tenure in order to work with the company’s U.S. development teams. In the fall, he will transition to London to work with third-party broadcasters and licensees as well as Discovery’s international development teams around the world. Having worked in both the international and U.S. markets, Weinstein says that he prefers to take on the challenges of the dealing with an evolving industry abroad. “Every year that you’re working in the international media landscape there’s a new issue in a new market to take on,” he explains. “You’re immersed in new market dynamics trying to apply a business model to varying market conditions, which is unmatched by a domestic experience. That constant change is what keeps me excited, inspired (and chugging through airports) every year.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski