Former HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo has joined Entertainment One, Variety has learned exclusively. While he is currently working with the company as a consultant, Lombardo is expected to officially board the company in the near future to lead all of television.
At eOne, the television veteran is consulting on ongoing and new project development across all areas of scripted and unscripted television internationally. Following Hasbro’s $3.8 billion all-cash acquisition of eOne at the end of 2019, eOne is now responsible for the toymaker’s entertainment slate; the deal brought eOne’s “Peppa Pig,” “PJ Masks” and “Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom” under the same roof as Hasbro’s “Transformers,” “G.I. Joe,” “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Magic: The Gathering.”
Entertainment One declined to confirm or comment on the appointment on Lombardo.
Until his exit in 2016, Lombardo spent 33 years at HBO, leading the team responsible for major series including “Game of Thrones,” “Veep,” “Silicon Valley,” “Girls,” “True Detective,” “True Blood,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” At the premium cabler, Lombardo also served as executive vice president of business affairs, production and programming operations prior to becoming president of programming at HBO in 2007.
EOne has been without a head of TV since Mark Gordon moved on from his role as eOne’s president and chief content officer of film and TV last July, amid managerial differences between the executive and company. He has since shifted back to developing and producing content for eOne.
Separately, eOne signed a first-look deal with producer and former Marvel Studios executive Jeremy Latcham, with “Dungeons & Dragons” as the first film project under the terms of the agreement.