Warner Bros. Discovery UK

The UK arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, running Leavesden Studios, TV channels, TNT Sports and production companies across the UK.

About Warner Bros. Discovery UK

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has a very large UK business. In written evidence to Parliament it said Warner Bros. has operated in the UK for more than 90 years and that the UK is its largest territory outside the US, with over 4,000 permanent staff. It runs studios, TV channels and production companies.

We did not find a company-wide mission statement on the pages we read. The Parliament evidence stresses training and inclusion, including CrewHQ, an on-site training facility at Leavesden, a WBD Access programme, partnerships with NFTS, BAFTA and the BFI, and a programme called Black Britain Unspoken, launched in 2022 to support Black British creatives. The evidence says the Bristol, Brighton, Glasgow and Manchester production companies employed about 2,500 people in 2022, and that the Leavesden expansion is expected to create 4,000 new UK jobs.

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Hertfordshire has hosted productions such as Fantastic Beasts, The Batman, Aquaman, House of the Dragon, Barbie and Wonka, and also houses the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, The Making of Harry Potter. WBD said it plans to add 11 sound stages there. In London, it lists Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, CNN's largest studio outside the US and De Lane Lea, a post-production facility in Soho. Production companies in Bristol, Brighton, Glasgow and Manchester, including Ricochet, Wall to Wall and Twenty Twenty, make content for the BBC and Channel 4.

WBD describes itself as the fifth-largest commercial broadcaster in the UK, with 22 linear channels. Its sports joint venture with BT, TNT Sports, together with Eurosport, brings live sport to UK viewers. It has also distributed UK and Irish films such as One Life and Operation Mincemeat. The Parliament evidence is the company's own account of its UK role, so it is useful but written to make the case for its value.

With so many parts, WBD employs people in studio operations, construction and crafts, production, broadcast engineering, sport and news programming, marketing, finance, legal and technology. A tour attraction like Harry Potter at Leavesden also needs guides, retail and visitor teams. If you want to work in film but not on camera, studios and post-production are good areas to explore.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden hosts major films and series.', 'title': 'Studios'}
• {'desc': '22 UK channels and TNT Sports with BT.', 'title': 'TV channels and sport'}
• {'desc': 'UK labels including Wall to Wall, Ricochet and Twenty Twenty.', 'title': 'Production companies'}

Key facts

• Warner Bros. in the UK for 90+ years (Parliament evidence)
• Over 4,000 permanent UK staff (own claim)
• Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire; plans for 11 more stages
• Operates 22 UK linear channels (own claim)

Website: www.wbd.com