HBO boss says "money is obviously very nice, but it doesn’t automatically mean quality" when asked about Amazon's Lord of the Rings prequel

The Hollywood Reporter

Asked about reports that Amazon is spending $1 billion on its Lord of the Rings series, HBO programming boss Casey Bloys says it's imperative not to focus on money. "We’ve got to stay focused on our goal, which is curating excellent content — not ignoring the outside world because you can’t but also trying not to get too distracted by Amazon has this money or Apple has that money. Money is obviously very nice but it doesn't automatically mean quality. It's very hard to curate content, and it matters how you engage with talent and how you treat them. And it's the game we've been playing for a long time."