Variety hires last LA Times Europe correspondent

Well this is the path less traveled. Henry Chu, until late last year the London bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, has joined Variety as the trade's European Bureau Chief. He will remain in London and "serve as Variety’s brand ambassador and oversee the news organization’s team of international correspondents," Variety says. Chu took the buyout in November after 25 years at the LA Times. He was the first LAT on the scene of last year's Paris terrorist bombings, but when he left the staff he was the last Los Angeles Times correspondent to be based in Europe. The staff directory shows no one yet assigned to the region. Chu had worked for the Times in China, Brazil and India as well as Europe and last year completed a Nieman fellowship at Harvard. He is an alumnus of the LAT's Metpro intern program for minority journalists and started as a reporter in the Valley.

Word is that Chu was brought in to Variety by co-editor-in-chief Claudia Eller, the former LAT entertainment reporter. Here's a snippet from Variety's announcement:

Acting as player-coach, Chu will edit and write major features with global impact that span the entertainment and media sectors for the weekly magazine as well as direct the daily news coverage across Europe for Variety.com.

“Henry Chu is a brilliant journalist and consummate pro with a world view,” said Variety Co-Editor-In-Chief Claudia Eller, who was a colleague of Chu’s for two decades at the Times, while he was on the paper’s foreign staff, most recently as its London bureau chief.

“Henry led the charge on many significant news stories overseas, and did it with such amazing skill, exuberance and grace,” said Eller, to whom Chu will report. “I am ecstatic that he will now be part of our Variety team as we continue to expand our global footprint and grow our editorial coverage and business endeavors.”

He sounds jazzed on Twitter. Maybe this is part of why: Chu will be part of the Variety team attending this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Excited to be joining @Variety! https://t.co/2qCeK1aNXw

— Henry Chu (@HenryHChu) April 28, 2016