Hollywood is racing to do business with Apple in hopes to help the iPhone-maker create its first breakout TV series and movies.
Apple’s LA-based TV execs, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, have been lining up meetings with some of the top names in town, according to a new report that sheds some light on the company’s TV strategy. Everyone from Jennifer Aniston to Steven Spielberg has pitched the duo. But in true Apple fashion, they’re being very picky about what they say yes to.
Amburg and Erlicht are honing in on the next great TV series. Industry executives that spoke to The Hollywood Reporter say they’re looking to make a splash with a big smart drama. Game of Thones and Breaking Bad are reportedly being used as models, which would be a big change from Planet of the Apps and CarPool Karaoke.
Hollywood pitches Apple
“Who wouldn’t want to be the Mad Men or House of Cards on Apple?” said one studio chief in the report, referring to AMC and Netflix’s first breakout hits. “There’s this sense of, ‘It’s the most innovative company in the world, of course, you want to have a show there,'” said UTA TV head Matt Rice.
Despite being buried in scripts for nearly every project in the works, Apple has passed on almost all of them. The company has only made bids on a couple of projects. Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories anthology was one of the few projects bid on, as well as a morning show drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
Along with considering active projects, Apple is also reportedly talking to creators to make something original. Breaking Bad‘s Vince Gillian and Bryan Cranston have taken meetings with the duo whom they had success with at Sony before coming to Apple. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler is also in the mix.
The biggest question, for now, is how Apple plans to distribute its big shows and movies once they finally get made. Apple Music has been the only platform you can watch Apple’s current TV shows on. If the company wants its content efforts to be a huge hit though, it will probably have to branch out and make them more accessible to the public, otherwise, it might be hard to attract top talent.
