A former Apple executive who left to join Netflix has launched a new startup, aimed at producing a searchable library of content which can be adapted for movies or TV.
George Berry worked at Apple for almost six years, first as its Senior Manager of Video Operations and then of Global Media Services. He then jumped ship to Netflix, before teaming up with producer Uri Singer to launch TaleFlick as its COO.
The idea of TaleFlick is to use an Apple-style mix of machine learning and human curation to match both fiction and non-fiction book authors up to studios on the search for content. In doing so, it helps both parties by helping with discoverability. Authors pay a one-off $88 fee to cover the costs of curation.
“There are a lot of authors and a lot of stories that do not get a chance to be made because the top 200 books, the publishers give them directly to the studios,” Uri Singer told Deadline.”By applying the right balance of technology and human experience, TaleFlick can find those stories that are the ‘needles in the haystack, both efficiently and at scale.”
So far, the service is hooked up with the production company Passage Pictures, which gets first dibs at optioning projects. Eventually, the plan is to turn it into a marketplace linking authors with screenwriters.
Apple’s original video content
A former Apple employee going on to help start a new business is nothing new. In this case, however, it’s interesting because it once again underlines the growing links between the tech and entertainment industries.
Apple is currently readying its own slate of original TV shows, many of which have involved acquiring the rights to popular novels to adapt. Interestingly, some rumors suggest that Apple could even launch its own Netflix-style streaming video service with its own shows.
