Forner HBO chief executive Richard Plepler has signed a five-year deal with Apple to make original feature films, documentaries and television series for Apple TV Plus.
Plepler was at HBO for 27 years and played important roles in the rise of original programming at the network.
HBO won more than 160 Emmy’s during Plepler’s tenure. Some of the shows include Game of Thrones, Veep and Big Little Lies.. Rumors of Pleper working with Apple were first reported in November.
“It was instantaneously clear to me that I had a wonderful and very privileged run at HBO and I wasn’t going to be able to duplicate that against,” Plepler told <em>The New York Times, his first interview since leaving HBO eight months ago. “And I didn’t want to try to duplicate that again. It felt very clear to me that I just wanted to do my own thing.”
Plepler, 61, will do so with his new company, Eden Productions, the report said.
Plepler worked with Apple’s Eddy Cue when Apple and HBO collaborated on streaming in 2015. Plepler told The Times he and Cue began discussing ideas in July for a role with Apple.
Source: The New York Times