Apple has long been rumored to be creating its own original TV content, and now it’s made its first plans official. Apple shared today that it will work with TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens, as well as rapper Will.i.am on its first TV project (via NY Times). Silverman is perhaps best known for his work on shows like The Biggest Loser, while Owens is one of the minds behind MasterChef Junior.
The series is said to be nonscripted and will focus on the “app economy.” What exactly that means remains to be seen, but Eddy Cue explained that the show will spotlight how the App Store allows people to take their great ideas and build things. “One of the things with the app store that was always great about it was the great ideas that people had to build things and create things,” Cue said.
There are still a lot of unknowns regarding this original series, such as financing, an official title, how people will watch it, and storyline details. It’s unclear if Will.i.am will be an actor on the show or if he will work behind-the-scenes.
Cue was quick to point, however, that this does not mean Apple is going to dive totally in to movie and TV production. “This doesn’t mean that we are going into a huge amount of movie production or TV production or anything like that,” the Apple executive said.
Eddy Cue worked with Ben Silverman when he was a top executive at NBC. Silverman worked with Cue to bring NBC’s show “The Office” to iTunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSiDIaab2nY
App-centric video from WWDC 2015
This show marks the first foray into non-music original content. Apple worked with Taylor Swift to produce an exclusive tour documentary, while the company also sponsored a live show for band The 1975 and conducts a variety of interviews on its Beats 1 streaming station.
There’s no timetable for Apple’s first original TV series, but at least now we know that the company is actually working on it. Apple is also rumored to be working with Dr. Dre on some exclusive video series as well. What do you think about an unscripted show based on the app economy? Tell us in the comments.
