Apple auditions for Hollywood: the making of a streaming service

Late last year Howard Gordon, showrunner for the hit TV show 24 and co-creator of Homeland, was in the middle of negotiating a deal with a newcomer to Hollywood: Apple. In a meeting with film executives from the iPhone maker, which had set aside an enormous budget to develop TV shows and movies, Gordon brought up rumours that Apple wanted sanitised projects; a potential problem for his show about a pair of disillusioned military veterans who go on a killing spree.

Would Apple buy the project — an adaptation of an Israeli show called Nevelot, which translates directly to "Bastards" — only to strip it of any violence and adult themes? "They were fairly adamant that it would not be a problem," Gordon said in an interview. "I said, 'Can you say that again into the microphone?'" He sold the show, which stars Richard Gere, to Apple last year and it is in early development.

Apple has hired a team of Hollywood insiders to guide its original programming.

After initially faltering, Apple plans to launch its much-anticipated streaming service — which includes big-name actors such as Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon — in the early hours of Tuesday morning AEDT. It represents a tectonic shift in Apple's business model: diversifying from hardware such as iPhones and MacBooks and diving headfirst into subscription businesses like cloud storage, music, movies and television. It is also expected to launch subscriptions services for news and video games.

But in Hollywood, Apple must hone its identity and reputation in an entertainment market crowded with competitors, from Netflix to Disney, and it's using its deep pockets to buy itself a name. Apple is paying Witherspoon and Aniston about $US1.1 million ($1.55 million) an episode each, according to a Hollywood executive with knowledge of Apple's plans. Apple has nabbed other high-priced stars, such as Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, who will headline a new Apple show about video game developers.

Apple has been trying to shed the notion that it is different because it hails from Silicon Valley. Hollywood is programmed to be skeptical of outsiders who don't understand the intricacies of filmmaking. Following some criticism for early original programming shown on its Apple Music app, Apple hired a team of Hollywood insiders known for popular and critically acclaimed shows and movies, which helped bolster its credibility.

But in many ways, Apple's road to success has been smoothed significantly by companies like Amazon and Netflix, which have made online streaming services a perfectly acceptable form of distribution, even for Hollywood's most high-minded artists.

Still, Apple has no Hollywood track record, and people who have inked deals with the company described the decision as a leap of faith in Apple's ability to execute on its plans and deliver big audiences. Film and television creators say even they don't know whether Apple's streaming service will be available to everyone or just those who own Apple products.

"Apple is the only company in the world that can drop a couple million dollars in entertainment and get Reese Witherspoon and M. Night Shyamalan on board without any articulation of a plan in terms of marketing or distribution," said one well-connected Hollywood executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to upset Apple.

"Whatever it's going to be, it's going to be interesting and I guess it was worth the uncertainty," said Gordon. "They're taking a leap of faith, too. They made a strong offer without a script. There's a certain amount of good faith or breath-holding that both of us are doing."

One key decision Apple must make is whether to make its content available only on its own devices — an incentive to remain in the Apple ecosystem if the content is compelling enough — or license its programming outside of its own streaming service to attract a wider audience. Apple has made its Apple Music service available on Amazon Echo devices and plans to make iTunes content available on televisions made by Samsung and others.

Where Apple's new shows will and won't appear is one question show creators said they asked Apple during discussions. They said they were met with obfuscation and ambiguous responses, in part because Apple itself may not have made up its mind yet about exactly what its streaming service will look like. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on Apple's plans.

One streaming executive cautioned that Apple would be wise to launch the service not only on its own devices. That's in part because Apple TV devices represent only a small fraction of streaming devices connected to televisions. In fact, services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video are available directly through smart TVs without streaming devices made by companies like Roku and Chromecast.

According to one person briefed on the matter, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, Apple has even considered distributing its original content outside of its own platform, a sign that the hardware maker is considering a plethora of options as it grows into new businesses.

All this has led to some uncertainty among people creating shows for Apple, who said they'd be watching the event with interest to find out more details about how their productions would reach audiences. "We don't know what they are going to do, but they are paying a ton of money," said the Hollywood executive knowledgeable of Apple's plans. And while most people in Hollywood are hopeful apple will come up with a strategy that works, there is some resignation to the idea that Apple will have a steep learning curve when it comes to creating compelling content. And maybe that's ok. "As long as they are paying us, we will take their money," the executive said.

Washington Post

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