Apple And Hollywood At Odds Over Execs Meddling With Streaming Content Creators
It's no secret at this point that Apple is working on a new streaming service that is meant to rival Netflix and Amazon. Whether or not it will be a true competitor to either established streaming service remains to be seen as Apple has very different plans than either of the other major players in the industry. Apple specifically wants the content on its streaming service to be family friendly; that means no sex or violence on the network, and no shows in the realm of Netflix's canceled Marvel series "The Punisher" or Amazon's show "Man in the High Castle." Apple is off to a rough start and is at odds with the content creators in Hollywood that it has hired to make shows for its streaming service according to reports.
The problem that the content makers are having with Apple is that executives from the tech company, including CEO Tim Cook, are meddling with the content making process. Reports indicate that agents and producers in Hollywood are talking about how difficult Apple has been to work with, specifically complaining of a "lack of transparency" and a "lack of clarity." The agents and producers are also listing "intrusive" Apple executives among their complaints calling out the many "notes" they are receiving from those executives pushing for family-friendly shows.
One unnamed source talked specifically about Tim Cook; the producer says, "Tim Cook is giving notes and getting involved" stating that Cook's most repeated note is "don't be so mean!" Cook has been seen on the set of Apple's futuristic show called "See," which is a drama about a future Earth where humans have no sight. He has been seen on set for a drama filming in LA starring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston. Hollywood prefers to work without the intrusion of corporations, and those intrusions and the nitpicking of Apple executives have led to delays in production of its shows.
The streaming service has been tipped to launch in April, but sources are saying the final version of the streaming service won't be ready until the end of the year. The sources also claim that only a handful of the several dozen shows that are in the works will be available when the service lands. The streaming service will reportedly offer some shows for free for Apple device owners.
