Apple Hires New Head of Documentaries for Apple TV+

[MacRumors]

Apple has hired Molly Thompson, founder of A&E Indie Films, as its new head of documentaries, reports Variety. A&E Indie Films is the film production unit of A+E networks, where she also served as head of documentary films.

She has produced recent documentaries that include "The Clinton Affair," "Studio 54," and "City of Ghosts," as well as well-known documentaries like "Life, Animated," "Murderball," and "Jesus Camp."

Apple has an extensive video content team working out of Culver City, Los Angeles. Apple has thus far secured the rights to dozens of TV shows and a handful of documentary films, and Apple is clearly aiming to beef up its documentary content offerings with the hiring of Thompson.

Apple's current documentaries include two projects with Oprah focusing on mental health and sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as "The Elephant Queen," a feature-length documentary about an elephant matriarch who leads her herd to find a new watering hole.

A list of all of Apple's TV projects can be found in our guide, and all of Apple's TV and film content will be coming to Apple TV+, Apple's new streaming service set to debut this fall.

Article Link: Apple Hires New Head of Documentaries for Apple TV+

 

[macduke]

Anyone else feel like Apple TV+ is going to be a big flop? I was kinda on the fence but now I think Disney+ is going to clean their clock. I think to find any sort of measurable success they're going to have to bundle it with Apple Music or something.

 

[Unity451]

I really wish Apple would care more about Hardware/Software than they do about content.

 

[SBlue1]

Stopped watching most TV a few years ago, YouTube, Amazon Prime and NFL Network is what I stream on my Apple TV. So I am fine with what I got. But documentaries is the first thing that may make me take a look at Apple TV+.

 

[Sethal]

now I think Disney+ is going to clean their clock.

At $6.99, they’re going kill a lot of competition, and having access to Hulu helps.

I don’t have Hulu, I have Netflix, DirecTV Now, and Amazon Prime (mainly for the shipping.). If Disney+ launches and ends priced even better with Hulu Live bundled then DirecTV and Netflix are going bye bye at my household. Apple+ isn’t even in the running for me. Their content is targeted at someone else than me and it all sounds blah. Not worth a dime.

 

[BWhaler]

Looks like a great hire. I bet Apple will make some great documentaries, unlike their laptops. :/

 

[macduke]

Looks like a great hire. I bet Apple will make some great documentaries, unlike their laptops. :/

For some reason your comment made me think of them diverting funds from the team fixing the damn keyboard on the MBP to a team making a documentary on the design of the new Apple Card and I died a little bit on the inside.
[doublepost=1555357314][/doublepost]

At $6.99, they’re going kill a lot of competition, and having access to Hulu helps.

I don’t have Hulu, I have Netflix, DirecTV Now, and Amazon Prime (mainly for the shipping.). If Disney+ launches and ends priced even better with Hulu Live bundled then DirecTV and Netflix are going bye bye at my household. Apple+ isn’t even in the running for me. Their content is targeted at someone else than me and it all sounds blah. Not worth a dime.

Yeah I just have Netflix, AT&T WatchTV (formerly had DirecTV Now but the price keeps going up and I don't watch much sports), and Amazon Prime (mainly for the shipping). I find myself barely having enough time for Netflix. I honestly watch a lot of content for free on YouTube as there is some real quality content to be found on some channels nowadays that feel almost like Netflix quality productions. Disney+ is definitely going to be something I buy for the entire household as it has something for everyone and yeah, I might also cancel Netflix since the price for that has also been going up. I might just turn it on for like a month per year in the winter when I have more time to binge a few of my favorite shows. But honestly a lot of the Netflix content my family watches is Disney already and that will be going away.

 

[Exponent]

Gads, that picture of Molly Thompson just screams "smug and arrogant media controller ready to stick it to you".

 

[JetTester]

Does Apple announce every new employee? Meet Fred, the new director of janitorial services. He comes from Google, where he changed light bulbs for 3 years after moving from Amazon where he swept the warehouse floor before Jeff Bezos got his own office.

 

[Macaholic868]

Anyone else feel like Apple TV+ is going to be a big flop? I was kinda on the fence but now I think Disney+ is going to clean their clock. I think to find any sort of measurable success they're going to have to bundle it with Apple Music or something.

Disney+ is not only going to clean Apple’s clock but it’s going to clean Netflix’s clock as well. I keep Netflix around for two reasons. Disney content (Star Wars and Marvel) and Stranger Things. When Disney’s service starts at $6.99 a month I’m done with Netflix. I’ll sign up once a year to binge Stranger Things and that’ll be it. As for Apple’s original content. I haven’t seen a thing yet worth paying m anything for.

 

[ipedro]

I really wish Apple would care more about Hardware/Software than they do about content.

Content is today’s software. Apple’s advantage has always been in it producing an end to end experience from hardware to software.

Back in the early 2000’s, Apple fans would be at the edge of our seats for the announcement of a new iLife suite. The internet was still young and we primarily used our computers for creating. Apple helped us create beautiful text documents, assemble spreadsheets easily, build Steve Jobs worthy presentations.

Today, with a mature internet, a large part of the time, we use our products for consumption of streaming content. Apple producing and curating content is an extension of that end to end experience.

 

[C DM]

Gads, that picture of Molly Thompson just screams "smug and arrogant media controller ready to stick it to you".

Yup, books with red covers just scream that they are about a hot topic.

 

[CarpalMac]

At $6.99, they’re going kill a lot of competition, and having access to Hulu helps.

~snip~

After which, it'll be coming in at closer to $36.99.

 

[macduke]

Disney+ is not only going to clean Apple’s clock but it’s going to clean Netflix’s clock as well. I keep Netflix around for two reasons. Disney content (Star Wars and Marvel) and Stranger Things. When Disney’s service starts at $6.99 a month I’m done with Netflix. I’ll sign up once a year to binge Stranger Things and that’ll be it. As for Apple’s original content. I haven’t seen a thing yet worth paying m anything for.

Pretty much exactly the same here. Love watching Stranger things as well but they can't even update that annually. The big reason to keep it is the kid's content, usually when my kids are sick which seems to be every few weeks this year. But Disney+ should have that covered as well. The only thing I'm not sure about is that it's so cheap that a lot of people will keep Netflix and add that. Some people, like myself, have had Netflix streaming since it first launched so it's a difficult thing to shake. Doubt many people will add Apple TV+, especially if it costs $10/mo.

 

[Unity451]

Content is today’s software.

Nope. Software is today's software.

Apple helped us create beautiful text documents, assemble spreadsheets easily, build Steve Jobs worthy presentations.

In this context, consuming is not the same thing as creating.

Today, with a mature internet, a large part of the time, we use our products for consumption of streaming content. Apple producing and curating content is an extension of that end to end experience.

Do you know who else is producing content? Everybody else! I think the argument for apple improving the "curating" content experience is more compelling than the "producing" one. Apple producing content doesn't create a user experience, it creates a consumer experience.

Also... Oprah.