Apple's 'Planet of the Apps' series principal filming concludes — report

An anonymous source familiar with the matter claiming to be involved in production of the series reports that Apple has wrapped up documentary series "Planet of the Apps" on an Apple-constructed set near Hollywood.

"Apple built the set and tore it down at the conclusion of filming. The set was absolutely beautiful and set up in a way like no other competition show I've seen before," the source reported to MacRumors on Saturday. "It's very tech chic, with beautiful decor and decorations. Only Apple could do it this way. It's very, very well done. Steve Jobs would have been proud of the set."

AppleInsider was not immediately able to confirm the details from the tipster. However, the timetable matches previous reports, with filming said to wrap up in early 2017.

Apple has three projects underway for unique, if not necessarily scripted, video content.

The "Planet of the Apps" reality show was scheduled to start filming in Los Angeles in late 2016, and continue through early 2017. The show features developers cranking out apps for the program, and highlight not only the development process but also any deal-making that goes on between the coders and producers Gwyneth Paltrow, will.i.am, and Jessica Alba, amongst others.

Also in production, Apple Music's "Carpool Karaoke" will have a first batch of 16 episodes, featuring Metallica, John Legend, Alicia Keys, and Ariana Grande in four episodes, with more announcements yet to come.

Few details are known about semi-biographical "Vital Signs," which has been in production for some time. The series is said to be six episodes long, each running for 30 minutes, chronicling Dr. Dre's rise through fictional vignettes.

It is unknown when any of Apple's works in progress will debut.

6 Comments

ireland 17435 comments · 18 Years

About 7 years ago

While Tim is busy putting toes in water Neflix is taking over the world.

StrangeDays 12959 comments · 8 Years

ireland said:

While Tim is busy putting toes in water Neflix is taking over the world.

Meanwhile, Apple is busy being the largest and most profitable company in the history of our planet. Oops.

IMO Netflix is only an asset to Apple if it sells more devices. There doesn't seem to be a problem selling devices with the record mac and iphone sales last quarter. So I don't really see why Apple needs to beat Netflix at anything.

StrangeDays said:

ireland said:

While Tim is busy putting toes in water Neflix is taking over the world.

Meanwhile, Apple is busy being the largest and most profitable company in the history of our planet. Oops.

IMO Netflix is only an asset to Apple if it sells more devices. There doesn't seem to be a problem selling devices with the record mac and iphone sales last quarter. So I don't really see why Apple needs to beat Netflix at anything.

StrangeDays said:

ireland said:

While Tim is busy putting toes in water Neflix is taking over the world.

Meanwhile, Apple is busy being the largest and most profitable company in the history of our planet. Oops.

Incorrect. But I get your vacuous point. My point is regarding Apple getting in the content game I wish they'd just get on with it and some of that "all the money in the world" they have to give Apple TV what it's missing—a golden chest of content that makes the box more desirable than other boxes.

huckdaisy1 64 comments · 8 Years

Apple like high margin businesses. Netflix margins are 2%.

Notsofast 450 comments · 8 Years

ireland said:

While Tim is busy putting toes in water Neflix is taking over the world.

Netflix is a well run company. They had the vision to transition away from their core business of DVD's to streaming when DVD's still reigned supreme. They were then precariously perched as they were completely dependent on licensing others' content. Wisely, they have been building up their own content, e.g., will spend $6 billion dollars this year on it, so they are at the point where people like me watch Netflix for their originals as much as anything else. Amazon has jumped on this bandwagon big time as well.

The point to keep in mind, however, is that there is no secret sauce here. Netflix and Amazon don't have their own studios and locked in talent like the hollywood studios of old. They are primarily just bidding for talent, and there is a serious question as to whether Netflix's business model will allow them to raise prices enough to keep up with the rising costs. (ESPN is experiencing the same problem of having to pay huge amounts for sports rights, but facing difficultly with having revenue keep up with those costs). If Apple jumps into the game as another bidder, Netflix is in serious trouble because while Amazon can, and Apple could, afford to use tv and movie exlcusives as a "loss leader" to incentivize people to sign up for other services, Netflix only has the one revenue model.

Amazon is all in and willing to lose lots of money (e.g., the losses on the Echo have been over a billion dollars) as it has been its entire history as it has focused on stock prices, unlike Apple who has been focused more on products and profits since the early days of Jobs. Therefore, it's entirely consistent for Apple to experiment with some original content to see how it might incentivize folks to sign up for a larger service. They are also undoubtedly hugely concerned that if they are seen as a big content producer, that other content producers will be even more reluctant to license them content or not support ATV, e.g., would Netflix boycott ATV as Amazon has?