Apple TV+ secures Oprah Winfrey film on music industry sexual misconduct

AppleInsider

Apple has secured another in-production documentary presented by Oprah Winfrey for Apple TV+, with the untitled film dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct in the music industry and expected to debut on the streaming service in 2020.

The documentary, which currently does not have a title, will follow a former music executive who was allegedly assaulted by a major figure in the industry. The Apple TV+ film will observe the executive as they come to terms with the prospect of going public with the story, and likely how it could impact both parties.

While presented by Winfrey, the documentary will be filmed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, documentarians who previously were nominated for an Oscar, as well as securing two news and documentary Emmy awards and a Peabody, for US military rape documentary "The Invisible War." The Hollywood Reporter advises the pair also received an Emmy nomination and a Producer's Guild Award for "The Hunting Ground," a 2015 film about sexual assault on college campuses.

The duo were also behind "The Bleeding Edge," a documentary about the $400 billion medical device industry and how the industry pushes implanted devices on the market while still dealing with the need for clinical trials. "The Bleeding Edge" was released in 2018 on Netflix.

Dick and Ziering's Jane Doe Films will be producing the new feature, with executive producers including Winfrey, Terry Wood, Dan Cogan, Regina K. Scully, Ian Darling, and Abigail Disney.

Winfrey's connection to the project is likely to be one of the reasons why it was picked up by Apple for Apple TV+. The former talk-show host and media mogul is working with Apple on a reincarnation of her famous book club, while at the same time helping to present other films and shows for Apple TV+ itself.

Two documentaries already linked to Oprah for Apple TV+ include "Toxic Labor," which will cover the subject of workplace harassment, while a second will be a mini-series covering mental health.

hodar

The documentary, which currently does not have a title, will follow a former music executive who was allegedly assaulted by a major figure in the industry. The Apple TV film will observe the executive as they come to terms with the prospect of going public with the story, and likely how it could impact both parties.

So if I understand correctly, someone without any evidence whatsoever, gets to publicly accuse another person of sexual abuse, play the "victim card" on national TV; and the accused must prove his/her innocence in the court of public opinion.  The accused may have their career/reputation/marriage destroyed either out of revenge, malice, or just to appease the ego of the accuser - without recourse, appeal or way to recover their reputation.

All in the name of "entertainment".

I am no fan of sexual abuse, in fact if it were up to me, it would be a capital offense - but we do have a legal system to handle this sort of thing, where the rights of the accuser and the accused are both respected, where evidence is required, and proof of guilt is required.  This is a mockery of justice, masquerading as a "Documentary".  If you want to do a real documentary on sexual abuse, there are countries that practice slavery, where children are sold as sex slaves - but that would be asking too much.

fastasleep

hodar said:

The documentary, which currently does not have a title, will follow a former music executive who was allegedly assaulted by a major figure in the industry. The Apple TV film will observe the executive as they come to terms with the prospect of going public with the story, and likely how it could impact both parties.

So if I understand correctly, someone without any evidence whatsoever, gets to publicly accuse another person of sexual abuse, play the "victim card" on national TV; and the accused must prove his/her innocence in the court of public opinion.  The accused may have their career/reputation/marriage destroyed either out of revenge, malice, or just to appease the ego of the accuser - without recourse, appeal or way to recover their reputation.

All in the name of "entertainment".

I am no fan of sexual abuse, in fact if it were up to me, it would be a capital offense - but we do have a legal system to handle this sort of thing, where the rights of the accuser and the accused are both respected, where evidence is required, and proof of guilt is required.  This is a mockery of justice, masquerading as a "Documentary".  If you want to do a real documentary on sexual abuse, there are countries that practice slavery, where children are sold as sex slaves - but that would be asking too much.

You’re sure making a lot of assumptions here, so I’m going to guess that no, you do not “understand correctly”. You have no idea what evidence they have or what’s been vetted by these award-winning documentarians, whom I would venture to guess take this project quite seriously. 

Appleish

Spend some money on this important political year, instead of on addressing sensationalism amongst your friends. Billionaires aren't worth a dime.

CheeseFreeze

Make Oprah even richer! 

entropys

Wouldn't it just be cheaper and easier to grab a random  swag of rap music videos and play them one after the other to document the same thing?

trashman69

This looks so entertaining😂😂😂.

entropys

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

kevin kee

entropys said:

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

I have it for free for a year, so do another 100 million people who purchased any new Apple hardware. This question will be interestingly more relevant after that 1 year pass.

entropys

kevin kee said:

entropys said:

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

I have it for free for a year, so do another 100 million people who purchased any new Apple hardware. This question will be interestingly more relevant after that 1 year pass.

Quite so.

randominternetperson

kevin kee said:

entropys said:

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

I have it for free for a year, so do another 100 million people who purchased any new Apple hardware. This question will be interestingly more relevant after that 1 year pass.

You and 100 million people aren't going to buy any Apple stuff in the next 12 months?  Personally, I have a ton of Apple gear that would qualify me for a free year, but I haven't purchased anything in the last few months.  So my "free year" will start when I get my next iPhone (or my wife does).  

apple ][

Sounds like a real snooze fest and not something that I'd ever spend time on watching, but I'm not really complaining, that's just my personal opinion, and there might be others who find such content to be watchable.

Would Apple like it if somebody made a documentary about alleged sexual predators involved in their productions?

The first season of Apple shows passed rather quickly. On friday the first season will already be over for a few of the shows, as they're on episode 7 right now.

StrangeDays

Sounds fine to me. But then, I don't have a fragile male ego to protect. 🤷‍♂️

robin huber

Morning Show already treating this subject fictionally. On the other hand, true crime dramas do well. So far, I have been very pleased with all Apple TV+ offerings. If they could score Aaron Sorkin I would be even more pleased. 

hmurchison

More Tim Cook trash. 

Yeah because people want to pay five bucks a month to see a mockumentary about sexual abuse.   Better yet why doesn’t 
Oprah just do a film on Weinstein since she has so many smiling pictures with him. 

Tim you’re trash because you don’t have a backbone to stand up to China 

Oprah you’re trash because you know the predators in Hollywood which is why you’re crapping on the music industry when you’re 
industry  is the pinnacle of pedofilia 

trashman69

hmurchison said:

More Tim Cook trash. 

Yeah because people want to pay five bucks a month to see a mockumentary about sexual abuse.   Better yet why doesn’t 
Oprah just do a film on Weinstein since she has so many smiling pictures with him. 

Tim you’re trash because you don’t have a backbone to stand up to China 

Oprah you’re trash because you know the predators in Hollywood which is why you’re crapping on the music industry when you’re 
industry  is the pinnacle of pedofilia 

Finally someone with massive balls on the forum,  (apart from the point on China.  “Standing up” to China would devastate the stock)

anantksundaram

Yawn. 

disneylandman

fastasleep said:

hodar said:

The documentary, which currently does not have a title, will follow a former music executive who was allegedly assaulted by a major figure in the industry. The Apple TV film will observe the executive as they come to terms with the prospect of going public with the story, and likely how it could impact both parties.

So if I understand correctly, someone without any evidence whatsoever, gets to publicly accuse another person of sexual abuse, play the "victim card" on national TV; and the accused must prove his/her innocence in the court of public opinion.  The accused may have their career/reputation/marriage destroyed either out of revenge, malice, or just to appease the ego of the accuser - without recourse, appeal or way to recover their reputation.

All in the name of "entertainment".

I am no fan of sexual abuse, in fact if it were up to me, it would be a capital offense - but we do have a legal system to handle this sort of thing, where the rights of the accuser and the accused are both respected, where evidence is required, and proof of guilt is required.  This is a mockery of justice, masquerading as a "Documentary".  If you want to do a real documentary on sexual abuse, there are countries that practice slavery, where children are sold as sex slaves - but that would be asking too much.

You’re sure making a lot of assumptions here, so I’m going to guess that no, you do not “understand correctly”. You have no idea what evidence they have or what’s been vetted by these award-winning documentarians, whom I would venture to guess take this project quite seriously. 

Apparently you don't get it.  The former music exec was ALLEGEDLY assaulted and NOW wants to go public via Oprah Winfrey, instead of through the legal system.

disneylandman

kevin kee said:

entropys said:

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

I have it for free for a year, so do another 100 million people who purchased any new Apple hardware. This question will be interestingly more relevant after that 1 year pass.

That does not mean any of those people are actually watching any of it.  Has Apple sold 100M products since November when the service went live?  Nope.  If I was in the market for a new Apple device, I still would not sign up for it because none of the shows have any interesting qualities worth watching.

entropys

randominternetperson said:

kevin kee said:

entropys said:

I think stuff like this is designed to make it more likely professional TV critics start to give ATV+ a good rap.
 I doubt it will attract audiences or more importantly, very many people prepared to pay $4.99 a month for it.

I have it for free for a year, so do another 100 million people who purchased any new Apple hardware. This question will be interestingly more relevant after that 1 year pass.

You and 100 million people aren't going to buy any Apple stuff in the next 12 months?  Personally, I have a ton of Apple gear that would qualify me for a free year, but I haven't purchased anything in the last few months.  So my "free year" will start when I get my next iPhone (or my wife does).  

I haven’t seen any evidence that the current deal is any more than a one time only deal. After 12 months you pay. I won’t be paying if this kind of “look over there” stuff is going on.

callmeacabernet

I'm afraid Apple TV+ is going to devolve into a haven for all things Woke. Which means no ratings. And no shareholder value.