Apple building team to put movies & shows in front of Oscar & Emmy voters

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Despite having yet to air anything qualifying, Apple is reportedly recruiting strategists to get its movies and TV shows in front of awards voters, such as those for the Emmys and Oscars.

2019 Oscars


The company is currently forming a team, and has already hired one strategist away from Disney's TV group, Bloomberg said on Friday. One source indicated that Apple is searching for a "high-level" person to oversee the team, even though it won't be eligible for the Emmys until 2020.

While their legitimacy is sometimes debated by fans and critics, the Oscars and Emmys are still sought after by studios as a mark of prestige. That's been particularly true for streaming video companies like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon's Prime Video, which only have a few years of original content rather than decades.

If they feel they have a realistic chance of winning, studios will run extensive campaigns to get titles nominated or victorious, for instance taking out ads in trade publications like Variety and mainstream papers like the New York Times. It can also be critical to send out "screener" discs and downloads to voters, even if that risks leaking content to pirates.

Apple is working on its first slate of high-budget shows and movies, some of which should appear at a March 25 press event where its streaming platform will be unveiled. The service itself may only launch later this year, possibly as late as the fall.

Whether or not Apple will have any awards-worthy material is another matter. The company is recruiting high-profile talent such as director/producer J.J. Abrams, but executives such as CEO Tim Cook are reportedly wielding a heavy hand in content, demanding family-friendly material and opposing any anti-technology storylines.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    Oh boy I thought this was only profit driven now it's big tech ego too!
  • Reply 2 of 10
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    More power to you Apple in a world where profit wins over morality.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    iOS_Guy80iOS_Guy80 Posts: 810member
    Adds a new meaning to iMovie?
  • Reply 4 of 10
    It's kind of amusing to me, in a macabre sort of way, that it's necessary to hire a strategist in an attempt to garner awards rather than depending on producing award worthy content.  That alone says a lot about such awards to me, and what it says ain't particularly good.
    mobirdquinney
  • Reply 5 of 10
    mobirdmobird Posts: 752member
    It's kind of amusing to me, in a macabre sort of way, that it's necessary to hire a strategist in an attempt to garner awards rather than depending on producing award worthy content.  That alone says a lot about such awards to me, and what it says ain't particularly good.
    I agree. What a shallow way to approach content. But you know, Apple wants to be a "content provider"...
  • Reply 6 of 10
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,120member
    Whether or not Apple will have any awards-worthy material is another matter. The company is recruiting high-profile talent such as director/producer J.J. Abrams, but executives such as CEO Tim Cook are reportedly wielding a heavy hand in content, demanding family-friendly material and opposing any anti-technology storylines.
    That doesn't preclude award-worthiness, but the interference could make it more difficult.

    Family Friendly isn't really a problem - Disney, Pixar, etc. have a lot of awards!

    The rest is the typical marketing that has been a part of most Cinematic awards since day 1.
    minicoffee
  • Reply 7 of 10
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    Does anyone even pay attention to any of these 'award' shows any longer?
    I guess there's still something worthwhile in advertising to add the words 'award winning' even it is meaningless.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    Why are people bashing Apple when the entire industry does this?

    It's kind of amusing to me, in a macabre sort of way, that it's necessary to hire a strategist in an attempt to garner awards rather than depending on producing award worthy content.  That alone says a lot about such awards to me, and what it says ain't particularly good.

    True, But if Apple produces award winning content, they may never get an award. Unless the voters see their content.
    minicoffeeradarthekat
  • Reply 9 of 10
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    It should be abundantly clear to people that the Academy Awards are simply an industry awards show that is judged by the people in the movie business (Steven Spielberg is even attempting to exclude companies like Netflix from consideration for the Academy Awards simply because they compete against studios and theater chains) and that it’s really NOT an indicator of quality or of a movie being “the best” since most movies are never seen or judged. Apple is just playing in the same arena, but it’s a dumb game. The work should speak for itself.
    cgWerksbeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Why are people bashing Apple when the entire industry does this?

    It's kind of amusing to me, in a macabre sort of way, that it's necessary to hire a strategist in an attempt to garner awards rather than depending on producing award worthy content.  That alone says a lot about such awards to me, and what it says ain't particularly good.

    True, But if Apple produces award winning content, they may never get an award. Unless the voters see their content.
    I was not bashing Apple.  See the emphasized text.  I was bashing the awards.
    cgWerks
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