Following in the footsteps of Netflix and Hulu, Apple is creating its own content for users to enjoy. The first show the company is developing is called Planet of the Apps, which is a series that follows app creation and the developers that build those apps.
Details about the new show are still a little vague, but it seems like it will bear similarities to Shark Tank, with developers pitching their apps to investors in order to receive featured placement on the App Store when the show finishes. A report from MacRumors sheds a little light on the show and how it will work.
According to a MacRumors’ anonymous source, the show’s application process includes four rounds. Developers submit their applications on the Planet of the Apps website, after which some will get a call from a casting director in Los Angeles notifying them that they have made it to the next round. In the second round, the developer is told to create a 5 to 10 minute unedited video about the app that is then edited by the show’s staff and shown to the producers directly. In the video, the developer is told to talk about how the app would make money, how it works, and what makes it unique.
In the third round, the developer is given a week to sign a contract covering the legalities behind the show. Forms include a medical release, an app idea information form, and so on. The developer is also asked to tell the casting coordinators about the team’s availability over the next few months, during which time they would be flown to L.A. on three occasions for a total of nine days of filming. In the fourth and final round, the developer is subjected to a background check and told that even in the fourth stage, some developers would be selected on a standby basis, and that not all developers would appear on the show.
Filming of the show will reportedly take place until early 2017, and early episodes may air at some point in March or April.