Sony Pictures Television Co-Presidents Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht will oversee content development and production for Apple, the company said Friday. That the pair was departing SPT after 12 years on the job together was reported Thursday. They will report to Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software and services for Apple.
“Jamie and Zack are two of the most talented TV executives in the world and have been instrumental in making this the golden age of television,” Cue said in a statement. “We have exciting plans in store for customers and can’t wait for them to bring their expertise to Apple — there is much more to come.”
Van Amburg and Erlicht are credited with developing and producing such TV series as NBC’s The Blacklist, ABC’s The Goldbergs, AMC’s Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and Netflix’s The Crown, among many other programs. Van Amburg joined the studio in 1997, while Erlicht came on board in 2002.
It has long been reported that Apple was amping up its efforts around original content with services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu coming on strong with both original TV and film efforts. For its part, Apple’s unscripted Planet of the Apps premiered earlier this month and it has Carpool Karaoke, spun off from James Corden’s Late Late Show, coming in August.
Change has been afoot at Sony, which has seen leadership changes after the company was the victim of a huge hack at the end of 2014. Sony CEO Michael Lynton left the company earlier this year to become chairman of Snap Inc., in which he was an early investor. Sony Pictures Television Chairman Steve Mosko exited the company one year ago — with Van Amburg and Erlicht splitting his responsibilities between them— and now is reportedly in talks to take a leadership position at Sinclair Broadcast Group. And movie studio head Amy Pascal departed in early 2015 to be replaced by Tom Rothman.
RELATED: Former SPT Chief Steve Mosko in Talks with Sinclair
Former Fox Networks Group Chairman Tony Vinciquerra was named Sony Pictures Entertainment’s new chairman and CEO in May.
READ MORE: Variety
[Image courtesy of Variety]
Tags: