The pun is terrible, but Apple has officially revealed its first reality TV show Planet of the Apps. The show was first mentioned back in March but Apple didn’t delve into much detail on how or what to expect from the show. Fast forward four months and the company is finally opening up.
Applying gives developers the chance to compete for the attention of venture capitalists who are looking for the next big thing. Executive producers include artist and entrepreneur will.i.am, as well as Ben Silverman and Howard Owens, who both are known for working as co-executive producers on The Biggest Loser.
Driving the show is the idea that the app developers should have a vision “to shape the future, solve real problems, and inspire change within our daily lives.” While that may be vague, it’s also broad enough to encompass the show’s hosting of 100 developers, each with their own take on the concept. “We can really tell their stories as we explore how apps are developed and created and incubated,” says Silverman. The developers will be filtered out during the application process.
Interested developers who are legal residents of the U.S. are required to send in their applications through August 26 this year. But sending in the application isn’t necessarily the end of the process. Prospect Productions is helping to bring this project to life and they say that anyone selected will need to be available for non-consecutive shoots in Los Angeles between late 2016 and early 2017. Developers also need to have a functioning app (betas are also accepted) that works on either iOS, MacOS, tvOS, or WatchOS by October 21 to be eligible for participation.
Benefits for participants who make the cut may benefit in three ways: hands-on guidance from what Apple claims to be top-notch experts in tech and entertainment, venture capitalist funding of up to $10 million for the duration of the season, and a feature position in the App Store when the show is finished, something that’s sure to catch the eye of the happy-to-spend owners of Apple products.
The obvious downside to this deal is that everyone can follow the personalities on the screen, and should something go awry in interpersonal relations it may end up doing more harm than good for the developers that end up joining the show.
It seems that Apple may enter television in more ways than one. Some may remember Vital Signs, which we haven’t heard of since word spread about the joint Apple and Dr. Dre project this February. Be it fierce dramas with orgies or app-developing mayhem in reality television, if Vital Signs ends up hitting the screen in people’s homes as well, it signifies an expansion into the television market by one of the world’s most influential enterprises.
