"For All Mankind" is one of Apple's most popular TV shows, and to promote the launch of the second season, series creator Ronald D. Moore this week did an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where he shared details on what it's like working with Apple.
Moore was recruited to work on "For All Mankind" when Apple TV+ leads Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg contacted him about a new NASA show. Moore had previously worked with the two at Sony, and there was a "certain familiarity" of how things would be done.
There were, however, some growing pains to work out as a tech company made its way into media. Moore said that he was not used to having to get feedback from corporate before making decisions.
It's a tech company that is getting into entertainment and there were growing pains to figure out. As I started working with Apple, I'm not used to people saying things like, "Well, Cupertino hasn't weighed in on that." The first year was a lot of growing pains of any company setting out to do something for the first time but it was greatly aided by the fact that I knew so many of the people who were in the Apple TV+ division.
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the set of "For All Mankind," and Moore says that during his visit, he "got lost" in the vintage consoles and the keyboards that were used in the show. Moore says that he was warmly received in Cupertino, and it was clear that the show interested Apple "emotionally and very personally" as well as in a business sense.
They were interested how we were portraying technology, how fast is the technology going to evolve in the show. [Apple CEO] Tim Cook came to the set and sat at the Mission Control consoles and enjoyed himself. He got lost in the consoles the keyboards: "Oh yeah, I remember this kind of CRT." I would go to Cupertino for various things and was always [warmly received]: "For All Mankind, I love that show! I was a huge fan of the space program." I'd walk down the corridors and you would just see pictures of astronauts and space and it was clear that there is a great fondness and love within the tech world for the space program and for NASA. We were doing something that not only interested them on a business sense but it was also appealing to something that touched them all emotionally and very personally as well.
Apple has been more heavily promoting Apple TV+ content in recent weeks. The company launched an augmented reality app and podcast to accompany "For All Mankind," and several other series creators like M. Night Shyamalan have also been doing interviews with the media.
The directors for "Wolfwalkers," a recently released animated movie from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, this week spoke with Deadline. Cartoon Saloon is known for several animated movies that highlight Irish folklore, including "Song of the Sea" and "Wolfwalkers," and the interview is worth checking out for those interested in the company's work.
Cartoon Saloon has an "epic" feature-quality hand-drawn animated series that's coming to Apple TV+ in the future, but it has yet to be announced.
