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Former HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler is back with a new venture, a production company based at Apple.
Plepler, who exited HBO at the end of February after three decades, had been exploring a lot of opportunities over the past several months. According to sources, he had not been interested in returning to the trenches as an executive and focused on pursuing opportunity as a producer.
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He is launching a company with financial backers and, after talking to multiple suitors, he has settled on an exclusive production deal at Apple, which is being negotiated. A rep for Apple had no comment.
Plepler is being brought into the fold by Apple TV+ heads Jamie Erlicht & Zack Van Amburg who have been looking to ramp up output with high-caliber programming following the service’s Nov. 1 launch with four original series featuring A-list talent in front and behind the camera. Plepler’s goal is to deliver as a producer the kind of high-quality series he championed as a top executive at HBO, including Game of Thrones.
Plepler, known for his showmanship, creative instincts and willingness to take risks, had been a key driving force behind HBO’s success over the past couple of decades. He was elevated to HBO CEO in 2012. Before that he was co-president.
Apple has broad production deals/content partnerships with A24, Imagine Documentaries, Sesame Workshop, Peanuts parent Wildbrain and Oprah Winfrey. The company has overall deals with Alfonso Cuaron, Jason Katims, Justin Lin, Kerry Ehrin and Monica Beletsky.
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