Malala Teams up with Apple to Produce New Dramas, Documentaries
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani who became the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate at 17, has partnered with Apple Inc to produce several new programs, including dramas, children series, and documentaries, that would air on the tech giant’s streaming service.
Malala and her production company, Extracurricular, is expanding an already existing partnership with Apple, a blog post on the company’s website said on Monday.
In 2018, the iPhone maker teamed up with Yousafzai on “Malala Fund” that seeks to extend secondary education opportunities to girls across the globe.
Malala, now 23, survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, after she was targeted for her campaign against efforts by the Taliban to deny women education. She graduated from Oxford University last year.
The girls’ education champion joins a roster of artists that have signed up to work with the Apple TV+ streaming service, including Oprah Winfrey, Martin Scorsese, Octavia Spencer, Alfonso Cuarón and Tom Hanks.
Earlier, Malala joined the trending application TikTok, with her first video hitting 79.5K likes within 24 hours. The TikTok account for her fundraiser ‘Malala Fund’ shared the first clip with her brief introduction for viewers.
In the clip, Malala could be heard saying, “Hi Tik Tok. My name is Malala Yousafzai. Some of you might already know me, you might have heard my UN speech or might have read my book, I am Malala.” She continued, “Some of you may not know me yet so I will introduce myself,” adding, “I am a recent graduate from Oxford University. My favorite things are shoes, comedy and reading books. I am 23 years old and I’m a girl’s education activist.” – The Express Tribune
Jon Fingas adds: Apple is using International Women's Day to expand its slate of influential TV+ programming. The company has struck a "multiyear" deal with female education rights advocate and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai to produce original content for Apple TV+ through her new production unit Extracurricular. The outfit will produce documentaries, dramas, children's shows and other material that will help "support women, young people, writers and artists," according to Yousafzai.
This isn't Yousafzai's first involvement with Apple. The tech giant was the Malala Fund's initial Laureate partner, providing support for Yousafzai's education initiatives in eight countries. Apple's Developer Academies now work with the fund to foster technology education.
It's an important expansion of the Apple TV+ lineup. While Apple has non-fiction material from creators like Oprah Winfrey and RJ Cutler, its streaming service is still known largely for pure entertainment like Ted Lasso. Yousafzai's shows could add more educational (or at least inspiring) content to that mix. And yes, Apple is clearly hoping to gain some prestige — a team-up with a highly influential activist could attract viewers who'd otherwise stick to rivals like Amazon and Netflix.
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