Apple has lured three high-level staffers from Amazon, further bolstering its ever-growing entertainment division team, according to Variety.
The article says Tara Sorensen, the head of Amazon kids programming, will take on a similar role at Apple as the company pushes more into developing original content. She’ll report to Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, who joined Apple from Sony TV.
International development executive Carina Walker and business affairs chief Tara Pietri will also depart Amazon for Apple, with Pietri leading Apple’s legal affairs division. Walker will again be an international creative executive, reporting to fellow Amazon alum Morgan Wandell, according to Variety.
Apple has set a budget of roughly $1 billion to procure and produce original content over the next year, according to the Wall Street Journal, and could acquire and produce as many as 10 television shows. The $1 billion budget will be in the hands of Hollywood veterans Erlicht and Amburg, two former TV execs who joined the company in June newly created positions overseeing all aspects of video programming.
