Former Amazon and ABC Studios exec to launch LA-based scripted production company Kismet
Morgan Wandell, Apple TV’s head of international development, is leaving the streamer to launch his own production company.
Kismet will focus on scripted series for the international TV market, developing and producing shows with an emphasis on “high-end, culturally rooted storytelling” that travels globally.
The company will be based out of LA, with its leadership team and an initial slate to be announced in the coming months. Kismet is already in discussions with Apple to produce multiple projects for the service.
Matt Cherniss, Apple TV’s head of programming, will oversee Wandell’s slate while European creative chief Jay Hunt is expanding her remit to oversee international and local-language original projects.
Wandell’s exit comes less than a month after international scripted exec Oliver Jones stepped down from Apple TV to join Amazon MGM Studios, based out of the UK.
The launch of Kismet, meanwhile, comes almost a decade after Wandell joined Apple in 2017. He developed the streamer’s international output prior to its launch in 2019 and was behind shows including Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Tehran, comedy Acapulco, Masters of the Air, and Alfonso Cuarón’s Disclaimer.
Prior to Apple TV, Wandell had led original drama for Amazon Studios and developed its international operation. Credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, A Very English Scandal, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Man in the High Castle, and Bosch. He also previously worked at ABC Studios.
Wandell described his stint at Apple TV as “the privilege of my career” and thanked studio bosses Jamie Erlicht, Zack Van Amburg and his colleauges.
“It was a hard personal decision to make this leap from a company as terrific as Apple, but I have always wanted to build a company of my own,” he added.
“The opportunity to serve as an entrepreneur and producer in the growing white space for premium series for the global marketplace is one I couldn’t pass up and one that audiences are embracing,” he said.
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