Period states that Apple now owns the “IP and all rights” to Severance and that future plans may include more than just four seasons. Here are the details.
The termination fee now belongs to Apple Studios
According to the report, Apple paid “just under $70 million” to acquire the IP and all rights to Severance, effectively bringing the series under Apple Studios.
Previously, the show was produced by Fifth Season, with Apple as the distributor. Now, Apple Studios will produce the series in-house, with Fifth Season remaining as an executive producer along with show creator Dan Erickson.
One of the reasons for the deal was the financial pressure on the fifth season, as production costs had increased in Season 2 and the studio faced delays in receiving tax credits.
Here it is Period:
She is filming Severance Pay in New York, where she is getting tax credits, even though there have been delays in payments. While costs rose and Season 2 took longer, loans became more expensive, with rates climbing from 1% to 5.5% to 6%, making it difficult to carry costs for up to 36 months — the difference between Seasons 1 and 2 — especially when the tax credits aren’t coming fast enough.
The report stated that Fifth Season “asked Apple TV for advances and help with payments and considered moving the show from New York to Canada for more and faster tax breaks” and that Apple TV executives “felt that financially, if the show was owned by a streamer, they could shoulder the burden better.”
Expansion of the Severance universe
According to PeriodAlthough Severance is currently slated for 4 seasons, Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson “are open to the idea of doing more with the Severance universe; options include prequels, spinoffs, and foreign versions.”
This, Period notes, could help keep fans engaged during long breaks between seasons and expand the show’s overall profitability: while Season 2 had roughly double the viewership of Season 1, it cost up to $20 million per episode.
With full control of the show, Apple will now have the opportunity to balance the growth of the show with its costs, as well as rethink the business side of the series, including talent compensation and backend business.
Here is the deadline:
In 2024, Apple TV became the first streamer to introduce a new model for rewarding talent based on performance in shows produced by Apple Studios, which includes bonuses based on a point system whose sizes are based on the number of people who have signed up to watch Apple TV and viewership vs. The arrangement, which has since been modified by most other major streamers, introduces a “more risk, more reward” approach similar to the old broadcast syndication model.
Finally, the report notes that while most of the scripts for Season 3 are locked, the development process has dragged on longer than originally planned. That said, while Apple still hopes to begin filming Season 3 in the summer, “the targeted start of filming will likely need to be pushed back another few weeks.”
If you love the nuts and bolts of television production, PeriodThe report is worth reading because it takes an even deeper dive into Severance’s business side and Apple’s TV initiatives as a whole.
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