Chernin Entertainment, the studio behind such films as Hidden Figures and Ford v. Ferrari, has officially revealed a planned multi-year partnership with audio streaming service Spotify. Studio founder and chairman Peter Chernin revealed this in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, also citing current Chernin president Jenno Topping and Spotify executive Dawn Ostroff as key participants in this new partnership.
The goal of Chernin and Spotify’s collaboration is to develop new film and TV projects based on Spotify’s extensive library of original podcasts. The streaming service currently holds the rights to over 250 podcasts, representing 250 hours of audio content. These range from true stories and documentaries to completely original stories within the mystery and horror genres. Celebrities who have produced podcasts and podcast-related content for Spotify include Jordan Peele, Mike Wahlberg, and even former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Chernin told The Hollywood Reporter that he felt podcasts represented a significant source of new IPs which could be successfully adapted for the screen. He compared Chernin Entertainment’s partnership with Spotify to Disney’s purchase of Marvel Studios, explaining that it provides a wealth of new material which the company can now access. Chernin and Ostroff currently plan to hire an executive whose primary role will be going through existing Spotify podcasts in order to determine which ones should be adapted.
Currently, two podcast-inspired adaptations are in development from Chernin in partnership with Spotify. These include The Clearing, the chilling journey – inspired by a true story – of a woman who believes her father is a serial killer, and Blackout, a fictional story in a post-apocalyptic setting. Reportedly, Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody, Mr. Robot) has been in talks to star in Blackout.
Are you a fan of listening to podcasts on Spotify? Which would you like to see adapted for TV and film? Let us know!