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.