La La Land director Damien Chazelle is developing an original TV series for Apple. Chazelle first came to prominence as a director with Whiplash, starring Miles Teller as an aspiring jazz drummer and J.K. Simmons and his aggressive teacher. The young director’s career took a significant step into the mainstream with La La Land in 2016, which saw Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling rack up Oscar nominations galore as they sung and danced their way through Los Angeles. In addition to sitting in the director’s chair, Chazelle also acted as a writer for both releases, and has also lent his scripting talents to 10 Cloverfield Lane and… The Last Exorcism Part II.


Meanwhile, Apple has recently been making considerable strides in the production of original television series. With iconic director Steven Spielberg working on Amazing Stories and a comedy series headed by Kristen Wiig just two of many projects in the pipeline for Apple, it appears as if the company are determined to attract big names in order to compete with other online TV services producing original material – especially, of course, Netflix and Amazon Prime.


As reported by THR, the latest project on Apple’s books is a currently untitled series that will be both directed and written by Damien Chazelle. Interestingly, La La Land producers Jordon Horowitz and Fred Berger are also onboard and the order is a straight-to-series deal. The series will be produced by Media Rights Capital and, unusually, Chazelle will write and direct every single episode. Other than that, very little is currently known about the project, other than it has been described as “innovative.”


Although Apple have certainly done well to attract the Oscar-winning movie director, they are not actually the first online television service to do so. Chazelle has already signed on with Netflix to direct and produce The Eddy, a multi-cultural musical drama set in Paris. However, that series will be written by Jack Thorne, which suggests that Chazelle’s project for Apple will offer more creative control, especially since he will be behind every single installment.


Perhaps the biggest question is whether Chazelle’s project with Apple with be another musical affair like La La Land. Certainly, the man’s most renowned projects have either been centered around music or are musical ventures outright, but this isn’t all that Chazelle has to offer as a filmmaker. Furthermore, with The Eddy already confirmed to be a musical series, it might be odd for a single director to have two musical TV series running on rival streaming services more or less simultaneously.