Turner, Burnett test wearable tech inventors

Turner Broadcasting System, IT firm Intel and unscripted producer Mark Burnett are jointly working on a multiplatform reality series that aims to find the new big wearable technology.

America’s Greatest Makers (WT) follows on from Intel’s ‘Make It Wearable’ challenge from last year, and will run in long-form on the TBS cable channel and short-form on Turner-owned platforms such as TNT, Adult Swim, truTV, HLN, CNN and Bleacher Report in 2016.

Turner claims the project will “be an entertainment event spanning the breadth and scope of the Turner portfolio, across multiple screens and levels of engagement”.

The series will encourage inventors to develop the next big innovation, tasking them to create their breakthrough technologies using Intel Curle, which is an integrated hardware module that powers wearable and smart-connected consumer devices.

The project will begin with digital and social content that will lead up to a semi-final stage, at which point the TBS series kicks off with a special episodes introducing the teams.

The series will then also be complemented by the short-form, multiplatform content, with each of the Turner platforms producing in its own voice and featuring various lifestyle innovation segments to work with each network’s audience.

“Through this exciting collaboration with Intel, we are celebrating the spirit of innovation across the Turner portfolio,” said David Eilenberg, senior VP of unscripted development, late night and specials for TBS and TNT.

“We look forward to working with Intel and Mark Burnett on America’s Greatest Makers and can’t wait to see the truly awesome technology that emerges from it.”

Burnett, who is coproducing and executive producing through his MGM-owned United Artists Media Group, said America’s Greatest Makers was “much more than just a linear TV series”.

“This is the next evolution of storytelling, told simultaneously across many platforms and in many different ways. This is the future. Intel drove the past from ‘inside,’ and now we will watch it drive the future from both ‘inside and outside’,” he added.

Burnett and Turner have partnered on various series in the past, including cooking series On the Menu and Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host.

For Turner, the news comes soon after chief content officer Kevin Reilly promoted Deborah Bradley to executive VP, networks and programme optimisation, content strategy and commercialization; and six months after he placed Brett Weitz in charge of TBS.

America’s Greatest Makers was announced at the San Francisco Intel Developers Forum this week.