Oprah, Lin-Manuel Miranda Set for Apple TV+ Biography Series

By Rick Porter
The Hollywood Reporter
January 17, 2020

Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee and Stevie Wonder will also be subjects of 'Dear…,' from Emmy and Peabody Award winner R.J. Cutler.

Apple has greenlit a docuseries that will profile famous people through letters written by those whose lives the subjects have touched.

The tech giant will premiere Dear…, from Emmy and Peabody Award winner R.J. Cutler, in the spring. Subjects for the 10-episode series include Oprah Winfrey (who, incidentally, has a content deal with Apple TV+), Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee, Grown-ish star and youth advocate Yara Shahidi, Stevie Wonder, Olympic gymnast and activist Aly Raisman, Misty Copeland and Big Bird.

The series is inspired by the company's "Dear Apple" marketing campaign, in which users of the Apple Watch read letters to the company explaining how it's changed their life. Dear… will take a similar approach, albeit aimed at illuminating the lives and influence of celebrities.

The show will approach its subjects' biographies by using letters written by those whose lives have been changed through their work. Cutler (American High, The September Issue) executive produces with Todd Lubin, Jay Peterson, Jane Cha and Lyle Gamm. Matador Content and Cutler Productions produce for Apple.

Dear… will join a lineup of unscripted shows on Apple TV+ that also includes Oprah's Book Club, Visible: Out on Television, Home, Prehistoric Planet and a show on mental health from Winfrey and Britain's Prince Harry. Oprah's Book Club is the only nonfiction show to have debuted on Apple TV+ thus far, with Visible due Feb. 14.