At Variety's recent 'Dealmakers breakfast' event in Los Angeles, the film and television publication spoke with Nancy Tellem -- a former TV executive who is now the President of Entertainment and Digital Media at Microsoft -- about the company's venture into original TV programming on the Xbox platform, reportedly confirming that the first of its new shows will start screening over Xbox Live on both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in early 2014 (thanks VG247).

“We’re hoping we will be able to put something up in the first quarter, at minimum second quarter,” said Tellem

...“I’m incredibly ambitious and impatient,” said Tellem, who took the job to produce original content for the Xbox platform in 2012. Because of that, the time it’s taken to develop the first slate of series, including a high-profile project based around “Halo,” with Steven Spielberg producing, has been “slower,” but “reflecting on what we’ve done and what lies ahead, it’s been pretty good.”

...“We aren’t Netflix, we aren’t Amazon, we’re a different animal,” she said. “We’re neither or we’re a little like them. It all depends. The lack of black and white and this is the template and this is what we’re following is very difficult. As we continue to do deals everyone’s going to get more comfortable.”

...And when it comes to original programming, “we’re trying to focus on whether it’s only on Xbox or best on Xbox,” Tellem said, referring to exclusive series or interactive features added to NFL broadcasts, for example.

But if a show “doesn’t resonate, interactive features won’t matter,” Tellem said.

The highest profile original programming in the works is obviously the Stephen Speilberg produced Halo project announced during E3, but there has also been talk of interactive NFL football programming and Alan Wake/Max Payne developer Remedy Entertainment's upcoming Xbox One exclusive game will have a transmedia scripted drama offering also expected to be delivered over the new service.