Seattle – Amazon launched its second set of series pilots exclusively on Prime Instant Video in the U.S. and LOVEFiLM in the UK on February 6.
Following a successful first pilot season that resulted in the critically-acclaimed Garry Trudeau series Alpha House — along with popular tech comedy Betas and the soon to premiere kids series Creative Galaxy, Tumble Leaf and Annedroids — Amazon Studios debuted a mix of 10 comedy, drama and kids original pilots on February 6 — all available for free. Customers are encouraged to watch and provide feedback on the pilots to help determine which shows should be made into series.
New to the pilot lineup this year are two hour-long drama pilots from notable creators Chris Carter (The X-Files), Eric Overmyer (The Wire, Treme) and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch). Half-hour comedy pilots were created by Oscar nominated Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), actor and musician Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks), Tony-nominated writer and director Alex Timbers, Oscar nominated Paul Weitz, Emmy nominated Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under), and executive producers Ice Cube and Michael Strahan. The diverse lineup features stars such as Gael Garcia Bernal, Golden Globe nominee Malcom McDowell, and Emmy nominated Jeffrey Tambor.
Kids shows come from award winning creators Duane Capizzi (Transformers Prime), Josh Selig (Wonder Pets), Angela Santomero (Blue’s Clues), Arland DiGirolamo (Sketchy) & Geoff Barbanell (Kickin’ It) as well as David Anaxagoras, discovered through Amazon Studios’ open-door submission process. These pilots include pre-school shows, and new this year, shows for kids ages 6-11.
(Watch the trailer for the pilots here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWoUZdBsKd4.)
“With our previous set of pilots, customers submitted thousands of reviews within the first few days and more than 80 percent of those reviews were 4 and 5 stars,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “We collaborated with some of the very best creators in Hollywood — and even some newcomers that submitted their show through our open door process — to bring customers a wide array of top-quality shows. This season we have something for everyone with a mix of comedy, drama and kids programming — we can’t wait to hear what customers think.”
Customers can watch the pilots with the Amazon Instant Video app available on Kindle Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, as well as hundreds of other connected devices such as smart TVs. Customers can also visit Amazon.com to watch online. Viewer feedback will help determine which pilots Amazon Studios will produce into full series to air on Prime Instant Video.
Amazon Studios’ first pilots premiered in April of 2013 with eight comedy pilots and six kids pilots. Of the 14 pilots, Alpha House, Betas, Annesdroids, Creative Galaxy and Tumble Leaf were chosen, with the help of customer feedback, to be produced as series. The first season of Alpha House and Betas are available exclusively for Prime members and the kids series will be available to stream on Prime Instant Video later this year.
Since its launch in November 2010, more than 20,000 movie scripts and 6,000 series projects have been submitted to Amazon Studios. Amazon Studios continues to invite series creators to upload their proposals for comedy and children’s programming at http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started/series or submit them privately via Amazon Studios.
