amazon studios

After evaluating more than 4,000 submissions and commissioning more than a dozen half-hour pilots, Amazon Studios is ready to roll. The "Hollywood" division of the online shopping giant is making 14 pilots available on Amazon Instant Video in the U.S, and the Amazon subscription services Lovefilm UK and Lovefilm Germany, to watch for free and rate and review them.

The pilots include shows from established talent and studios, as well as up and comers who cut their teeth online.

The lineup includes a big slate of comedies, led by "Alpha House," starring John Goodman … Read more

Amazon has added another comedy TV show pilot to its original programming lineup -- and this time it's about Silicon Valley startups.

The series, called "Betas," centers on four computer geeks and "their quest for nerd fame as they attempt to crack the ultimate code." This brings the total number of pilots slated for production on Amazon's Prime video service to 14. The episodes will air on Amazon Prime Instant for free so customers can offer feedback on which pilots Amazon's production group, Amazon Studios, should make into a season-long series.

The creatives … Read more

A "Zombieland" TV series could rise from the grave on Amazon if enough Prime members give it the thumbs-up.

"Zombieland" is the 13th and latest original series to bite off a pilot on Amazon's Prime video service. Six other comedy pilots and six children's pilots will also air on Prime Instant Video and Lovefilm UK exclusively for paying subscribers. Viewers will be able to watch and review each pilot, helping decide which of them will score a full season's worth of episodes.

Amazon told CNET that the pilots are "coming soon" … Read more

As a guy blogging for a site owned by a television network (CBS Interactive is the parent company of CNET), count me as both excited and worried about Amazon's lineup of pilots for original comedy series.

So far, the forays into original programming by the likes of Netflix and Hulu and Amazon have been a mixed bag -- Netflix's "Lillyhammer"? Blech. Hulu's "Battleground"? More please.

But the six comedy pilots that will be posted to Amazon Instant Video for free viewing look to be upping the game significantly. Some of the names behind … Read more

Amazon may be taking a cue from Netflix and Hulu and setting its sights on creating an original content TV series. According to Variety, the Web giant is about to greenlight a new comedy series called "Browsers."

This comedy will apparently be a musical based on four interns working in a newsroom similar to the Huffington Post, Variety reports. The series was first made for CBS but was then shopped to Amazon via production company Netco. (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET News.)

If indeed Amazon is working on releasing "Browsers," it would be … Read more

Amazon's "Amazon Studios" project has announced the first four TV series it will develop: three animated shows and a mockumentary, all of which were pitched by way of the Amazon Studios Web site.… Read more

Seeking to boost original content for its Amazon Instant Video service, Amazon Studios today put out the call for pilots for comedies and kids shows.

Since it launched in November 2010, Amazon Studios had focused on films, both full-length features and shorter films. This is its first foray into episodic programming.

"In the course of developing movies, we've heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children's genres," Amazon Studios director Roy Price said in a statement.

Amazon Studios works differently than traditional Hollywood production companies. … Read more

This is exactly how the Hollywood studios want the online video sector to look: several companies paying for and distributing their content while competing on things like convenience and price.

Disney has renewed a licensing agreement with Netflix and penned a new deal with Amazon that will give both a crack at much of the same content.

Netflix will continue to offer on its streaming service past seasons of Disney's "Hannah Montana" and of Disney-owned ABC's "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Lost." Amazon's deals also brings many of … Read more

Amazon.com has gone Hollywood.

Debuting yesterday, the new Amazon Studios is looking to make commercial motion pictures based on scripts and movies submitted by budding screenwriters and filmmakers.

Anyone with dreams to make it big in the big-screen business is invited to submit a full-length movie or script. Through both monthly and annual awards starting in 2011, Amazon plans to offer cash to the best submissions and develop the top projects as commercial movies through Warner Bros. or another Hollywood studio.

Filmmakers can upload their movies at the Amazon Studios Web site. Movies must be full-length--at least 70 minutes--and … Read more