Seekings Laughs, Amazon Invests in Original Comedies

The e-retailer is joining a slew of tech companies investing in original shows, including Netflix, Google, Hulu and Yahoo. The company unveiled Amazon Studios in early May and is seeking ideas for children's programming and comedy series, paying $10,000 for selected scripts and $55,000 (and possibly royalties) for produced shows that will air on Amazon's Instant Video streaming service. AllThingsD reports that Amazon will also feed movie scripts to Warner Bros., which will make decisions regarding production.

 

Aside from that, details are scant. Amazon Studios head Roy Price didn't disclose the number of shows that will be produced, a timetable for when viewers can begin watching them online or the project’s budget. 

 

AllThingsD did note that "Price says the shows he does make should look and feel like 'real' TV shows, with commensurate production budgets." Pretty vague, but as a point of reference, Netflix, which began airing its first original series "Lillyhammer" in February, is spending about $4 million an episode for its upcoming show "House of Cards," a political thriller starring Kevin Spacey. Furthermore, high-budget TV shows can cost tens of millions for the pilot alone. We don’t know what Amazon Studios will be spending, but it’s clear competition is heating up and low-budget productions might not make the cut.

 

Moving into original content will also bolster Amazon’s streaming library, which has been under fire for size inflation. Even though Amazon claims to have more than 17,000 movies and TV shows on Instant Video, Fast Company reported last month that the actual catalog size is one-tenth of that.