Amazon’s first-ever upfront presentation, at Pier 36 in Lower Manhattan, got a late start due to its remote location. But the energy spiked when Alicia Keys took the stage. 

“Growing up in New York City, there’s something about connection that you find really important,” she said, adding that her common ground with Amazon is “how do we connect with people, how do we bring it deeper and farther?”

After singing “Empire State of Mind,” she yelled, “It’s gonna be a beautiful dayyyy!”

Paul Kotas, senior VP, Amazon Advertising, came out and spoke about Lord of the Rings, Reacher and live sports, including Thursday Night Football. 

 Also Read: Continuing Coverage of the 2024 Upfronts

“At Amazon we’re never done innovating,” he said, then introduced Mike Hopkins, senior VP and head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. He called advertising on Prime “a major leap forward,” and “an entirely new chapter for us and the industry.”

He boasted about Fallout’s 80 million viewers, and The Idea of You approaching 50 million. 

Then it was Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios. “No other studio offers creators so many ways to engage with an audience,” she said, citing original programs, books, fashion, podcasts and retail. 

Next up in terms of originals is Tomb Raider, from Phoebe Waller Bridge, and Noir, from Nicolas Cage. 

Salke brought Jake Gyllenhaal, star of Road House, which Salke said has also had close to 80 million views. 

Gyllenhaal said the project was “such big shoes to fill.”

He added, “It was exhilarating to feel all the intensity and the buzz and the vibe.”

Alan Ritchson came out to discuss Reacher. “All we have to do is honor the books,” he said. “We just have to authentically honor the books and, so far so good.”

Aldis Hodge was out next to discuss Alex Cross. The series’ success “proves that this character is absolutely timeless,” he said. 

Hodge said the show aimed to honor the character’s legacy, while also creating something that reflects “the here and the now.”

Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell then came out to discuss the offbeat rom-com You’re Cordially Invited. Ferrell, the self-proclaimed “rom-com king,” said he taught Witherspoon a few things about acting in such films. 

Witherspoon countered, “You’re so funny when you run around naked. Because your body’s so weird.”

Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham talked up their untitled series, which Spencer called an “action drama comedy.” It centers on a female assassin. 

Waddingham said female aging is not typically embraced in Hollywood, but “this is a show about striving toward your prime and realizing you are at the height of your power.” 

The actors said the project features the five F’s: fighting, freedom, fornicating and female friendship.

Next was The Summer I Turned Pretty. Creator Jenny Han said season three is coming in summer 2025, with 11 episodes. 

Star Lola Tung said: “My character Belly has grown up so much in season two. I can’t wait for everyone to see her journey [in season three].”

Han said, “We’ve all been working really hard to make this an epic season of Summer.”

The discussion shifted to unscripted, and Patton Oswalt spoke about his game show The 1% Club. Oswalt quipped that he ended up on the show after losing the Reacher part to Ritchson and the Road House lead to Gyllenhaal. 

The 1% Club is “not about what you know or how many facts are up in your skull,” he said. “It’s how your brain actually works.”

Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast, spoke on video about Beast Games, which will have the most contestants of any game show ever, he said. “It’s  going to be insane.”

Back to scripted, and a season five order for The Boys and a peek at the trailer for season two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. 

Keke Palmer talked up her movie The Pickup, with Eddie Murphy, before Jay Marine, VP global head of sports, stepped out. “Nothing drives bigger appointment viewing than sports,” he said. 

The Thursday Night Football opener will be Dolphins-Bills September 12. Prime also has the National Women’s Soccer League and the WNBA, including Caitlin Clark’s pro debut this week. “She is amazing,” Marine said. 

The TNF gang, Charissa Thompson, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tony Gonzalez, was out next. “We can’t wait for the next chapter in what's now become a great rivalry,” said Thompson of the season opener. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked about NASCAR coming to Prime, and Prime’s documentary project about his father. Roger Federer spoke about Federer: Twelve Final Days. 

“It’s been an amazing journey and I’m happy to share it,” he said. 

Tanner Elton, VP, U.S. ad sales, and Sarah Iooss, head of U.S. agency & Twitch, Amazon Ads, were out next. “Our reach extends beyond Prime Video,” said Iooss. 

Alan Moss, VP of global ad sales, hoped attendees would take one thing away from the upfront presentation: Full-funnel advertising at scale for everyone. 

But then Reese Witherspoon tossed in a juicier takeaway: A Legally Blonde prequel series on Prime, showing Elle in high school. 

Amazon will lay off several hundred employees in its streaming and studio divisions as well as subsidiary Twitch in order to reduce costs amid the latest in a wave of video industry contraction.

Twitch, the video live-streaming company acquired by Amazon in 2014 will cut just over 500 roles, or 35% of its workforce, according to a blog post by Twitch CEO Dan Clancy. Prime Video and MGM Studios will eliminate “hundreds” of jobs, according to an email sent by management to employees on Wednesday morning.

“Despite these efforts, it has become clear that our organization is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business,” Clancy said. “[The] decision, while incredibly difficult and painful, is necessary to ensure that we can continue to serve our streamers sustainably without impacting their ability to support their careers on Twitch.”

Added Mike Hopkins, senior VP of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studio, in his separate company email address: “We’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact ... Our prioritization of initiatives that we know will move the needle, along with our continued investments in programming, marketing and product, positions our business for an even stronger future.”

Amazon said that the layoffs will be completed by the end of the week.

The cuts come just weeks before Amazon is set to roll out a new ads initiative for subscription-based Amazon Prime Video service, requiring users to pay an extra $3 per month to avoid them. 

These ads could boost annual revenue by as much as $5 billion, according to a Bank of America Analysis. Ads on Amazon’s streaming service will start appearing in North America on Jan. 29 and internationally on Feb. 5.

Amazon has spent recent years aggressively pursuing the growth of its media division, including the $8.45 billion acquisition for MGM in 2021 and over $1 billion in payouts to individual content creators by subsidiary Twitch last year. Later, it was revealed that Amazon had grossly overvalued MGM's content library, which was re-assessing it at $3.4 billion, according to a March 2022 10Q filing.

Amazon has ramped up its streaming offerings as part of its Prime package in recent years, which charges for expedited shipping and other perks.

But last year, Twitch also laid off 400 people as part of overall Amazon cuts. And in December, announced it would shut down its service in South Korea because of “prohibitively expensive” costs.

Amazon last year cut more than 27,000 jobs, part of a record-breaking wave of U.S. tech layoffs that followed industry over-expansion during the pandemic.

In total, the media industry shed over 21,000 jobs last year, the highest total for the sector since 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Amazon’s shares were up 1.6% in afternoon trading. Twitch has also seen recent viewership increases. 

“While the Twitch business remains strong, for some time now the organization has been sized based upon where we optimistically expect our business to be in three or more years, not where we’re at today,” explained Clancy in his statement. “As with many other companies in the tech space, we are now sizing our organization based upon the current scale of our business and conservative predictions of how we expect to grow in the future.”

Trying to put the best possible spin on a very expensive TV show that hasn't caught on in its most important market, Amazon Studios dramatic series chief Odetta Watkins told a Banff Media Festival audience in Alberta, Canada Sunday that Citadel simply needs more time to catch on in the States. 

Also read: Yes, We Can Now Safely Call Amazon's Russo Bros. Spy Thriller 'Citadel' a $300 Million Disaster

"I think you’ll start to see the audience start to respond differently as it goes on. In the U.S., we are very jaded and watch everything with a discerning eye, like, ‘Hmm, that [season] wasn’t as good as the last one.’ I just think [Citadel] needs time to grow," said Watkins, who was quoted by several Penske showbiz trades in attendance. 

(Editor's note: Given the sheer number of fight scenes on trains in espionage-themed action-thrillers in recent years, it might not be fair to judge American audiences on their reaction, or lack of one, to a series that opens up with an 11-minute choo-choo-based brawl.)

“I can tell you from a creative perspective, for me, it’s a victory, because the show was conceived to be able to speak to the world," Watkins added. 

Produced by Joseph and Anthony Russo at a reported cost of $300 million, the six-part first season of spy-thriller Citadel debuted on April 28 and didn't show up once in Nielsen's U.S. rankings of subscription shows. 

Next TV agreed with Rolling Stone's assessment that the production, scoring an aggregated 54% among critics, could rightly be called a "disaster," given its steep reported production cost. 

Next TV received a phone call Friday from Amazon Studios press rep, informing us that the series -- the second most expensive ever made behind Amazon's Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power -- has been enthusiastically received oversees. 

Is "disaster" too harsh?

The series, parts of which were shot in the UK, and which stars Scottish stage actor Richard Madden alongside Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, did get picked up for a second season. 

Yet, Amazon hasn't disclosed any Citadel metrics for Europe or any other territory. 

Amazon, which last year paid $8.35 billion to purchase the studio behind the wildly successful “Rocky” film franchise, just tied up the legendary star and creator of that cinematic boxing universe, Sylvester Stallone, to a first-look deal.

The arrangement is actually between Amazon Studios and Stallone's Balboa Productions, the latter having recently produced superhero-themed action film Samaritan, which starred Stallone, for Amazon Prime Video. 

Stallone is 76. And as evidenced by the latest “RCU” (Rocky Cinematic Universe) title, Creed III, the enduring franchise he created himself way back in 1976 has moved on without him. (Creed III is the first “Rocky” movie not to feature Stallone.)

But Stallone keeps on punching. 

Last year, for example, Balboa Productions teamed with white-hot producer Taylor Sheridan for Paramount Plus original series Tulsa King, featuring Stallone as an aging New York mobster who relocates to Oklahoma after a lengthy prison stay. 

Not only does Balboa have a green light for a second season of Tulsa King, it’s working on a fourth Expendables movie for Lionsgate, as well as an adaptation of true-life survival book Lost on a Mountain in Maine. 

The latter is for Amazon/MGM.

“Sylvester Stallone is an undeniable Hollywood legend who has created some of the most timeless and iconic characters of our generation. As an actor, writer, director, and producer, he has defined his own epic brand of storytelling and inspired people all over the world,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon and MGM Studios, said. “We are excited to continue our relationship with Sylvester and Balboa Productions to bring even more of his exciting creative vision to our global audiences.”

Amazon Studios will look to double down on the dating competition genre with the production of a new series hosted by Brie and Nikki Bella.

The series, Twin Love, explores the love lives of identical twins by placing 10 sets of twins into two houses of “identical” casts to see if the inherent similarities of twins extend to their romantic desires, according to the company. WWE Hall of Famers Brie and Nikki Bella will host the show, which will premiere simultaneously on Prime Video and Freevee.

The series, based on a format created by ITV Studios Netherlands, is produced by Amazon Studios and ITV America’s ITV Entertainment, with Simon Thomas, Bernie Schaeffer, Kenny Rosen and Jessica Nahmias serving as executive producers. 

"Twin Love is a social dating experience like no other, blending the specificity of being a twin - someone born, quite literally, with a biological soulmate - with the universality of being single and searching for lasting romantic love," Amazon Studios head of AVOD Original Content and Unscripted Programming Lauren Anderson said in a statement. “Our goal is to help couples find love in a fun, unique way, and we can't wait to share Twin Love with Prime Video and Freevee audiences this summer."■ 

Amazon said its Alexa Fund is leading a $20 million investment in Superplastic, a digital studio that creates synthetic celebrities.

Amazon Studio is developing an animated comedy series starring two of Superplastic’s characters, Janky and Guggimon. The series will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.

Amazon has also signed a first-look deal with Superplastic to create additional series and films starring other Superplastic characters. 

“As we expand the Alexa Fund to address a wider range of consumer technologies that include ambient computing, smart devices, and the future of entertainment, we’re very excited to add Superplastic to our portfolio,” Paul Bernard, director of the Alexa Fund, said. “Superplastic’s virtual celebrities delight audiences and meet their customers where they are, and we see them as demonstrative of a new class of IP that is going to be increasingly relevant with younger generations. We are excited to be an investor and to continue to help Superplastic and Amazon’s Media and Entertainment teams identify more ways to delight customers.”

The Janky & Guggimon Show follows the adventures of two lazy and spectacularly incompetent friends who are hell-bent on getting rich and famous but leave a trail of chaos and destruction in their wake, the companies said. Janky is a loveable idiot who spends his spare time scamming celebrities, while Guggimon is a fashion icon and master manipulator who’s too narcissistic to care.

In addition to Amazon’s Alexa Fund, others investing in the new Series A round of funding for Superplastic include Craft Ventures, Google Ventures, Galaxy Digital, Kering, Sony Japan, Scribble Ventures, Kakao, Animoca Brands, Day One Ventures and Betaworks. This latest round brings Superplastic's total funding to $58 million, The funds will be used to support the expansion of the Superplastic character universe. 

“Superplastic’s universe of synthetic celebrities have earned a cult following in every medium they’ve touched,” Superplastic founder and CEO Paul Budnitz said. “The new collaboration partnership with Amazon Studios reaches a massive audience and provides a new playground for us to wreak havoc worldwide. We're grateful for the investment the Amazon Alexa Fund gave us to help us continue to grow the Superplastic Universe.” ■

Producer/director Tyler Perry has teamed with Amazon Studios to develop original movies as part of a new distribution deal.

Perry, who most recently developed original films for Netflix, will write, direct and produce four original movies for Prime Video, according to the company. Perry most recently developed original films for Netflix, including comedies A Madea Homecoming and dramas A Fall From Grace and A Jazzman’s Blues.

Along with original films, Perry has also developed numerous original series for BET and BET Plus, including Sistas, Bruh, Assistant Living, All the Queen’s Men, House of Payne, The Oval and most recently Zatima, a spinoff of Sistas. ■

Amazon Studios has greenlit an original drama series based on James Patterson's Alex Cross book series.

The Cross series will star Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross, a detective and forensic psychologist uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims in order to ultimately capture the murders, according to Amazon Studios. The series will stream on Prime Video.

“James Patterson is among the best at captivating audiences with his undeniably enthralling novels and we are confident that with Ben Watkins’ artistic vision, Cross will do the same for our global customers,” said Amazon Studios head of global television Vernon Sanders. “We are proud to work with James and Ben alongside Paramount Television, Skydance, and the extremely talented Aldis Hodge, who we know will do an exceptional job of bringing Alex Cross to life.”

Also: ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Season Three on Prime Video December 21

The Alex Cross character has previously been portrayed by Morgan Freeman in such films as Kiss The Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001) as well as Tyler Perry in the 2012 Alex Cross film.

Cross is executive produced by Patterson, along with Ben Watkins, Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn, Craig Siebels, Bill Robinson and Patrick Santa. ■

Movies spark all kinds of magic. For Julie Rapaport, head of Amazon Movies, the collaborative magic that goes on behind the scenes is reminiscent of days spent at the camp her family runs in her hometown in Maine.

“I’m a camp counselor at heart,” said Rapaport, who taught waterskiing for multiple summers. “And sometimes being on a set feels a little bit like movie camp, which is one of the special pieces of making movies.”

Reporting to Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, Rapaport took the solo reins of the film division this March after her former co-head, Matt Newman, transitioned to a new role creating content for the company’s global sports group. Top of mind for her these days is breaking through in a crowded marketplace of consumers with increasingly shorter attention spans.

Also: Wonder Women of Los Angeles 2022: Hollywood Heroes

“I think that bar to create distinct content is going to continue to be higher,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s a real opportunity to make things that will grab that attention and spark that conversation, and that do feel special enough to have that ripple effect that creates the urgency to watch.”

For Rapaport, the solution is balancing niche films that bubble up among select audiences and a hefty serving of more general-interest fare that can grab headlines come awards season. Amazon Prime Video was the first streaming platform to take home Oscar statuettes back in 2017, two for Manchester By the Sea and one for foreign-language film The Salesman. Sound of Metal won for best sound and best film editing last year.

“We always look at our slate holistically because we want to make sure that we’re making movies that can serve all our customers,” Rapaport said. “Of course, awards content is part of that, and so is championing new and diverse filmmakers and bringing in new audiences. It’s OK if not everyone loves something, but if we know there’s a certain audience that’s going to love something that’s what drives us to get excited about it.”

As a new mom, the swath of stories that excite Rapaport these days is expanding. “I had a baby during the pandemic and having her has inspired me in a new way,” she said. “I’ve always loved storytelling but I didn’t know being a mom would affect the type of stories that touch me in a whole new way.”

Among those she’s currently jazzed about is director Carey Williams’ comedic thriller Emergency. It’s based on his 2018 short that was the opening-night film at the Sundance Film Festival this year and received accolades there (including an award for screenwriter K.D. Davila) and at South by Southwest. The film — which follows three college students, all men of color, who must weigh the pros and cons of calling the police when faced with an unexpected situation — opened in theaters May 20 before its May 27 Prime Video debut.

“It’s a special movie that could create that cultural conversation but is also really funny and has something to say,” she said. Also upcoming are the Harry Styles starrer My Policeman and Catherine, Called Birdy with Lena Dunham.

Finding the Right Mix

Rapaport also balances the scales when it comes to producing films or acquiring finished titles on the market.

“We look at projects at all stages, and it really is about the timing of the project and when it might make sense for us or not,” she said. “We might hear a pitch, we might read a script, we might see footage, we might see the finished film. I sometimes say, 99% of the films we acquire we actually passed on at an earlier stage because it didn’t make sense for what our needs were at the moment.

“Our goal is to be able to not rely on the market, but of course we’re always going to be opportunistic because there are always going to be things available on the acquisition side as well.”

As Amazon’s international markets expand, so too does Rapaport’s palette.

“For my team the focus is, how are we making things that have a real potential to break out in the U.S., and then we can partner with our different teams in local languages to look at, is this a story line that works?” she said. “And how can we be collab­orative in delivering that great content internationally.” ▪️

More than four years after his abrupt resignation amid a sexual harassment scandal, former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price publicly remarked on the damning expose that forced his ouster.

As Price sees it, his exile has more to do with timing than anything else. 

Speaking to Bloomberg for a podcast detailing the rise of Amazon Studios and the broader Amazon Prime Video empire, Price seemed to indicate that the gravity of his career crisis was influenced by its proximity to the zeitgeist-shifting Harvey Weinstein scandal. 

Writer Kim Masters' expose on Price's ill-fated 2015 interaction with producer Isa Hackett was published on October 12, 2017, the same week that the New York Times and New Yorker published separate stories that not only destroyed the career of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and led to his criminal prosecution and imprisonment, but also spawned the global #MeToo movement.

Amazon's investigation of the 2015 Price-Hackett event, which was reported immediately to Amazon higher-ups by Hackett and originally detailed in an August 2017 report in The Information, came to an indefinite conclusion. However, Price said the timing of Masters' THR report -- which came out two months later, right as the Weinstein reports hit -- was too much for the seminal Amazon video executive to overcome.

"That was not a good week to have a bad article," said Price, 55, who has not worked since leaving Amazon. 

Certainly for Price, timing couldn't have been everything. 

Hackett, the married executive producer of Amazon original series Man in a High Castle, claimed Price made unwanted and lewd overtures to her in an Uber ride to a 2015 pilot screening event at ComicCon in San Diego. 

Commenting publicly for one of the few times since his departure, Price doesn't dispute the interaction occurred, but claims he wasn't coming onto the producer, merely engaging in a self-deprecating joke that was misunderstood. 

"It was obviously unfortunate and unintended," Price told Bloomberg, conceding there was "banter in the Uber" amid the "very short" 1 a.m. ride that also included another Amazon employee. 

"I deeply apologize if the banter was overboard," Price added. "Everyone has the right to define their own line of humor..."

The son of Frank Price, who served as chairman of Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures, the Hackett event wasn't the only socially awkward, sexually charged moment tied to Price during his 13-year tenure as Amazon's first video exec. 

Price hasn't given many interviews since his departure. But in November 2020, he told the Los Angeles Times that he wasn't looking to "elicit sympathy," but he doesn't think his #MeToo transgressions rise to the level of Weinstein, comedian Louis C.K. and former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly. 

”I just didn’t believe that, like, a false, vicious, totally contrary-to-fact narrative like that could be articulated, that it could actually be accepted and impact your reputation and all of your friends and family,” Price told the L.A. Times. “It just seemed like such a bizarre set of circumstances out of some Russian novel.”

The L.A. Times also spoke to unnamed Amazon co-workers who said the "punishment didn't fit the crime," and who also implied that Price's firing was influenced by "internal and external pressures" occurring at Amazon in 2017.

Masters' report detailed broader cultural issues under Price. And there was plenty fo circumstantial smoke tied to his Amazon exit. Not only did Amazon Studios under the former top executive's watch sign a multiyear deal with another noted #MeToo transgressor, Woody Allen, two of the biggest stars for two of Amazon Studios' seminal hits, Casey Affleck (Oscar contender Manchester By the Sea) and Jeffrey Tambor (original series Transparent), ended up under on-set sexual harassment scrutiny, as well. 

However, as Bloomberg noted, at the time of Price's ouster, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos -- enthralled and absorbed by the Hollywood industry he'd originally sought to disrupt and unseat -- was putting Price under pressure, seeking to broaden the reach of Amazon Studios beyond niche, artist-driven shows like Transparent into globally impactful hits. 

"Over time, your audience gets bigger as your service grows around the world. And you really need some tentpole shows," Price told Bloomberg. "So you've got to have, whatever it is, your Game of Thrones." 

Bezos even told Price at a meeting, "Bring me my Game of Thrones." ■

Amazon Studios has named Julie Rapaport as Head of Movies as her former counterpart as co-head, Matt Newman, was named to a new position at Prime Video's growing global Sports unit.

Rapaport continues to report to Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke while Newman "will take on a new role developing original sports docuseries, films, and scripted projects, reporting to Marie Donoghue," Salke said in an internal announcement. 

Rapaport joined Amazon in 2015 as a development executive, coming over from Weinstein Co. "With Julie’s top-notch leadership skills and her ability to nurture a diverse range of filmmakers – from up-and-comers to the well-established – this move will help us continue to build on our great momentum," Salke said. "The critical acclaim keeps rolling in this awards season, including three major noms for Being the Ricardos: Best Actress, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. Upcoming releases including Master with Regina Hall, My Policeman starring Harry Styles, All the Old Knives starring Chris Pine, and Catherine, Called Birdy with Lena Dunham reinforce our mission to be the Home for Talent. I’m grateful for Julie’s vision and continued contributions to the Studio."

Newman, who was co-head of movies for the last several years, moves to a sports role as Prime Video looks forward to the launch of Thursday Night Football streaming on an exclusive basis this fall. ■

For Latasha Gillespie, executive head of global diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at Amazon Studios, Amazon Prime Video and IMDb TV, DEI efforts are about achieving measurable results, not necessarily changing individuals’ hearts.

“I can’t change hearts — I’m not God — but I can change what you do between 9 and 5,” Gillespie said. “What people have to keep in mind, in our line of work, is that we don’t do DEI for the sake of DEI. You have to understand that the goal of doing DEI is about changing and driving business outcomes.”

Aaron Walton, founder and CEO of multicultural agency Walton Isaacson, said of Gillespie: “That’s one of the reasons I think we really connected — obviously, through the important work of what DEI can do internally in terms of making team members feel welcome, respected and included in decisions that are made at an organization. What I love about Latasha is she also understands how it can help drive revenue and profitability and how more inclusivity can help a brand reach a larger target.”

Non-Traditional Rise

Gillespie’s journey to the center of an up-and-coming Hollywood studio is not an obvious one. She got her bachelor’s degree in finance from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and spent 20 years working in corporate at equipment giant Caterpillar. In 2015, she was asked to lead the company’s human resources across Africa, the Middle East, Commonwealth of Independent States/Russia and Asia-Pacific and thus relocated her family to Singapore. 

When Amazon called in 2016, she wasn’t prepared to decamp to Seattle, but the opportunity — to set DEI culture and policy for a giant, growing tech leader — was ultimately too appealing to refuse. So Gillespie, her husband and teenage son moved again in January 2017. (Her older son was at Howard University in Washington, D.C.)

“My role was to set strategy for the corporation, accruing it to something that actually moved the needle for the corporation,” she said. “There had been a lot of activity [in the DEI space] without a lot of measurable results.” 

While the jump from Caterpillar to Amazon Inc. was somewhat overwhelming — because Gillespie was tasked with changing culture at a dispersed and disparate company of hundreds of thousands of employees — the move to Amazon Studios, Prime Video and IMDb in November 2018 represented another total shift in Gillespie’s industry and focus.

At Caterpillar, Gillespie had helped employees understand the importance of DEI through the company value of safety — asserting that good DEI practices create emotional safety for employees. At Amazon, the top value is customer obsession, Gillespie said.

“We move heaven and earth to get a package to you in two days, we read your comments and we have an easy return policy,” she said. “Similarly, are we equitably obsessing over all our customers? In order to make DEI initiatives work, you have to tie them to the business results and you have to make it organic.” 

At Amazon Studios, Gillespie and her team have instituted an inclusion policy and playbook. Any Amazon-branded production has to meet the goal of “30-30 20-20” — no more than 30% of department heads and seconds can be white men or women, and at least 20% have to be men of color and 20% have to be women of color. As a result of Gillespie’s work, the company also has set goals around religious faiths, LGBTQIA and differently-abled people.

Greenlighting Equity

Gillespie and her team also were instrumental in changing Amazon Studios’s greenlight process to make sure it is developing and producing inclusive and representational content using diverse talent above and below the line and in front of and behind the camera. Once per quarter, Gillespie and her team meet with Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke and senior business leaders to go over the data.

“I love her infectious enthusiasm for the business and for building culture,” Salke said. “She’s a real superstar in how she interacts with people and talent. She’s a very dynamic, passionate, creative, thoughtful and incredibly smart executive — that was very apparent to me from the first time I met her. It’s almost like because she wasn’t raised within the entertainment industry, she doesn’t have that baggage and she doesn’t feel like she has to stay in a lane.”

Said Gillespie: “I have the best job in the world. My goal is customer delight. I don’t have to chase advertising dollars or subscriptions, but I do have to chase customer delight. … I want to make sure that our entire team is committed to creating entertaining, binge-worthy content.” ■

Amazon Studios said it ordered a spinoff series from The Boys.

The untitled new series will also be produced by Sony Pictures Television and will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.

The Boys recently wrapped production on season 3. A premiere date has not been announced.

The spinoff will be set at America’s only college for young-adult superheroes. The school will be run by Vought International, the evil corporation central to The Boys' story. Amazon described the series as “part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.”

Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, Reina Hardesty, and Maddie Phillips have been cast as some of the show’s young superheroes.

Also Read: The Amazon Prime Video ‘Purge’: Why the Massive SVOD Library Appears to Have Fewer Titles to Binge on These Days

The series will be produced by Sony Pictures Television Studios and Amazon Studios, in association with Kripke Enterprises, Point Grey Pictures, and Original Film. 

Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will serve as showrunners and executive producers. Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and Michaela Starr will serve as executive producers.

“Much like Mork & Mindy spun-off from Happy Days—which is an insane and true fact—our spinoff will exist in the Vought Cinematic Universe, yet have a tone and style all its own. It’s our take on a college show, with an ensemble of fascinating, complicated, and sometimes deadly Young Supes,” said The Boys’ showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke. “Michele and Tara are stone-cold geniuses, we’re thrilled to have them steer this ship, and grateful to Sony and Amazon for the opportunity. We love this show and can’t wait for you to see it. Also, Baywatch Nights spun-off from Baywatch, and it had vampires. Vampires!”

Amazon Studios said that it renewed Invincible for two more seasons.

The adult animated series is based on the comic book by the same name. Season one of the show concludes Friday.

The series streams exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

“I’m extremely thankful to Amazon for the support and dedication they’ve put behind Invincible,” said Kirkman, better known to TV watchers as the creator of The Walking Dead. “The comic book is truly a love letter to a genre that Cory [Walker, the comics’ co-creator] and I grew up reading and loving, and it’s been a gratifying journey to watch our characters come to life again through the animated series. We’re beyond excited to continue this story for at least two more seasons.”

Invincible is about the 17-year-old son of a superhero who gets his own powers, but make an unsettling discovery about his dad. The story features grown-up humor and lots of cartoon gore.

The show stars Steven Yuen as Invincible, J.K. Simmons as his day and Sandra Oh as his mom. Also providing voices are Seth Rogan, Gillian Jacobs, Mark Hamill, Walton Gogglins, Jason Mantzoukas, Zachary Quinto, Mahershala Ali and Khary Payton.

“Invincible is a crowning example of how a fresh and edgy approach to the superhero genre can resonate with audiences around the globe and we’re so glad that Invincible, one of our earliest investments in the adult animation genre, has accomplished just that,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of television at Amazon Studios. “Robert’s no-holds-barred storytelling coupled with a first-class voice cast delivered on fans’ wildest expectations and we’re thrilled to be giving them more Invincible.”

Invincible is produced by Skybound and executive produced by Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert, Catherine Winder with supervising director Jeff Alle, and Linda Lamontagne serving as casting director. 

Invincible, Kirkman’s second-longest comic book series, concluded in February 2018 after a 15-year run. 

Amazon Studios signed tennis champion Serena Williams to a first look TV deal.

Williams will work with Amazon to create scripted and unscripted projects that will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The first will be an untitled docuseries following Williams on and off the court. 

“Serena has transformed her sport and become one of the most inspiring athletes, entrepreneurs and women of her generation, admired not only for her unmatched prowess on the court but for her dedication to advocacy as well,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “We’re incredibly excited to share her journey in this new series, and to work with her to create new original content for our Prime Video customers worldwide.”

Also Read: Amazon Inks Multimedia Deal With Jessica Simpson

The Williams docuseries is a Plum Pictures, Goalhanger Films and Amazon Studios production. It is executive produced by Serena Williams, Patrick Mouratoglou, Stuart Cabb, and Tony Pastor.

“I’m very excited to be partnering with Amazon Studios – they are developing some of the most inspiring and important content for a global audience. I have a lot of stories I’m eager to tell, including a continuation of my own, and I look forward to sharing those with the world,” said Williams.

Supernatural elements and a backdrop of 1950s racism provide a potent mix of terror for Amazon Studios’ anthology series Them.

(Series preview by Michael Malone.)

The limited series focuses its first season on a Black family who moves to California from the Jim Crow south during the Great Migration of the 1950s. The father of the Emory family and engineer, Henry (Ashley Thomas), wants a better life for his wife Lucky (Deborah Ayorinde) and two daughters, Ruby (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Gracie (Melody Hurd), and entrusts that the openness and freshness of the Los Angeles suburb of East Compton will provide the family with a slice of the American dream.

But within five minutes of driving through the all-white neighborhood, it’s clear the community won’t welcome the Emorys with open arms. A protest sit-in in front of the Emory house organized by the neighborhood wives, led by antagonist Betty Wendell (Alison Pill), is just a slice of what is in store for the family.

Undaunted, the Emorys go on enthusiastically with their lives — even as Lucky prepares for the worst by pushing bullets into a pistol at the kitchen table — but a supernatural entity emerges from the basement of the home to further torment the family. Several scenes between Lucky and her youngest daughter, Gracie, in early episodes portend some scary situations for viewers.

Them will undoubtedly be compared to Jordan Peele’s Us and the Golden Globe-nominated HBO series Lovecraft Country series in its feel, as well as its mix of supernatural elements and overt racism that at times is more terrifying to the protagonists. Executive producer Lena Waithe does a good job of setting the stage for what could potentially be a fascinating and at times scary tale. 

A coalition of media companies has been formed to use their storytelling power to address the nation’s mental health challenges.

ViacomCBS units including MTV Entertainment Group, The Walt Disney Co., Amazon Studios, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Starz are among those getting involved in the Mental Health Storytelling Summit, which will take place in May.

“The mental health crisis is the silent pandemic that has been on an alarming rise for the last decade and we are so thankful to our partners for joining us in this coalition to unleash the power of storytelling to help shatter the stigma around mental health,” said Chris McCarthy, president of MTV Entertainment Group. “As storytellers, we have the opportunity to represent the continuum of mental health and empower people to help themselves and each other, because mental health is health.”

The effort was created in partnership with the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California.

The media companies, as part of the industry advisory council, will work with expert groups including Active Minds, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Born This Way Foundation, Entertainment Industries Council, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Council for Behavioral Health, SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), The Boris L. Henson Foundation, The Jed Foundation, The Trevor Project, Vibrant Emotional Health (administers of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), Dr. Jessi Gold, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, and Dr. Michael Lindsey.

“How mental health is portrayed in film, television and other popular media deeply impacts the public discourse about and perceptions of people with mental illness,” said Glenn O’Neal, Chief Communication Officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “We’re proud to collaborate on this project so that the diverse experiences of people with mental health conditions are accurately represented, reducing stigma and discrimination.”  

Industry leaders, creators, and celebrities will kick off this collaboration at the Mental Health Storytelling Summit, which will include inspiring conversations, case studies and workshops. 

The coalition will also unveil a comprehensive Mental Health Media Guide which provides best practices and evidence-based recommendations to support storytellers at any phase in the production process, across topics and genres.

“It is a privilege and responsibility to help shine a light on the importance of mental health through stories and shows including Grey’s Anatomy, black-ish, Love, Victor and A Million Little Things that run on our broadcast networks and streaming platforms,” said Craig Erwich, president, ABC Entertainment and Hulu Originals. “Feeling seen and understood is a powerful step toward seeking solutions, and we will continue to lean into the power of our storytelling and platforms to show support, raise awareness and change the narrative around mental health.”

Amazon’s biggest and best-known video-streaming unit is Amazon Prime Video, which is roughly as old as the streaming version of Netflix. Amazon Prime Video actually launched back in 2006 as Amazon Unbox. Since then, Amazon Prime has undergone a string of makeovers worthy of a Hollywood starlet, including multiple name changes, technological shifts, and the 2011 acquisition of Love Film, a British service similar to Netflix. 

And, like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video is now available in roughly 200 countries, with the main exceptions being mainland China, North Korea, Iran and Syria. 

Also Read: Amazon Infiltrates Fire TV into Cable TV Market with NCTC Deal

Amazon Prime, a program that involves free shipping on select goods, has an estimated 126 million members, who also get access to Amazon Prime Video as part of their $119/year fee, though third-party research suggests only about half of those customers take advantage. Amazon Prime Video is also available a la carte, at $8.99 per month, or only 93 cents less than the pro-rated cost of the much broader Prime subscription. 

Amazon spends an estimated $6 billion a year in programming, largely through Amazon Studios, presided over by former NBC entertainment chief Jennifer Salke for the past two years. 

The studios have been productive under Salke, particularly in comedy, where The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag took turns the past two years winning the Emmy for Best Comedy Series, among many other awards.

Amazon also has invested heavily, both in production and marketing, in other originals, most notably for a spinoff series based on Lord of the Rings. For those rights, secured amid peak interest in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Amazon paid $250 million, and is spending a similar amount to produce the initial series episodes. 

Amazon Prime Video’s newest big bet is Hunters, a revisionist historical take on Nazi hunters in the United States in the 1970s. It stars Al Pacino and Logan Lerman, and has been heavily promoted during the 2020 Oscars telecast and many other places. Other recent high-profile Amazon Prime Video programs include anthology show Modern Love, inspired by the New York Times column; Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan featuring  John Krasinski; and British sci-fi adaptation The Feed, featuring David Thewlis. There’s also plenty of licensed content to fill out around the originals. 

The Sun Never Sets

But Amazon’s streaming-media reach hardly stops with Amazon Prime Video. 

Amazon Channels is an Amazon Prime Video add-on, giving customers easy subscription access to still more TV, from roughly 150 providers, including such traditional pay-TV powers as HBO,  Showtime, and Starz; basic-cable spinoffs such as BET+, Lifetime Movie Club, Noggin, and Hallmark; newer streamers such as CBS All Access, BritBox, and CuriosityStream; and specialty channels such as Upfaith & Family, and Yoga Anytime Channel. 

Amazon Channels has been a lucrative outlet, for both the networks and Amazon itself. In late 2018, BMO Capital Markets estimated that the Channels unit generated $1.7 billion that year, as much as 30 percent going to Amazon. More importantly, Amazon Channels was generating anywhere from 25% to 40% of the subscribers watching those participating networks, BMO estimated.    

But not everyone wants to build their own replacement cable bundle. For the audience segment that prefers their video content free and don’t mind ads, in early 2019, Amazon launched AVOD service Freedive, with content licensed from Warner Bros., Sony, and MGM, interspersed with ads. Less than six months later, Freedive rebranded to IMDb TV, which competes most closely with the Roku Channel and reinforces another big Amazon brand. 

Also Read: The Five Spot: Q&A with Mark Eamer, VP of IMDb TV

Amazon still has its transactional side, too, selling traditional DVDs, Blu-Ray discs and CDs for the antediluvian audiences who still like old-fashioned packaged media. Its e-commerce operations are also a major Electronic Sell-Through and rental outlet.

It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s online-media offerings extend well beyond video. 

There’s Twitch, the live streaming platform focused on live multiplayer videogaming, that Amazon purchased in 2014. Twitch’s technological knowhow might come in handy as Amazon gets into things like live sports broadcast licensing. In June, Amazon started staffing up its software engineering and product management ranks to begin offering live, linear streaming. 

The Amazon Prime empire also includes IMDb, the vast reference database of film, TV shows, and other media content.  Amazon Music provides subscription music streams on par with Spotify and Apple. Amazon Prime members get a subset of that music for free. And the company owns audible.com, the giant purveyor of audiobooks and premium podcasts.

These disparate Amazon Prime offerings don’t seem to fit together particularly well. In part, as one former Amazon executive told me recently, the company frequently experiments with formats and approaches in new sectors.

“They tend to do a lot of experiments and learn from them,” the executive said. “Even if they lose money, it’s okay. They then grow from the knowledge.”

Amazon Prime has already killed off some experiments, like Anime Strike, an anime-focused stand-alone network on Amazon Channels that required its own separate subscription. 

Anime Strike launched in 2017 and lasted barely a year before shutting down, its content now available partly on Prime Video and partly on indie anime service HIDIVE.

But one part of the Amazon Prime empire does knit together all its disparate media experiments: its burgeoning hardware offerings. They include Fire TV tablets, connected TV interfaces, streaming devices, and a proliferating universe of first- and third-party devices built around the Alexa digital assistant. 

With more than 40 million active users worldwide, Amazon Fire TV is the No. 1 OTT device ecosystem globally. It ranks only behind Roku in the U.S. 

To borrow a well-used phrase from another famous brand, the range of Amazon media offerings allows customers to have it their way, on any of hundreds of devices and through just about every business model out there. Amazon Prime’s vast reach and resources allow it to be everywhere, and to try everything., to see what works  for consumers. 

As with some other massive players in the online space (Apple, Disney, increasingly Comcast), Amazon Prime’s media offerings are a way to make money, sure, but more importantly, they’re a way to keep customers coming back for everything else the company has to offer. Don’t call their media ventures a loss leader; call them a profit pusher. 

Amazon Studios is partnering with pop star Jessica Simpson on a multimedia rights deal that includes a docuseries based on her memoir Open Book, a scripted series inspired by the memoir, and a pair of original essays to be published through Amazon Original Stories. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jessica to the Amazon family. Jessica has a fascinating, emotional story, not just of celebrity and success, but with relatable, all-too-human problems so many of us encounter with love, family and life,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of television, Amazon Studios. “Open Book was a phenomenon, and we’re so excited to bring it to life on Prime Video and IMDb TV, and for Amazon Original Stories readers to have the chance to hear more from Jessica in her own words.”

The unscripted project is a “raw and revealing” docuseries, said Amazon, “that will include vivid and intimate, never-before-seen personal footage shot over the last decade and will explore the highs and lows of Simpson’s life.” 

Simpson will be an executive producer with Lauren Auslander and Lacy Lynch. “I am humbled and honored to partner with Amazon Studios to bring my story and heart to life on the screen,” she said. “I am a huge TV fan and many of my favorite shows live on Amazon, so the gift of this unprecedented collaboration is a dream for me.”

Amazon Studios and IMDb TV are developing a fictionalized drama series inspired by Open Book, about Simpsons coming of age in her mid-twenties, following her divorce. The series will be produced by Simpson and Patrick Moran of PKM Productions, alongside Lynch and Auslander.

Music will be a key component of both series.

Simpson’s original essays will be released by Amazon in 2021. The first is on motherhood and the second is on gratitude. 

“From our first meeting I had a visceral connection to every member of this team,” Simpson added. “I know that parts of my life have been extraordinary, but I also know that many of my struggles are universal. I hope to continue the mission I set out to accomplish in writing Open Book -- to inspire others to be entertained, moved and empowered to walk through fear and come out on the other side even stronger.” 

Amazon’s IMDb TV continues to be out front of the AVOD competition in terms of original shows, setting up two more series from sibling Amazon Studios.

Premiering on the free-to-consumer IMDb TV in early 2021, documentary series Moment of Truth will examine the 1993 murder of basketball legend Michael Jordan’s father, James Jordan, unearthing new details of a crime that shocked America. 

IMDb is also developing untiled series from filmmaker dream hampton (creator of Netflix’s acclaimed documentary Surviving R. Kelly). Her latest untitled docu-series will look at the cultural impact of one of TV’s most prolific programming genres, crime procedurals. 

In November, IMDb TV debuted Amazon Studios’ series adaptation of writer Anthony Horowitz spy-thriller novel series, Alex Rider. 

“As we expand our slate of premium original programming for IMDb TV, we were captivated by these distinct projects, each designed to uniquely engage audiences through high-quality, thought-provoking and previously untold stories,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming for IMDb TV, apparently speaking the same words and sentences, in simultaneous harmony, for a joint statement. “dream hampton is a visionary who illuminates the role crime fiction has played in our day-to-day lives and the way real-life cases are prosecuted. In Moment of Truth, Matthew and Clay start with a crime that shocked the nation, unfolding the mysteries of the past while revealing the all-too-relevant present-day implications.”

Paramount’s Coming 2 America, the long-awaited sequel to 1988 Eddie Murphy comedy classic Coming to America, will bypass theatrical distribution and debut directly on Amazon Prime Video, starting December 18, Variety reports. 

The entertainment trade said some terms of the deal still need to be worked out. But the pact is reportedly valued at around $125 million. And promotional deals attached to the production with McDonald’s and Crown Royal are said to be shifting over to some kind of Amazon integration. 

The Variety report is unclear as to whether Amazon secured merely North American rights, or if it has rights to stream Coming 2 America in each of its 240 global territories, as it does with Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat sequel, which debuts on the steaming service globally Oct. 23.

The original Coming to America grossed $128.2 million domestically in 1988 dollars, and it pulled in $288.8 million in a worldwide box office that isn’t nearly as developed as what exists today.

Paramount reportedly considered a premiere of Coming 2 America on its sibling SVOD platform, CBS All Access (soon to be Paramount Plus). But Amazon Studios and its chief, former Robert Greenblatt lieutenant Jennifer Salke, are reportedly paying aggressive money to haul in theatrical titles displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to Coming 2 America and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Amazon recently acquired another Paramount title originally slated for movie theaters, Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse, staring Michael B. Jordan. 

Notably, the Walt Disney Company this week signaled that it’s now prioritizing video streaming amid the indefinitely disrupted global theatrical market. 

Disney made what now appears to be a wise decision last month to domestically launch its live-action adaptation of animation hit Mulan as a premium $30 VOD offering to its Disney Plus subscribers. 

The film has only grossed $66.8 million at the international box office since debuting Sept. 8. But various estimates peg the gross from just Mulan’s domestic Labor Day weekend debut on Disney Plus at $33.5 million. In fact, research company 7Park Data went as far to suggest that Mulan pulled in as much as $261 million in its first two weeks on Disney Plus in the U.S. 

Also read: Disney Reorganizes to Focus on DTC Platforms

Regardless of the actual total, which Disney has yet to announce, the studio didn’t have to split revenue with theater chains. There was also the addition of subscribers, and brand prestige, for Disney Plus. 

Conversely, AT&T’s WarnerMedia division opted to forgo direct-to-streaming for Christopher Nolan summer blockbuster Tenet. The action thriller has grossed a strong $323.5 million in worldwide box office, with per-screen IMAX showings overseas breaking records. But scattershot theater openings domestically have allowed for only a $48.3 million North American opening for Tenet. And with COVID-19 cases trending upward in the U.S. once again, there's no timetable for the domestic exhibition industry to return to stability as it has in other regions ... like, notably, China.  

For comparison’s sake, the last time Nolan wrote and directed a non-superhero-themed summer tentpole for Warner Bros., 2010’s Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, it grossed $836.8 million worldwide and $292.6 million in North America, prior to lucrative home entertainment and TV release windows. 

As for Coming 2 America, it reunites much of the core cast from the original title, with Murphy reprising his Prince Akeem character who migrated from the fictional African nation of Zamunda to New York City to escape an arranged marriage and search for his own wife. 

In the sequel, Murphy is back in his home country, about to ascend to the throne, with James Earl Jones reprising his role as Akeem’s now ailing father, the king. Upon learning that he has a son back in New York, Murphy returns to Queens, alongside his loyal sidekick, Semmi (actor Arsenio Hall), attempting to line up an heir to his throne, as per the wishes of his dying father. 

End-of-the-World Fun on Amazon 

Utopia is on Amazon Prime. A group of young people come together when they discover that the conspiracy in a comic that foretells the demise of humanity is, in fact, real. 

That demise-of-humanity thing might feel a bit timely. “The show does feature a panic-inducing viral outbreak,” executive producer Jessica Rhoades said. “But it’s more about how different groups of people band together to save the world.”

The show is inspired by a U.K. series of the same name that ran 2013-2014. Exec producer Gillian Flynn added Dr. Christie, played by John Cusack, to the U.S. series. “I think viewers will see a John that they haven’t seen before,” said Rhoades. 

Rhoades and Flynn previously worked on HBO’s Sharp Objects. Rhoades received a bunch of Utopia scripts and read them until the wee hours. “It’s a different side of Gillian,” she said, with lots of “wicked humor.”

Tong Wars Brought to Life on Cinemax 

Martial arts drama Warrior begins season two on Cinemax Oct. 2. Based on the writings of Bruce Lee, it’s about the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 19th century. After proving his worth as a fighter, Ah Sahm becomes hatchet man for the Hop Wei gang. 

Warrior shoots in Cape Town. Creator Jonathan Tropper said producers needed to build a “self-contained world” — streets, alleys and buildings from 1800s California — and South Africa made
that possible. 

Immigration was a hot issue when Warrior takes place, and still is. “We tell a story from 1870 that’s still true today,” said Tropper. “A country built by immigrants, yet we struggle with our relationship with immigrants.”

New AMC Series Goes Beyond ‘The Walking Dead’ 

The Walking Dead: World Beyond debuts Oct. 4 on AMC, following the first generation raised in the post-apocalyptic world. Two teen sisters, Hope and Iris, set out on “a grand adventure,” as co-creator Matt Negrete puts it, and run into a bit of trouble, including zombies the series refers to as “empties.” 

Viewers won’t find Walking Dead characters in
the spinoff. “This is a whole other thing,” co-creator Scott M. Gimple said. “You won’t see Rick Grimes walking around the corner, saying, ‘Hey kids,
what’s up?’ ”

Negrete said World Beyond has similar horror and suspense, but “a bit more hopeful tone.”

The show is shot in Richmond, Virginia. It was slated for an April premiere, but COVID jammed things up. Gimple hopes World Beyond will provide a bit of entertainment in these trying times. “The show offers people an escape,” he said. “An escape from their homes, from the monotony, from the pressure people are feeling.” λ

Amazon Studios has inked a first-look deal with pop star Lizzo. Lizzo has three Grammys. 

“Lizzo is one of the most exciting, creative, joyful artists in the industry, and it is such a pleasure to announce this new deal with her,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “She has such a unique perspective and we’re so excited to hear her ideas for new content that our Prime Video customers are sure to love.”

Related: Amazon Orders ‘A League of Their Own’ Series

Lizzo’s hits include “Truth Hurts,” “Good As Hell” and “Juice.” Her 2019 album is called “Cuz I Love You.”

“I’m so excited to partner with the amazing team at Amazon,” said Lizzo. “Thank you to Jen Salke and the rest of the team for making this dream come true. I can’t wait to get started and share my vision with the world.”

Amazon Studios has struck a first-look production deal with Grammy-winning artist Lizzo, the company announced Thursday during its virtual TCA press tour presentation. 

Lizzo appeared along with Amazon Studios co-television heads Albert Cheng and Vernon Sanders to announce the deal. Lizzo co-starred in the 2019 theatrical film Hustlers. 

“Lizzo is one of the most exciting, creative, joyful artists in the industry, and it is such a pleasure to announce this new deal with her,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios in a statement. “She has such a unique perspective and we’re so excited to hear her ideas for new content that our Prime Video customers are sure to love.”

In other Amazon Studios news, the company will develop a series version of the 1992 baseball film A League of Their Own, with Broad City's Abbi Jacobson starring and servicing as executive producer for the series along with Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle.) 

“There’s no crying in baseball, or at Prime Video,” said Sanders. “Will and Abbi have taken a classic movie, reimagining it for a new generation with new characters and their own fresh, modern vision on a timeless story of big dreams, friendship, love, and, of course, baseball. We’re so excited to partner with Sony to bring this emotional, exciting new series to our Prime Video customers around the world.”

Amazon Studios has ordered a pickup of the series A League of Their Own, from Sony Pictures Television. Abbi Jacobson of Broad City will star and executive produce. She’s a co-creator alongside Will Graham, who will also exec produce. 

Penny Marshall directed the film A League of Their Own in 1992. Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell were in the cast. The series “evokes the joyful spirit of Penny Marshall's beloved classic, while widening the lens to tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball,” said Amazon. “The show takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the league and outside of it.

“There’s no crying in baseball, or at Prime Video,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of Television, Amazon Studios. “Will and Abbi have taken a classic movie, reimagining it for a new generation with new characters and their own fresh, modern vision on a timeless story of big dreams, friendship, love and, of course, baseball. We’re so excited to partner with Sony to bring this emotional, exciting new series to our Prime Video customers around the world.”

In the cast alongside Jacobson are Chanté Adams, D'Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo and Kelly McCormack. 

“Twenty eight years ago, Penny Marshall told us a story about women playing professional baseball that up until then had been largely overlooked,” said Graham and Jacobson. “We grew up obsessed with the film, like everyone else. Three years ago, we approached Sony with the idea of telling a new, still overlooked set of those stories. With the help of an enormously talented team of collaborators, an amazing cast, and the devoted support of Amazon to this project, we feel beyond lucky and excited to get to bring these characters to life. It took grit, fire, authenticity, wild imagination and a crackling sense of humor for these players to achieve their dreams. We’re hoping to bring audiences a story with all of those qualities.”  

A League of Their Own is from Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television in association with Field Trip Productions. Executive producers alongside Graham and Jacobson are Field Trip’s Hailey Wierengo, and co-executive producer Elizabeth Koe. Jamie Babbit served as executive producer for and directed the pilot. 

With networks turning over every bit of popular intellectual property to see what might work on television, video games are an increasingly hot source for development. Most recently: Amazon Studios has licensed the rights to Fallout, with Kilter Films, producer of HBO’s Westworld, producing.

Fallout is set in the future, following a global nuclear war. Amazon Studios would not comment on its plans, but Albert Cheng, chief operating officer and co-head of television, said in a statement the game is “an iconic global franchise” with loads of fans and lively storylines.

Amazon’s Fallout plot comes on the heels of HBO’s plans to adapt The Last of Us. The PlayStation game looks at a smuggler escorting a teen girl across a post-apocalyptic U.S. Craig Mazin, who created Chernobyl, will executive produce alongside Neil Druckmann, creative director of the game.

Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions are producing. Chris Parnell, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, called it “the first of many shows we intend to develop with our friends at PlayStation Productions.”

Showtime, for its part, has long been working on a series based on the Xbox game Halo. It will depict the 26th-century conflict between humankind and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Showtime would not comment, but has said the project “will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.”

Halo is scheduled to debut next year. Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone and Bokeem Woodbine are in the cast.

The TV projects bring an automatic audience along for the ride. Nearly two-thirds of American adults played video games daily in 2019, according to the Entertainment Software Association, and one has to believe the number is going up considerably in work-from-home 2020.

“Previously subcultured gaming has bled into mainstream culture,” said Sarah Unger, senior VP of cultural insights and strategy at Civic Entertainment Group. “It extends across all demographics.” 

Amazon Studios has ordered a series pickup for a comedic drama from Jason Katims. Initially titled On the Spectrum, the project is not currently titled. From Amazon Studios and Universal Television, it is about “three 20-something roommates on the autism spectrum, striving for the same things that we all desire: To get a job, keep a job, make friends, fall in love, and navigate a world that eludes them,” said Amazon.

Rick Glassman, Sue Ann Pien, and Albert Rutecki, who each identify as living on the autism spectrum, are in the cast, along with Sosie Bacon, Chris Pang and Joe Mantegna.

“Jason Katims is exceptional at creating beautiful and relatable stories about deeply authentic characters, and this new series continues in that tradition,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “This series is honest, touching and incredibly entertaining, with casting that delivers a unique and genuine perspective on universal themes that we know our global Amazon Prime Video customers will love.”

Katims’ TV work includes NBC series Friday Night Lights, Parenthood and About a Boy. 

“Having a 23-year-old son on the spectrum, it is deeply personal for me to get to tell this unique story of what it’s like to come of age as someone with autism," said Katims. "I'm grateful to Jen Salke, Vernon Sanders and the entire Amazon team, along with my friends at Universal Television, who share my passion for this project, and who are incredibly supportive creative partners.”

Katims is executive producing along with Jeni Mulein and Danna Stern. 

Regular Heroes, about the contributions and sacrifices people are making during the coronavirus pandemic, premieres on Amazon Prime May 8. There are eight episodes, and new ones will be available every Friday. 

“We are so proud to celebrate people who are doing so much to transform the lives of people in their communities. This show is inspired by the individuals who give so much to others every day of the year but even more so during this challenging time. They are true role models and we can’t wait to share their stories with Prime Video customers everywhere,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios.

The series focuses on healthcare and emergency workers, grocery store employees, farmers, bus drivers, delivery personnel, sanitation workers, police officers and others. In the premiere, Alicia Keys shines a light on Trevor Henry, Burnell Cotlon and Athena Hayley as they make sacrifices for their families and communities.  Keys’ new song, “Good Job,” will play in the series. 

“In addition to shining the spotlight on the heroes’ tireless work and amplifying their efforts in cities including New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, and Seattle, among others, the series will offer support and assistance with donations of goods, services and more so that they can continue to pay it forward and help their communities,” said Amazon. 

Regular Heroes is produced by Amazon Studios in association with Philymack, TyTy & Jay Brown Productions and MGM’s Big Fish Entertainment. Philip McIntyre, John Lloyd Taylor, Laurence “Jay” Brown, Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith, Dan Cesareo, Lucilla D’Agostino and Jordana Starr are executive producers.

Erika North has been appointed to head of Asia-Pacific Originals at Amazon Studios, according to a report from Variety.

North had previously been with HBO Asia and Netflix. She is based in Singapore and will continue to be based there. She will report to James Farrell who is based in North America.

Amazon is continuing to expand internationally and Asia is one of the areas not covered entirely by its streaming service. 

While at HBO, North worked on Serangoon Road, Halfworld and The Teenage Psychic. Her Netflix projects include Chinese crime thriller, Nowhere Man, Triad Princess, and The Ghost Bride. 

Amazon has hired former Sony TV and Hulu executive Mike Hopkins to oversee Amazon Studios and Amazon Prime Video, reporting directly to company CEO Jeff Bezos. 

Hopkins, who is departing a leading role at Sony Pictures TV that he occupied since late 2017, will replace Jeffrey Blackburn, Amazon’s senior VP of business development and digital entertainment, who is going on sabbatical. 

Jen Salke, who currently heads Amazon Studios, will report to Hopkins, as she did Blackburn. 

“Mike comes to us with over 20 years of industry experience at Fox, Hulu, and Sony,” Blackburn said in an email to his Amazon staff, obtained the Los Angeles Times. “He has an extensive track record as a global business leader in media, film and TV — negotiating landmark content and distribution agreements, running marketing operations, leading product/tech teams, and overseeing production of breakthrough television content.”

Tony Vinciquerra, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, sent a note to staff Monday morning, thanking Hopkins for his work at the studio. “From day one he was charged with rethinking the way we run our television businesses,” the memo said “Under his watch, SPT has been transformed into a stronger and more nimble organization, able to pivot and change course quickly in today’s rapidly evolving entertainment landscape.”

It’s expected that Salke will continue to make inroads into the Hollywood production business through Amazon Studios’s Culver City, Calif. headquarters. It’s also expected that Blackburn will return to work at the company, but in a different capacity. 

Amazon Studios has unveiled the cast for its untitled Tracy Oliver comedy series project, which will include veteran actress Meagan Good, the company said Tuesday during its Television Critics Association panel.

The series, which Oliver (Girls Trip) will produce, follows the lives of four black women as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams, said the company. Along with Good, Grace Byers, Jerrie Johnson and Shoniqua Shandai will star in the project.

Amazon Studios additionally announced that Malcolm Lee (Girls Trip, The Best Man Holiday) will direct the first two episodes.

Amazon Studios has unveiled the cast for its untitled Tracy Oliver comedy project, which will include veteran actress Meagan Good, the company said Tuesday during its Television Critics Association panel.

The series, which Oliver (Girls Trip) will produce, follows the lives of four black women as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams, said the company. Along with Good, Grace Byers, Jerrie Johnson and Shoniqua Shandai will star in the project. 

Amazon Studios additionally announced that Malcolm Lee (Girls Trip, The Best Man Holiday) will direct the first two episodes.

Pasadena, Calif. — Amazon Studios has unveiled some of the cast members for The Lord of the Rings series.

The cast members include Robert Aramayo (Game of Thrones, Harley and the Davidsons), Owain Arthur (A Confession, London Kills, Babylon), Nazanin Boniadi (Counterpart, Homeland, How I Met Your Mother), Tom Budge (The Pacific, Mabo, Gallipoli), Morfydd Clark (Dracula, His Dark Materials), Ismael Cruz Córdova (The Undoing, Ray Donovan), Ema Horvath (Like.Share.Follow, The Gallows 2), Markella Kavenagh (The Cry, The Gloaming), Joseph Mawle (Birdsong, MotherFatherSon), Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete (Vice Versa, Miss Littlewood), Megan Richards (Wanderlust, Doctors), Dylan Smith (I Am the Night, First Cow), Charlie Vickers (Medici: Masters of Florence), and Daniel Weyman (Silent Witness, Gentleman Jack). 

The series, which will feature eight episodes, will start production will begin in February.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay and serve as showrunners and executive producers on the project. Lindsey Weber, Bruce Richmond , Gene Kelly , Sharon Tal Yguado, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill , and Justin Doble will also serve as executive producers with filmmaker J.A. Bayona and his partner Belén Atienza directing the first two episodes and executive producing as well.

"After undertaking an extensive global search, we are delighted finally to reveal the first group of brilliant performers who will take part in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series," McKay and Payne said in a statement. "These exceptionally talented women and men are more than just our actors: they are the newest members of an ever-expanding creative family that is now working tirelessly to bring Middle-earth to life anew for fans and audiences worldwide.”

Amazon Studios announced several new production deals, including an overall deal with Academy Award winning director/producer Steve McQueen, during its TCA executive panel Tuesday (Jan. 14).

McQueen, who won an Academy Award for producing 12 Years a Slave, will produce a new series for Amazon dubbed Last Days, according to Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. McQueen’s drama series Small Axe will also premiere on Amazon Prime Video later this year.

Salke also announced a new production deal with Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company, which is currently producing The Underground Railroad with Barry Jenkins for Amazon. The company will work on a new series, Outer Range, for Amazon.

Also signing new production deals with Amazon are producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, according to Salke. The duo will serve as executive producers on the Amazon original series Untitled Cortés and Moctezuma Project.

On the series side, Amazon announced that it will develop a new series based on the Jack Reacher series of books from writer Lee Child, said Salke. Amazon also signed Priyanka Chopra, Richard Madden to appear in its global drama series Citadel from producers Anthony and Joe Russo. 

Amazon Studios announced several new production deals, including an overall deal with Academy Award winning director/producer Steve McQueen, during its TCA executive panel Tuesday (Jan. 14). 

McQueen, who won an Academy Award for producing 12 Years a Slave, will produce a new series for Prime dubbed Last Days, according to Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. McQueen’s drama series Small Axe will also premiere on Amazon Prime Video later this year. 

Salke also announced a new production deal with Brad Pitt’s Plan B Production company, which is currently producing The Underground Railroad with Barry Jenkins for Amazon. The company will work on a new series, Outer Range, for Amazon. 

Also signing new production deals with Amazon are producers Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, according to Salke. The duo will serve as executive producers on the Amazon original series ‘Untitled Cortés and Moctezuma Project.’

On the series side, Amazon announced that it will develop a new series based on the Jack Reacher series of books from writer Lee Child, said Salke. Amazon also signed Priyanka Chopra, Richard Madden to appear in its global drama series Citadel from producers Anthony and Joe Russo. 

Amazon Saturday released the first video trailer for the second season of its drama series Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. 

The second season of the series finds CIA Officer Jack Ryan, portrayed by John Krasinski (A Quiet Place), heading down to South America to investigate a potentially suspicious shipment of illegal arms in the Venezuelan jungle. As Jack’s investigation threatens to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy, the President of Venezuela launches a counter-attack that hits home for Jack, leading him and his fellow operatives on a global mission spanning the United States, UK, Russia, and Venezuela to unravel the President’s nefarious plot and bring stability to a country on the brink of chaos, according to the streaming service.

Related: Amazon Studios Signs Development Deal with Lena Waithe

Longtime Hulu CFO Elaine Paul is reportedly moving over to Amazon Studios, where’s she’ll work the same role.

As originally reported in The Information, Paul is leaving Hulu as Disney—the former employer she left Hulu for back in 2103—takes full control over Hulu.

Paul becomes the first C-level Hulu executive to depart the streaming service amid this transition.

Paul worked at Disney for more than 20 years in key strategy and business development roles. She notably helped lead Disney’s initial investments in Hulu.

According to The Information, Paul has already started at Amazon Studios. She’ll report to studio chief Jennifer Salke.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Doug Hott, who previously led Amazon Studios’ financial decision-making, has left the company. 

Amazon Studios and Viola Davis’s JuVee Productions company will team to produce a film on the life of political activist Shirley Chisholm, the first project under production deal reached between the two companies earlier this week.

Davis will star and serve as executive producer of The Fighting Shirley Chisholm, based on the life of the first woman and the first person of color to seek a major American political party’s nomination for President, said Amazon. 

The movie will be produced by Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions company, which earlier this week inked a first-look production deal with Amazon Studios.

Davis and Tennon will serve as producers for The Fighting Shirley Chisholm along with Stephanie Allain and Mel Jones. Maggie Betts (Novitiate) will direct the screenplay, written by Adam Countee (Silicon Valley, Community, and Mindy Project), said Amazon. 

Amazon Studios has scored an exclusive first-look production deal with actress Viola Davis and actor/producer Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions.

The deal calls for the Academy Award, Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actress and Tennon to create features for the streaming service. Davis recently wrapped up a comedy film, Troupe Zero, for Amazon Studios.

“Amazon Studios is passionate about building a home for both new and established filmmakers of all backgrounds, who share the same vision in telling incredible and engaging human stories,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios in a statement. “Viola and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions brings distinctive, fresh voices and high-quality content to our customers in both theaters and on Prime Video.”

The deal follows other recently announced Amazon Studios production deals with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television for eight direct-to-service movies; Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films; The Handmaid’s Tale director Reed Morano; and Academy Award winning director Jordan Peele. 

Amazon Studios has signed Game Of Thrones producer/writer Bryan Cogman to an exclusive development deal, the company said Friday.

Cogman, who has served as a co-executive producer for HBO’s Emmy-winning fantasy/drama series, will work exclusively with the Amazon Studios team to create original TV series for the Amazon Prime Video streaming service, said Amazon.

“We’re proud to be in business with Bryan, who has written some of the most memorable and exhilarating television in recent history,” said Albert Cheng, co-head television, Amazon Studios in a statement. “His storytelling prowess is undeniable, and we cannot wait to introduce his voice to our Prime Video audience.”

Amazon’s Emmy-winning series The Man in the High Castle will return for a fourth season, the streaming service announced this past weekend at Comic Con International.

The drama series will launch its third season on Oct. 5 on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, with a fourth season greenlit for production, according to Amazon. 

The series stars Alexa Davalos (Mob City), Luke Kleintank (Pretty Little Liars), DJ Qualls (Z Nation), Joel De La Fuente (Hemlock Grove), Brennan Brown (Focus), Bella Heathcote (The Neon Demon) Chelah Horsdal (You Me Her) and Jason O’Mara (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

The Man In The High Castle  was developed by Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), with Ridley Scott (The Martian), David W. Zucker (The Good Wife), Richard Heus (Ugly Betty), Isa Dick Hackett (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams), Daniel Percival (Banished) and Eric Overmyer (Treme, Bosch, The Affair) serving as executive producers for season three. 

Amazon confirmed Thursday (Feb. 15) that Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor will not return for the show’s fifth season in light of sexual harassment allegations, according to published reports.

Tambor, who won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of transgender character Maura Plefferman, was accused last November of sexual harassment by members of the Transparent team.

RELATED: Who's Next? Harrassment Charges Roil TV 

Amazon said Thursday that after an internal investigation of the matter, it decided to cut ties with the veteran actor as it moves forward with a fifth season of the show, according to several published reports.

In November Tambor told Deadlinethat he could not return to the show given its “politicized atmosphere.”

Tambor joins a list of high-profile actors, anchors, entertainers and execs who have been dismissed from shows due to sexual harassment allegations, including Kevin Spacey (Netflix's House of Cards), Matt Laurer (NBC's Today) and Louis C.K. (FX's Louie).

NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke will take over as head of Amazon Studios, the streaming service said Friday.

Salke, who served as head of the network’s entertainment division since 2011, will take over operations of the burgeoning streaming service four months after former Amazon Studios head Roy Price resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment.

Salke, who while at NBC was responsible for overseeing more than 25 scripted series, including Emmy Award-winning This Is Us as well as The Blacklist and The Good Place, will inherit a burgeoning studio that’s developed several high-profile original shows, including Emmy-winning series Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which recently picked up Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards for best comedy series.

Amazon COO Albert Cheng, who served as interim head of the studio, said in a tweet Friday that he’s looking forward to Amazon’s “awesome future” under Salke.

Warm welcome to Jennifer Salke as our new Head of Amazon Studios! It has been an honor and privilege to have served as interim head to a great team. Looking forward to this team's awesome future! https://t.co/l368YMLji8 via @thr

— Albert Cheng (@albert_cheng) February 9, 2018

Prior to naming Salke, Amazon reportedly had reached out to other industry executives, including A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc.

Amazon Studios has greenlit a second season of half-hour superhero comedy The Tick.

Ben Edlund created the series, and will return, as will cast leads Peter Serafinowicz as the title character and Griffin Newman as Arthur.

The second season will feature 10 episodes and is expected to premiere in 2019.

“Ben has created a resounding hit while Peter and Griffin have brought Tick and Arthur to indelible life,” said Sharon Yguado, head of scripted series, Amazon Studios. “We can’t wait to bring fans more of the Tick universe soon.”

Season one debuted on Amazon Aug. 25, 2017. The second half of season one rolls Feb. 23, with six new episodes.

Sony Pictures Television produces The Tick, along with Amazon Studios.

“I am so excited that Amazon wants to continue this wildly fruitful collaboration and that this amazing cast gets to stay together, and that we get to build this mythos further, wider, deeper, and taller,” said Edlund, creator and executive producer. “We got a good ball of mud spinning with the right tilt of axis, I'm very happy we have this opportunity to keep peopling it.”

Besides Edlund, executive producers are Barry Josephson and Barry Sonnenfeld. Josephson last summer told B&C that Amazon “seems like a really good home for us.”

An earlier version of The Tick debuted on Fox in 2001, with Patrick Warburton in the lead role. That series aired nine episodes.

Following a report that comedian Louis C.K. had behaved improperly with a number of women, FX Networks, which has produced five shows with him, said it had received no allegations against him in the eight years they have worked together.

In a story posted online Thursday (Nov. 9) by The New York Times, five women accused Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct. Before the story was published, a premiere of his movie I Love You, Daddy was canceled and an appearance on CBS's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on was postponed.

Afterward, HBO pulled Luckie Louie, a series Louis C.K. starred in, and his comedy specials from its video on demand service. He was also dropped from a live special, Night of Too Many Stars: America Unites for Autism, set to air Nov. 18

The accusations come at a time when charges of sexual harassment in the entertainment business are being levied at top executives, agents and actors. The wave began with accusations against producer Harvey Weinstein and has led to the departure of Amazon Studios chief Roy Price and the firing of Kevin Spacey from Netflix’s House of Cards.

Related: Weinstein TV Production Business Shaken Amid Harassment Scandal

FX, which airs Louis C.K.’s series Louie, issued a statement after the NYT story broke. It said: “We are obviously very troubled by the allegations about Louis C.K. published in The New York Times today. The network has received no allegations of misconduct by Louis C.K. related to any of our five shows produced together over the past eight years. FX Networks and FXP take all necessary actions to protect our employees and thoroughly investigate any allegations of misconduct within our workplace. That said, the matter is currently under review.”

There were no signs that FX had severed ties with Louis C.K., and the network would not comment beyond the statement.

Louis C.K. and his spokeman have declined to comment.

FX is part of 21st Century Fox, which also owns Fox News Channel.

Fox News chair Roger Ailes was removed from his post last year after allegations of sexual harassment. The company also took top-rated host Bill O’Reilly off the air after reports that he paid several women to settle harassment charges.

Related: James Murdoch Says Fox Sent Strong Signal With Ailes, O'Reilly Dismissals

21st Century Fox is reportedly under investigation for not properly reporting those payments to women.

An Amazon Studios TV project produced by The Weinstein Co., from David O. Russell and starring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore, will not continue in light of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment imbroglio.

The project did not have a title and had not begun production. A statement from Russell, De Niro and Moore said the pricey series would not move forward elsewhere.

Related: Weinstein TV Production Business Shaken Amid Harassment Scandal

“We support Amazon’s decision as, in light of recent news and out of respect for all those affected, we have decided together that it is best to not move forward with this show,” the three said in the joint statement.

Weinstein was fired last week and, over the weekend, was ousted from the Motion Pictures Academy of Arts and Sciences. Separately, Amazon Studios chief Roy Price was suspended indefinitely last week over a sexual harassment allegation.

Not much is known about the Russell project, a drama. Amazon reportedly had signed on for two seasons at $160 million.

Amazon is moving forward with another Weinstein Co. TV project, The Romanoffs, without the involvement of Harvey Weinstein. Matthew Weiner is behind that drama.

Weinstein was cofounder of The Weinstein Co., with his brother Bob, and had served as co-chairman.

Amazon Studios head Roy Price was put a leave of absence after the producer of one of Amazon Prime's best-known shows accused him of sexually harassing her.

Amazon Studios's COO, Albert Cheng, was named interim chief.

Isa Hackett, executive producer of Man in the High Castle, based on her father Philip K. Dick’s book, said Amazon Studios chief Price asked her to attend an Amazon staff party and repeatedly and insistently propositioned her, according to an interview in The Hollywood Reporter.

The allegations come after Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was fired because of his sexual harassment of many actresses and other women over the years. Those activities had been largely hushed up until stories broke last week in The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Related: Weinstein TV Production Business Shaken Amid Harassment Scandal

Hackett told THR she went public partly because she was inspired by the women who had the courage to come forward to accuse Weinstein, a powerful show business executive who threatened to ruin people’s careers.

Related: WGAE: Sexual Harassment Is 'Hallmark' of Industry

Hackett said she reported Price’s behavior to Amazon executives immediately, and an outside investigator was brought in to talk to her and Amazon executives. After that, she didn’t see Price at any events involving Man in the High Castle and another show she’s producing for Amazon, anthology series Electric Dreams.

When the accusations first arose, Amazon told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement: “We take seriously any questions about the conduct of our employees. We expect people to set high standards for themselves; we encourage people to raise any concerns, and we make it a priority to investigate and address them. Accordingly, we looked closely at this specific concern and addressed it directly with those involved."

Price declined to comment, according to the paper.

Under Price, Amazon has been building up the video content available to Amazon Prime members, becoming a stronger competitor to Netflix and Hulu.

The new season of One Mississippi arrives on Amazon this Friday (Sept. 8). The writing started on Jan. 17, with President Donald Trump’s inauguration just three days away. The timing affected the writers’ room.

“We really focus on a lot of current events,” star Tig Notaro said. “Everybody was very fueled with ideas and feelings.”

Robert E. Lee, a key figure in the Charlottesville culture wars, gets a fortuitous mention. One Mississippidepicts that state celebrating Lee’s accomplishments on Martin Luther King Day.

Notaro called it “a huge relief” not having to deal with ratings in the streaming world. “It means we get to make the show we want to make,” she said.

One Mississippi may run for five or six seasons, she hopes. “As far as I’m concerned, it could go on and on. But who knows — maybe they kick us out after season two?”

Related: Watch the "One Mississippi" Trailer

Sept. 8 is also the launch date for Third Rail With Ozy, a lively PBS debate program. Guests include Katie Couric, Mark Cuban and Malcolm Gladwell. The host is Carlos Watson, creator of journalism site Ozy.com. Watson said the timing of its premiere is perfect. “People are hungry to have this kind of forum to participate in this kind of conversation,” he said.

Denise Dilanni, show creator and WGBH senior executive, said Third Rail offers some of the late-night vibe seen on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee and Real Time With Bill Maher. “It’s unplugged and electrifying,” Dilanni said.

Watson promises the debates will run hot. “We’re gonna grab a hold of the third rail,” he said, “and see what happens.”

Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville is ready to light up on Fox Sept. 10. The oddball space romp sees MacFarlane as a down-on-his-luck spaceship captain who leads a crew on a vessel known as The Orville.

Where did the name come from? MacFarlane was reading David McCullough’s book on the Wright brothers, aptly named The Wright Brothers. “It felt like they were down on Orville, that Wilbur was doing most of the work. I felt like we should be The Orville then.”

Not everyone at Fox dug the name, but according to MacFarlane “everyone recognized the oddness of it. It put the show in a space from the get-go that said to the audience, ‘This is a little offbeat.’ ”

The programming polymath has a unique way of calibrating a new sci-fi property. “If I was a kid, would I want this as a toy?” MacFarlane said. “If I was 12, would I want this in my room?”

Viewers will decide if they want The Orville in their room.

Jeff Garlin, who returns to TV on ABC’s The Goldbergs on Sept. 27 and HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm on Oct. 1, is getting a bit sick of Emmys advertising.

Speaking with reporters from the set of The Goldbergs in Los Angeles during the recent Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour, Garlin lashed out against the billboards touting TV series all around the city.

Related: HBO, Netflix Diminate Emmy Nominations

“We’re the billboard capital of the United States of America,” he started. “At least half of them, I don’t know what they’re for. Is that a singer? Is that a band?” Garlin saved his sharpest contempt for the road signs looking to sway Emmys voters. He mentioned one for Amazon Studios’s Transparentthat said, “We are courageous.”

“A man becoming a woman in real life? Courageous,” Garlin bellowed. “Actors on a set getting a lot of money? There’s a craft services table! There’s nothing courageous about that. They get good salaries. It’s air-conditioned!” Transparent’sJeffrey Tambor is up for an outstanding actor prize this fall. He won last year. Judith Light and Kathryn Hahn are in the running for best supporting actress.

Garlin then shifted to Mozart in the Jungle, also an Amazon series. That billboard said, “We are iconic.”

“Bob Dylan — iconic. Mozart — iconic. Ella Fitzgerald — iconic,” howled Garlin. “A show that comes out on a place where you buy napkins? That’s not iconic.”

Amazon did not comment.

Mozart in the Jungle cleaned up at the 2016 Golden Globes awards, winning best musical or comedy, and with Gael Garcia Bernal taking home the best actor in a musical or comedy trophy.

Garlin suggested the folks at Amazon may not know what iconic means. “It’s a show most people don’t know!” he said of Mozart. “They’re buying a toaster!

Amazon will look to build on its lineup of original scripted series by releasing five new show pilots on March 17, the network said Thursday.

The pilots, which Amazon customers can review and vote on to determine which become full-fledged series, include three half-hour comedy series and two hour-long drama shows, according to the company. The comedy series include The Legend of Master Legend, from Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue (Transparent) that follows a homemade superhero in Las Vegas juggling the demands of his duty and his family; Budding Prospects, from Terry Zwigoff (Bad Santa), is an 1980s marijuana-themed comedy based on the T.C. Boyle novel of the same name; and adult animated comedy The New V.I.P.’s, from Steve Dildarian (The Life & Times of Tim), which follows a group of low level employees that seize control of a major corporation after accidentally murdering their boss.

On the scripted drama front, Amazon will roll out The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, from creator Amy Sherman-Palladino(Gilmore Girls) and starring Tony Shalhoub (Monk), explores the life of a 1958 New York City woman who goes from uptown housewife to stand-up comic in Greenwich Village; and Oasis, from Matt Charman (Bridge of Spies), that follows a chaplain who is sent into space to help establish a colony on a distant planet. Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense, Alpha House) and Anil Kapoor (Slumdog Millionaire, 24) will star in the pilot, said Amazon.

“Pilots continue to be the best way to take risks, find voices and evolve the art form of television,” Joe Lewis, Amazon Studios’ Head of Comedy, Drama & VR said in a statement. “We’re excited about these new worlds, characters and filmmakers. We’re looking forward to another Amazon Pilot Season and more great customer feedback.”