Add Amazon to the list of online video providers that could soon release some new original programming. The company is looking to hire creative executives to develop and produce original comedies and kids shows for online and traditional distribution.
According to a couple of job postings on the Amazon jobs site, the online retailer is hiring creative execs to develop programming through its Amazon Studios initiative. The jobs specifically are for the “People’s Production Company,” which is the name of the production studio producing original content, located in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Successful applicants would report to Amazon’s VP of Series Development and would be expected to:
- Assess pilot proposals
- Work with writers and artists to develop series ideas
- Staff, cast and produce pilots in a cost-efficient way
- Supervise series production when series are greenlit
While Netflix, Hulu and YouTube have already introduced their own original programming, the Amazon Studios project preceded all of those other initiatives. However, while Netflix, YouTube and others are sourcing their programming from professional production companies, Amazon took a different approach with its studio plans — it’s crowd-sourcing scripts and projects from a community of artists and optioning them for free.
Amazon Studios apparently paid $ 580,000 to script writers and $ 2.1 million for test movies in 2011, but programming has yet to make it to distribution. But the fact that Amazon is hiring creative execs to shepherd projects through the development process means that we could see some original shows popping up soon.
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