Amazon Studios has just launched another round of original pilots from some notable names – 5 new shows for adults and 5 new shows for the kiddos.
Available today to stream on Prime Instant Video and LOVEFILM (UK) are The After, Bosch, Mozart in the Jungle, Transparent, and The Rebels. For the kids you have Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, The Jo B. and G. Raff Show, Hardboiled Eggheads, Maker Shack Agency, and Wishenpoof!.
The After, an original series written and directed by The X-Files‘ Chris Carter, was the first drama pilot that Amazon Studios ordered up following a string of comedy pilots. According to Amazon, “The After follows eight strangers who are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel, Jamie Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar, and Louise Monot star in the pilot.”
“We can’t wait to share The After with audiences all over the world via Amazon.com. It’s an exciting time to be making TV—and this is an exciting place to be doing it,” said Carter.
Bosch, based on author Michael Connelly’s book series of the same name, was also announced at the time.
Mozart in the Jungle and Transparent were part of a trio of comedy pilots that were greenlit last October. The former has a lot of star power behind it, with Moonrise Kingdom‘s Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman at the helm – as well as a cast featuring Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcom McDowell. Mozart in the Jungle “is all about sex, drugs – and classical music – and shows that what happens behind the curtains at the symphony can be just as captivating as what happens on stage. It’s based on a memoir of the same name.
The latter is “a darkly comedic story about an LA family with serious boundary issues. In this exploration of sex, memory, gender and legacy, the past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone’s secrets to spill out.” It stars Jeffrey Tambor.
Most of the kids’ pilots have been in production since last summer.
“With our previous set of pilots,customers submitted thousands of reviews within the first few days and more than 80 percent of those reviews were 4 and 5 stars,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “We collaborated with some of the very best creators in Hollywood – and even some new comers that submitted their show through our open door process – to bring customers a wide array of top-quality shows. This season we have something for everyone with a mix of comedy, drama and kids programming – we can’t wait to hear what customers think.”
As always, Amazon Studios is putting the fate of their pilots squarely into the hands of the viewers. Fan response will ultimately determine which pilots make it to full series production. Out of Amazon’s original 14 pilots launched back in April of 2013, only 5 made it to full series – Alpha House, Betas, and the kids’ shows Annesdroids, Creative Galaxy, and Tumble Leaf.