Amazon is apparently looking to throw the checkbook at promising new shows – and the company is focusing on comedy.
That’s the word from Variety, who quotes the ubiquitous sources familiar with the matter. According to the report, Amazon Studios (Amazon’s original content producing wing) is ready to shell out anywhere from $2 million to $4 million for a “larger action-adventure comedy”. If the pilot was really promising, the sources say that Amazon is willing to pay even more.
Money like this would put Amazon in the realm of traditional TV networks.
“Rather than traditional sitcoms, Amazon Studios is looking for cinematic half-hour shows; a hypothetical example would be a series reboot of a blockbuster movie franchise, per sources,” says Variety.
Perhaps Amazon is looking to mine success where its already found some. Last week, Amazon debuted what’s surely its flagship series, a half-hour “novelistic” series that explores the lives of a family and its transgender patriarch called Transparent.
Shortly after, Amazon announced the show’s record-breaking viewership numbers and promptly picked it up for a second season.
While Amazon has been developing a majority comedy pilots into full series (Alpha House, Transparent, Red Oaks), it’s not shying away from drama. The Ron Perlman drama Hand of God and the Adam Brody and Chloë Sevigny vehicle The Cosmopolitans are both on the way after successful pilots, as is X-Files creator Chris Carter’s The After.
Amazon has been looking to compete with the likes of Netflix, in terms of original content, for a couple years now. Transparent may have given the company a breakthrough, and it may be looking to ride the wave.
Image via Amazon Studios, YouTube screenshot
