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Amazon Ramps Studio Efforts, Looks For Comedy, Children's Series

Amazon Studios, the content creation effort which is part of Amazon.com and has major Southern California components, and which is headed by Joe Lewis, formerly of 20th Century Fox and Comedy Central, and Tara Sorenson, of National Geographic Kids, said Wednesday that it is looking to bolster the amount of comedy and children's content on its Amazon Instant Video service. Amazon Studios said it is looking for submissions for proposals for both categories of content, and is hoping that writers, animators, and filmmakers will looking to bolster content for its Amazon Instant Video service, and is encouraging writers, animators, and filmmakers to submit proposals for comedic and children's series. Amazon said it will option one new project a month--worth $10,000--and will pay $55,000 plus 5 percent of Amazon's net receipts from toy and t-shirt licensing, as well as other royalties to any proposal it decides to make into a full-budget series. Amazon Studios launched in November of 2010. Amazon said that so far, since launch, it has seen 700 test movies and 7,000 scripts submitted to the site, with 15 movie projects currently under development. Much of Amazon's content efforts are based out of the Los Angeles Area, where the firm's People's Production Company is based.