With Amazon Studios’ foray into the movie business on Monday, throwing its weight behind 12 new movie productions a year, the online retail giant has opened a new front in a content offensive to battle streaming providers like Netflix and Hulu — and Hollywood studios.
The move follows Amazon’s groundbreaking wins at the Golden Globe Awards last week for original series “Transparent” and its star Jeffrey Tambor and the news that Amazon would be the home for movie auteur Woody Allen’s first TV project.
“We are on a bit of a run, and this is a great way to cap it,” Amazon Studios President Roy Price told TheWrap in an interview.
Amazon’s Prime Instant Video has a long way to go before it threatens Netflix’s dominance in the sector, but its high-profile push into TV and movies raises the financial stakes. And, like similarly aggressive recent plays by its deep-pocketed competitors, it’s good news for Hollywood creatives.
Amazon Studios spent between $1.5 billion and $2 billion on original content and syndication last year, mainly for serialized shows, according to a Bernstein Research estimate. Netflix and Hulu — a joint venture of Disney, Comcast and 21st Century Fox — are anteing up for original content as well.
The three will spend a combined $6.8 billion on content this year, RBC Capital Markets projects, at a time when production capital is scarce. While some of it has gone to established stars like Adam Sandler and Chelsea Handler, it also has created a major new market for producers, directors, actors and writers of all kinds.
Amazon made headlines in 2012 with its plan to solicit ideas and scripts for TV pilots from the site’s users. It let them pick the best to produce and then utilized their online feedback throughout the development process. Amazon’s similarly inclusive approach in its dealings with Hollywood talent and a creativity-first approach to producing is making a difference, said Price, whose father Frank headed Universal Studios in the 1980s.
That “creative vibe,” as he calls it, is reverberating even more loudly in Hollywood with the news of the studio’s push into movies, which will be led by indie film veteran Ted Hope.
“We want to make clear to the artistic community that this is a place where you bring that special project or script,” Price said. “You’re not writing it for the biz, you’re writing it for yourself, because you think it’s great. That creates emotions that are very genuine, and audiences respond to that,” he said, citing the “Transparent” wins as evidence.
Amazon
That approach helped Amazon land “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway, who received a Directors Guild nomination last week too. The former executive producer on “Six Feet Under” considered HBO and Showtime as a home for the show about a man dealing with his family after coming out as transgender, before landing at Amazon.
Soloway was given a free rein on casting, which she used to stack the project with transgender actors. And when it began filming, there were no nagging notes from above.
“Normally at the networks you deal with a whole lot of people. At Amazon, I only dealt with (head of comedy) Joe Lewis,” she said in a DGA interview.
This was a formula that already successfully worked for Netflix, where David Fincher was given the freedom to make “House of Cards” as he saw fit.
A warm and fuzzy creative process is one thing, but translating it into subscribers and revenue is another. Amazon trails behind its rivals on the latter. Subscription numbers are a closely guarded secret for Amazon as well as its rivals, but a recent survey offers some insights into the dominance of Netflix.
Wall Street’s Cowen & Co. polled more than 1,000 consumers, about 40 percent of whom said they were Netflix subscribers. Those customers reported watching an average of 7.7 hours of content per week, almost double Netflix’s nearest competitor, Hulu Plus, which came in at 4.1 hours. Amazon Prime Instant Video users watched 3.5 hours the survey found, with HBO Go at 3 hours and Showtime Anytime with 2.7 hours.
Amazon is slowly gaining ground, and the cumulative effect of its recent moves will in time boost its viewership, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, and that will enable it to further invest in content.
“If that happens, they can up their content spending to $2 billion, and that could help them grow even faster,” said Pachter, who believes that when the on-demand unit reaches critical subscriber mass, Amazon will spin off Prime Instant Video into an ad-supported free streaming service. Prime Instant Video is currently part of the package that consumers receive when they pay $99 for Amazon Prime membership, which guarantees free two-day shipping on all purchases.
“That’s an important difference between Amazon and the others,” Pachter said. “Their rivals have to grow their subscriber base, while Prime Video only has to make sure customers don’t quit Amazon Prime.”
21 Buzziest Streaming Shows: From 'Marco Polo' to 'Transparent' (Photos)
The Amazon Studios original series "Transparent" chronicles the abnormal life of the Pfefferman family once it's revealed that father Mort is transgender. The groundbreaking series won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and Jeffrey Tambor snagged the award for Best Actor in a Television Series for his portrayal of Mort-now-Maura Pfefferman.
Amazon
With Season 2 having premiered in Oct. 2014, Amazon's political comedy "Alpha House" stars John Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Molloy, and Mark Consuelos as Republican U.S. Senators living together in Washington, D.C.
Amazon
The first two seasons of Netflix's insanely popular "Orange is the New Black" are ready to binge-watch (if you haven't already), and it's third season will be released in June.
Netflix
Actor and musician Steve Van Zandt stars in "Lilyhammer," the American version of a Norwegian series of the same name. Centering on a New York mobster starting a new life in Norway, all three seasons are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
Netflix
Netflix's first original cartoon series, "BoJack Horseman," is a delightfully politically incorrect comedy about a 90s sitcom star who has faded from the spotlight.
Netflix
Another Netflix original, "Hemlock Grove" is a dramatical thriller about a string of murders in the fictional town of Hemlock Grove, and the two men who investigate.
Netflix
"Marco Polo" is Netflix's historical drama about the explorer's early years in the court of Kublai Khan. The show stars Lorenzo Richelmy as Marco Polo and Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan.
Netflix
Netflix streaming gem "House of Cards," stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as South Carolina Democrat Frank Underwood and his wife, Claire, as they execute ruthless schemes for power in Washington, D.C. The third season is scheduled to premiere in February.
Netflix
Marvel's live-action series "Daredevil" stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio, and follows the adventures of NYC lawyer Matt Murdock (Cox). Blinded as a child, his other senses are elevated to superhuman levels, allowing him to fight crime as masked vigilante Daredevil. The first season is available for streaming on April 10th.
Netflix
Krysten Ritter will star as Jessica Jones, the titular superheroine-turned-private detective in another Marvel and Netflix collaboration, "A.K.A. Jessica Jones." The series will air on Netflix in 2015, and will also star Mike Colter ("The Good Wife").
Netflix
The fourth and final season of the former AMC series, "The Killing," found a home on Netflix. The crime drama recently wrapped up its run with Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman in their lead roles as homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.
Netflix
"Arrested Development" got a reboot for a fourth and final season on Netflix. Die-hard fans of the show argued over the success of the streamed season, but we still saw all original cast members return to reprise their quirky, dysfunctional roles in the Bluth family.
Netflix
The creepy crime drama, "The Fall," originally a BBC series, premieres its second season Jan. 16th on Netflix. Set in Northern Ireland, the show follows detective Stella Gibson and her pursuit of serial killer Paul Spector, played by Jamie Dornan ("Fifty Shades of Grey").
Netflix
Netflix continues its love of historical crime dramas with "Peaky Blinders." Set in 1919 post-WWI England, the crime saga follows a gang as they operate out of Birmingham, led by mob boss Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy).
Netflix
Cult favorite and former NBC comedy "Community" was brought from the brink of cancelation by none other than Yahoo. Its sixth season will be available for streaming March 17th, and will add Paget Brewster ("Criminal Minds") to its main cast.
NBC
"Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," the brainchild of Jerry Seinfeld, premiered on Crackle in 2012. Seinfeld has let us in on chats with Louis C.K., Jimmy Fallon, Larry David, and many others.
Crackle
Created by "Late Night" host Seth Meyers and streamed on Hulu, offbeat superhero comedy "The Awesomes" follows Prock (voiced by Meyers) the son of Mr. Awesome, the greatest superhero on earth. When Mr. Awesome retires, Prock gathers his own team of sub-par heroes, and hilarity ensues.
Hulu
Hulu original comedy "The Hotwives of Orlando" blatantly spoofs the "Real Housewives" franchise. It stars Casey Wilson, Kristen Schaal, Angela Kinsey, Danielle Schneider, Tymberlee Hill and Andrea Savage as wealthy housewives in Orlando, Florida. The second season will premiere sometime in 2015 and follow a new group of women living in Las Vegas.
Hulu
Another Hulu original, "Quickdraw" tells the tale of Sheriff John Henry Hoyle, a recent Harvard graduate, and Deputy Eli as they blunder through Wild West crime in 1870s Kansas.
Hulu
Hulu's drama series "East Los High" chronicles the coming-of-age of a high school group in East L.A. The series marks Hulu's first with an all Latino cast, starring Alicia Sixtos (ABC Family's "The Fosters") and Vannessa Vasquez. The show was renewed for a third season.
Hulu
Continuing with the rise of original YouTube content, "Video Game High School" is a futuristic action comedy that follows BrianD (Josh Baylock), a newly admitted student to VGHS as he navigates the world of competitive gaming making friends and enemies along the way.
YouTube
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Online streaming sites are more popular than ever now that they’re creating original, knockout shows; here are TheWrap’s top picks
The Amazon Studios original series "Transparent" chronicles the abnormal life of the Pfefferman family once it's revealed that father Mort is transgender. The groundbreaking series won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and Jeffrey Tambor snagged the award for Best Actor in a Television Series for his portrayal of Mort-now-Maura Pfefferman.