Amazon customers made The Man in the High Castle the most
watched pilot ever
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2015--
(NASDAQ: AMZN)—An intriguing tale about alternative history, a twisted
story of friendship put to the ultimate test, a docu-series based on
America’s most award-winning magazine, a kids series based on magic and
another about being stinky and dirty—all coming exclusively to Prime
Instant Video. Amazon today announced it has greenlit five new Amazon
Original Series, including The Man in the High Castle, which
is based on the Philip K. Dick alternative history novel; an
hour-long dark comedy Mad Dogs; docu-series The New
Yorker Presents; along with kids shows Just Add Magic, and The
Stinky & Dirty Show. The new Amazon Original Series come from an
acclaimed creative roster including Frank
Spotnitz (The X-Files), Ridley
Scott (Blade Runner), Cris
Cole (The Good Times Are Killing Me), Shawn
Ryan (The Shield), Alex
Gibney (The Armstrong Lie), Joe
Nussbaum (George Lucas in Love, Awkward), and Kate
& Jim McMullan (I’m Dirty!). These new shows will
premiere exclusively to Prime members in the US, UK and Germany later
this year and in 2016.
As part of its unique development process, Amazon gives customers an
opportunity to provide feedback on which pilots they want turned into
series that are then available to Prime members. During pilot season,
any Amazon customer in the US, UK, and Germany can watch, rate and
comment on the pilots. At the end of pilot season, that feedback helps
determine the shows that become an Amazon Original Series. To date,
customers have helped Amazon greenlight 13 series including the
multi-Golden Globe-winning show Transparent, which will return
for a second season later this year.
“During the latest pilot season, Amazon customers made The Man
in the High Castle our most watched pilot ever,” said Roy Price,
Vice President of Amazon Studios. “These new series, including our first
docu-series, are some of our most ambitious to date and I’m looking
forward to their premieres in the future.”
Amazon Original Series are available for Prime members to stream and
enjoy through the Amazon Instant Video app for TVs, connected devices
and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/originals,
at no additional cost to their membership. Customers who are not already
a Prime member can sign up for a free trial at www.amazon.com/prime.
Here’s what customers are saying:
Mad Dogs:
-
“Wow! Love the pilot, and couldn't ask for a better cast of friends to
get wrapped up in trouble with.”
-
“Definitely exceeded my expectations. The visuals were amazing! Can't
wait to get to know the characters as the show progresses.”
-
“Hooked us in within the first five minutes.”
-
“As a big fan of Shawn Ryan'sThe Shield, I knew to trust this
pilot blindly and just push play. I was rewarded.”
The Man in the High Castle:
-
“Beautifully done all around; the story, special effects, acting, and
production were top notch. I couldn't stop watching. I am desperate to
see the next installment.”
-
“Not only is this a beautiful and well done pilot, but it's super
engaging and quite a great homage to the book.”
-
“I love alternative history and this was well done, well-paced,
well-acted and very compelling.”
-
“The Man in the High Castle may very well be the single best
thing I've ever seen or heard. It sits at first place on my list of
best TV shows ever, and its audio track sits at second.”
The New Yorker Presents:
-
“With all of the ridiculousness and nonsense on TV today, this show
makes me feel as if I'm being linked to a real part of the world.”
-
“Highly intelligent documentary shorts that are poignant and thought
provoking. Looking forward to more!”
-
“This is a moving series. Each section was thought-provoking and
touched on complex issues that clearly need to be considered in the
current world.”
-
“I don't write many reviews on programs but I was so compelled to do
so. You must see this outstanding journalistic presentation. The
New Yorker Presents is wonderful.”
Just Add Magic:
-
“I love that they show smart, compassionate girls and that the
friendship among the girls is so strong.”
-
“I appreciate the values and morals that this show portrayed, and it
was even realistic and sincere, not fake or cheesy. I would give it
six stars if I could!”
-
“My daughter and I just watched Just Add Magic. We loved it! My
daughter loves to cook and this is a perfect show for her.”
-
“I have two girls. One is almost five and the other is six. They LOVED
this show. I loved it because it shows intelligent, kind, thoughtful
young girls who are not annoying, obsessed with makeup/clothes, or
mean to their ‘enemies’ or families. We need more shows like this for
our young girls.”
The Stinky & Dirty Show:
-
“Great show from top to bottom. The animation is some of the best I've
seen on television.”
-
“If your kids are into trucks and construction equipment like mine
are, this show will be a home run for them just as it was for mine.”
-
“My son loves it! It's a great show that shows kids how to work
together.”
-
“Move over Dora the Explorer, Stinky and Dirty are on their way to
being the next great kids' show.”
The new Amazon Original Series include:
Comedy / Dramas:
Mad Dogs
Mad Dogs is an hour-long dark comedy drama created by Cris
Cole (The Good Times Are Killing Me), and Executive
Produced by Cole, Shawn
Ryan (The Shield) and Marney
Hochman (Last Resort), Andy
Harries (Strikeback), Suzanne
Mackie (Kinky Boots), and Charles
McDougall (The Good Wife). Based on the hit UK series,
Mad Dogs follows the reunion of a group of underachieving
forty-something friends—a mixture of single, married and recently
divorced, all seemingly at crossroads in their lives. Celebrating the
early retirement of an old friend at his gorgeous Belizean
villa, grudges begin to emerge and secrets explode as their trip becomes
a labyrinthine nightmare of lies, deception and murder. Mad Dogs is
a twisted tale of friendship put to the ultimate test. As the chain of
events unfolds, cracks within the group widen before the friends realize
the only people they can trust are each other, the last people they
should be relying on! The pilot starred Steve
Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) as Cobi, Billy
Zane (Titanic) as Milo, Romany
Malco (Weeds) as Gus, Michael
Imperioli (The Sopranos) as Lex and Ben
Chaplin (The Thin Red Line) as Joel. Mad Dogs was
directed by McDougall and is being co-produced with Sony Pictures
Television.
The Man in the High Castle
Based on Philip K. Dick's Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history, The
Man in the High Castle considers the question of what would have
happened if the Allied Powers had lost World War II. Almost 20 years
after that loss, the United States and much of the world has now been
split between Japan and Germany, the major hegemonic states. But the
tension between these two powers is mounting, and this stress is playing
out in the western U.S. Through a collection of characters in various
states of posing (spies, sellers of falsified goods, others with secret
identities), The Man in the High Castle provides an
intriguing tale about life and history as it relates to authentic and
manufactured reality. The hour-long dramatic pilot starred Alexa
Davalos (Mob City) as Juliana Crain, Luke
Kleintank (Pretty Little Liars) as Joe Blake, Rupert
Evans (The Village) as Frank Frink, Cary-Hiroyuki
Tagawa (Mortal Kombat Legacy) as Tagomi, Joel
De La Fuente (Hemlock Grove) as Inspector Kido, Rufus
Sewell (Eleventh Hour) as John Smith and DJ
Qualls (Z Nation) as Ed McCarthy. The pilot was directed by David
Semel (Madam Secretary, Heroes) and written by Frank
Spotnitz (The X-Files), both serving as Executive Producers.
Also executive producing are Ridley
Scott (Blade Runner) and David
W. Zucker (The Good Wife), with co-executive producer Jordan
Sheehan of Scott Free Productions (The Good Wife, The
Andromeda Strain), and Executive Producers Stewart
Mackinnon and Christian
Baute of Headline Pictures (The Invisible Woman). In
addition, Isa
Dick Hackett will executive produce and Kalen
Egan will co-executive produce on behalf of Electric Shepherd (The
Adjustment Bureau). Christopher
Tricarico (May in the Summer) is also Executive Producer.
The New Yorker Presents
America’s most award-winning magazine, which marks its 90th anniversary
this year, comes to life in this half-hour docu-series pilot. The New
Yorker Presents is a completely unique viewing experience. The pilot
episode featured Tony-Award winner Alan
Cumming (The Good Wife) and actor Brett
Gelman (Go On) in a short film based on a story by Simon
Rich (Saturday Night Live) and directed by Emmy Award-winning
director Troy
Miller (Arrested Development); a poem by Matthew Dickman; a
documentary by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan
Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) about biologist Tyrone
Hayes based on a Rachel Aviv article; and an interview with famous
performance artist, Marina
Abramović, conducted by The New Yorker writer Ariel
Levy. Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex
Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side) is Executive Producer, joined
by Dave
Snyder (Death Row Stories) and Dawn
Ostroff (The Fashion Fund). The pilot was co-produced by
Condé Nast Entertainment and Jigsaw Productions. Future episodes will
include new segments that come from noted filmmakers, star talent and
New Yorker writers.
Kids Series:
Just Add Magic (for
children ages 6-11)
Based on Cindy
Callaghan’s young adult book
of the same name and adapted by Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco (Sullivan
& Son, Fairly Odd Parents), Just Add Magic is a
single-camera live-action pilot directed by Joe
Nussbaum (George Lucas in Love, Awkward). The story centers
on Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs, Darbie and Hannah, who stumble upon her
grandmother’s mysterious cookbook in the attic and discover it has some
interesting recipes. The Shut’em Up Shortcake actually silences Kelly’s
pesky little brother and when the Healing Hazelnut Tart quickly heals
Darbie’s ankle, the girls discover they have the power of magic. The
project stars Olivia
Sanabia (Extant), Abby
Donnelly (Suburgatory), Aubrey
Miller (Austin & Ally), and Judah
Bellamy (Home).
The Stinky & Dirty Show
(for preschool-aged children)
The Stinky & Dirty Show, based on the “I Stink!” book series
by Kate & Jim McMullan, is written by Guy Toubes (The
Adventures of Chuck & Friends, Littlest Pet Shop, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi)
and animated by Brown
Bag Films, Ltd (Peter Rabbit, Octonauts, Doc
McStuffins). The Stinky & Dirty Show follows the
adventures and mishaps faced by best friends and unlikely heroes, Stinky
the garbage truck and Dirty, the backhoe loader. Whether it’s rescuing
their pal Mighty the tugboat, or moving a giant boulder blocking the
highway in their town of Go City, Stinky & Dirty are a dynamic duo of
resourcefulness who make plenty of mistakes along the way. For them,
hilariously failing turns out to be the most fun path to success.
About Amazon Studios
Mad Dogs, The Man in the High Castle, The New Yorker Presents,
Just Add Magic, and The Stinky and Dirty Show join other
Amazon Original Series that include Bosch, based on Michael
Connelly’s best-selling books, Mozart in the Jungle, from Roman
Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Weitz, and Alex Timbers, Jill Soloway’s
multi-Golden Globe Award-winning dark comedy Transparent, along
with the second season of the Garry Trudeau political comedy Alpha
House. The studio has also launched its first live-action series for
kids 6-11, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, and
three additional children’s series, the Annecy International Animated
Film Festival Award-winning and Annie Award-winning Tumble Leaf
from Bix Pix Entertainment; Creative Galaxy from Angela C.
Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises, the creators of Blue’s
Clues; and Annedroids, from Emmy nominated Sinking Ship
Entertainment.
Amazon Studios has also announced three additional, original series to
debut in 2015, including Hand of God from Marc Forster and Ben
Watkins; Red Oaks from Steven Soderbergh, David Gordon Green,
Greg Jacobs and Joe Gangemi; and kids series Wishenpoof! from
Angela C. Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises; as well as a second
season of Transparent.
In 2015 Amazon Studios will begin to produce and acquire original movies
for theatrical release, followed by early window distribution on Prime
Instant Video.
Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films
and episodic series—one that’s open to great ideas from creators and
audiences around the world. Anyone can upload a script online and Amazon
Studios will read and review all submissions. Those who choose to make
their projects public can also receive feedback from the Amazon Studios
community.
About Prime Instant Video
Amazon Prime members have instant access to stream tens of thousands of
movies and TV episodes, including award-winning Amazon Original Series,
available on Prime Instant Video at no additional cost to their
membership. In addition, new release movies like Gone Girl, Boyhood
and Birdman along with in-season shows like The Walking Dead,
Scandal and Better Call Saul are also available for rent
or purchase on Amazon Instant Video for all customers to stream and
enjoy.
Customers can watch shows and movies with the Amazon Instant Video app.
The Amazon Instant Video app is available on hundreds of devices
including connected TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Xbox and PlayStation, as
well as on mobile devices like Fire phone, Fire tablets, iPhone, iPad,
and Android devices. Customers can also watch online at Amazon.com/PIV.
Prime Instant Video is also the only U.S. online-only subscription
streaming service that enables offline viewing—on a plane, on vacation,
and anywhere else where you may not have Wi-Fi.
Amazon Prime members have exclusive access to popular TV series at no
additional cost to their membership. Prime members can enjoy
binge-worthy TV shows including Amazon Original Series airing now such
as multi-Golden Globe winning series, Transparent, the hour-long
drama, Bosch, based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling books, the
Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman comedy, Mozart in the Jungle,
and the political comedy starring John Goodman, Alpha House,
in addition to HBO favorites like The Sopranos, True Blood and
Six Feet Under, and popular primetime series including 24,
Covert Affairs, Downton Abbey, Extant, Falling Skies,
Grimm, Hannibal, Justified, Orphan Black,
Teen Wolf, The Americans, Under the Dome and Veronica
Mars. Prime members also have access to an exclusive
collection of kids shows now airing including Amazon Original Series’ Annedroids,
Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Streetand Tumble Leaf, as
well as popular shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. including SpongeBob
SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, Blue’s
Clues and The Bubble Guppies.
Comprehensive cast and crew information, including bios and
filmographies, is available on Amazon's IMDb (www.imdb.com),
the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and
celebrity content.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is
guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor
focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and
long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized
recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct
Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of
the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

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