Tag Archives: Amazon Instant Video

Zombieland TV Pilot Review

By Roth Cornet

Warning: spoilers do follow…

Amazon unveiled Zombieland and thirteen other TV series pilots on Amazon Instant Video today. The outlet’s plan is to release the pilots and let the viewers decide which they’d like to go to series. Their approach is to look at view counts, ratings and customer reviews to decide which shows will get a full series order. It’s a unique plan, and one that makes sense in many ways, but also may end up doing some of the pilots a disservice. Several of our most beloved television series had less than stellar starts. Seinfeld is one of the most notable examples. Pilots are often a little rough. Some shows need a period of grace in which to really find their footing. On the other hand, there have certainly been shows that have had strong pilots only to quickly fizzle out story-wise.

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From: http://feeds.ign.com/~r/ign/movies-reviews/~3/ZR51gKJKb04/zombieland-tv-pilot-review

Zombieland TV Pilot Now Online for Free

It was very confusing the other day when a link appeared on Amazon for the Zombieland TV series pilot, only for it to not work correctly. It seems that link was accidentally made public a couple of days early though, as today, Amazon did indeed put Zombieland and thirteen other TV series pilots on Amazon Instant Video for free viewing. There are six kids show pilots and eight comedy series pilots.

As Amazon aggressively gets into original programming, they’re trying an interesting tactic, posting all of their pilots before decisions are made on which will be picked up as ongoing series. Many factors will go into the decision to pick these pilots up, but by posting them, suffice to say, Amazon will be looking at audience response to see which are worth continuing.

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From: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/19/watch-the-zombieland-tv-series-pilot-now-on-amazon-for-real-this-time

Prime Instant Video Greenlights Its 8th Original Series

By Kevin Chen, The Motley Fool

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Amazon  Studios, the original film and series production arm of Amazon.com, will begin production on its eighth original series, “Betas.” 

Set in Silicon Valley among start-ups, “Betas” follows four computer geeks and their quest for fame by cracking the ultimate computer algorithm. Written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard, it includes Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly, Jon Dinicol, Margo Harshman, Charlie Saxton, and Karan Soni. Michael Lehmann (“True Blood,” “Dexter,” “American Horror Story“) will direct and produce the pilot along with Alan Freedland and Alan Cohen (“King of the Hill,” “American Dad”) and Michael London (“Sideways,” “The Informant”). 

“Betas” joins the lineup of seven previously announced Amazon productions: “Alpha House,” “Browsers,” “Dark Minions,” “Onion News Empire,” “Supanatural,” “Those Who Can’t,” and “Zombieland.” Similar to these Amazon productions, “Betas” will show for free on Amazon Instant Video, LOVEFiLM UK, and LOVEFiLM Germany.

Amazon Studios invites customers to view the pilots and provide feedback. Customer reviews will help Amazon Studios determine which shows will make it into full-season productions for viewing on Prime Instant Video.

The article Prime Instant Video Greenlights Its 8th Original Series originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Kevin Chen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Prime Instant Video Greenlights Betas, an Original Comedy Pilot

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Prime Instant Video Greenlights Betas, an Original Comedy Pilot

Amazon Studios adds another comedy pilot for customers to enjoy for freecustomer feedback will help determine which of the 14 pilots will be made into full-season productions

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)– (NAS: AMZN) —Amazon Studios, the original film and series production arm of Amazon.com, today announced that it will add the comedy pilot Betas to the line-up of pilots already in production for Prime Instant Video. Betas, which is the eighth comedy pilot added to Amazon’s pilot line-up, willbe made available (along with the other seven comedy pilots and six children’s pilots) for free on Amazon Instant Video, LOVEFiLM UK and LOVEFiLM Germany. Customers are invited to view the pilots and then review them on the site; customer feedback will help determine which of the 14 pilots Amazon Studios will make into full-season productions, to air on Prime Instant Video.

Set in the land of Silicon Valley start-ups where the right algorithm can make you king, Betas, written by Evan Endicott and Josh Stoddard, follows four computer geeks and their quest for nerd fame as they attempt to crack the ultimate code. Ed Begley Jr., Jon Daly, Joe Dinicol, Margo Harshman, Charlie Saxton and Karan Soni star in the pilot.

Michael Lehmann (Heathers, True Blood, Dexter, American Horror Story) will direct and produce the pilot along with Emmy Award winners Alan Freedland and Alan Cohen (King of the Hill, Due Date, American Dad), and Academy Award nominated producer Michael London (Sideways, The Visitor, The Informant).

“Amazon is giving us a chance to work outside the TV bureaucracies and connect directly with audiences hungry for original content, and Betas is the perfect match for that model,” said producer Michael London. “Betas is a half hour comedy about a group of tech-savvy millennials trying to connect with the world both personally and professionally. Speaking for the whole creative team on Betas, we couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of the first launch of Amazon Studios pilots and working with such an inspiring group of people.”

“We can’t wait to hear what fans think of this and the seven other comedy pilots we’re producing — we have unbelievable casts and crews working on these projects,” said Roy Price Director of Amazon Studios.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Amazon Expands X-Ray to TV, Powered by IMDb and Available on the Kindle Fire Family

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Amazon Expands X-Ray to TV, Powered by IMDb and Available on the Kindle Fire Family

Popular X-Ray feature expands to include the top TV shows on Amazon, helping to answer the classic questions – “Who’s That Guy?” and “What’s He Been In?”

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)– (NAS: AMZN) —Six months ago, Amazon and IMDb introduced “X-Ray for Movies,” a new feature that revolutionized the movie viewing experience by bringing the power of IMDb directly to movies on Kindle Fire HD. With a single tap viewers can discover the names of the actors appearing on the screen and what they’ve been in. Today, Amazon announced that it is expanding X-Ray to TV, bringing the seamless, fully-integrated X-Ray experience to TV shows. Available today for the most popular TV shows on Amazon, X-Ray will quickly expand to even more shows. IMDb, an Amazon company for 14 years, is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content, with more than 160 million monthly unique visitors worldwide. X-Ray for TV is also available as part of the free Amazon Instant Video app on Wii U.

“X-Ray has been one of the most loved features on Kindle Fire HD since it launched last September,” said Peter Larsen, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “For people who are passionate about movies and TV, there is no better way to watch than on Kindle Fire HD, which combines an exceptional viewing experience with the unbelievable power of the over 100 million pieces of data in IMDb’s catalog.”

“For over 20 years we have been cultivating a vast database of movie, TV and celebrity content,” said Col Needham, IMDb Founder and CEO. “Can’t remember where you’ve seen the actor playing Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey? No problem. Simply tap on the screen and you’ll see a full filmography, where you’ll realize that Hugh Bonneville was also in Notting Hill. Our vision is to make X-Ray available on every movie and TV show—we’re excited to make another big step forward today, and we are working hard to add X-Ray to more TV shows and movies in the future.”

X-Ray for TV is available starting today on the most popular TV shows from Amazon Instant Video, many of which are also available as part of Prime Instant Video: Justified, Downton Abbey, The West Wing, Sons of Anarchy, Falling Skies, American Horror Story, Grey’s Anatomy, Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Lost, Glee, Breaking Bad and Game …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

The Democratization of Expertise: Is House of Cards a More Resilient Business Model?

By Susan Galer, AdVoice

Just as the democratization of content empowers individuals, so does it impact companies. New technologies are allowing businesses of all kinds to reinvent themselves. Consider the entertainment industry. In the earliest days of movie-making, studios owned everything—the actors, the directors, production and distribution. Television disrupted that model, bringing new programming directly into people’s living rooms. Then cable served up a seemingly endless array of choices. But expensive, all-you-can-watch programming menus don’t cut it in a world where personalization is the surest route to audience happiness. Incredible things can happen when content aggregators become creators. One of most watchable shows I’ve seen in a long time is a new seriesproduced by and for Netflix called “House of Cards.” Starring Kevin Spacey, (one of my favorite actors), as a ruthless Washington politician, it’s an action-packed gem of rich characterization, intense emotion, and plot twists galore. He and his wife, played by Robin Wright, make a deliciously wicked power couple. Netflix is on to something. In search of quality programming? Produce it yourself. Remember Amazon, the world’s online superstore? It’s now a television production company. Amazon Studios is producing six original comedy series pilots to be aired on Amazon Instant Video. Taking personalization one step further, Amazon will decide which series to continue producing based on real-time audience feedback. Of course the upside of branching out from a company’s core competency is the synergies. Google TV brings entertaining programming to people by using all of the company’s major technologies. Developers build applications on the Android operating system. Viewers can watch television shows and browse the internet using Google’s Chrome browser. Android (and Apple) smartphones double as remote controls for Google TV. Using the company’s own technologies keeps more profits in the family. Reinvention can beg the question of what business a company is in. Apple is exploring a computer you wear on your wrist. Does that make them a watch-maker or a technology company, or both? Who cares as long as it reduces the number of devices we have to carry around. This last is really the whole point. The only thing that matters is what the customer cares about—how the product changes his or her life for the better. My own employer, SAP, has reinvented itself from back-office ERP software purveyor to become a real-time platform company delivering break-through technologies that are transforming business. SAP is now front and center helping companies reshape business models for sustainable growth. Boldly exploring new business territories is no longer an option but a necessity for market leadership. What’s more, we simply cannot afford to just leave everything to the so-called experts. More companies are realizing that if you want something done right, you just might have to do it yourself. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Amazon Greenlights Children's Series Pilot for Prime Instant Video

By Kevin Chen, The Motley Fool

Filed under:

Amazon  Studios, the original movie and series production arm of Amazon.com, is greenlighting a test pilot for the a new children series Sara Solves It.”

Co-developed by Boston’s public broadcasting company WGBH and Out of Blue Enterprises, Sara Solves It” is about brother and sister duo Sarar and Sam solving math mysteries. The show is created by Carol Greenwald (“Curious George,” “Arthur,” and “Martha Speaks”) and Angela C. Santomero (“Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” “Super Why!,” and “Blue’s Clues”). And similar to Santomero’s past work on “Blue’s Clues,” “Sara Solves It will be interactive to engage home viewers to solve puzzles along with the show’s characters.

In the press release, Senior Executive Producer of Children’s Programs for WGBH Greenwald said: 

We are excited to be part of Amazon Studios‘ innovative approach of getting high-quality programming directly into the hands of parents and children.

Including “Sara Solves It,” Amazon Studios has 12 pilots under way. Once completed, the pilots will stream on Prime Instant Video and Amazon Instant Video. LOVEFiLM UK and LOVEFiLM Germany will also have access to most of these pilots.

Along with Amazon Studio‘s policies, further shows for each series will be made depending on positive customer feedback.

The article Amazon Greenlights Children’s Series Pilot for Prime Instant Video originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Kevin Chen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Amazon Instant Video Comes to Wii

Nintendo has announced that Amazon Instant Video is now available for Wii. The app allows users to stream videos from Amazon, or allows Amazon Prime subscribers to watch more than 30,000 videos for free.

A full rundown of everything Amazon Instant Video offers on Wii is available on Amazon, including steps to sync your account or register a new one. Users will be able to start a video on the Wii and then finish it on another device, and videos can be purchased or rented from within the app itself.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Tech

Amazon Greenlights 6 Comedy Pilots

Amazon Studios has announced that is has given the greenlight to six original comedy pilots from a pool of talent ranging from The Daily Show’s Kristen Schaal, The Onion’s Will Graham and Dan Mirk and The Big Bang Theory’s Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie, THR reports.

The studio’s plan is to make the pilots available on Amazon Instant Video for free viewing once they are complete, and then utilize viewer feedback to select which of the contenders will receive a full series order. The shows that make it through will be available exclusively to Amazon Prime members.

“Since launching our original series development effort, we have received more than 2,000 series ideas from creators around the world with all different backgrounds, and we are extremely excited to begin production on our very first set of pilots. The six comedy pilots will begin production shortly, and once they are complete, we plan to post the pilots on Amazon Instant Video for feedback. We want Amazon customers to help us decide which original series we should produce,” Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios said.

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Source: IGN Tech

Amazon To Produce Six Original Comedy Show Pilots

By Eric Savitz, Forbes StaffAmazon.com this morning said its Amazon Studios arm plans to produce pilots for six original comedy series. The pilots will be offered on the Amazon Instant Video streaming service. The company said the decision on which shows to produce going forward will be tied to viewer feedback. Completed seasons will be […]
Source: Forbes Latest