Amazon to produce kids, comedy series

Amazon Studios, the nascent production arm of the online retail giant, is moving into kids and comedy following its launch 18 months ago.

The company set up Amazon Studios in November 2010 to develop scripts and produce feature films and has 15 projects currently in development.

It will now produce kids and comedy content for its online television service Amazon Instant Video. It will option one new project per month and the creator of each series, if commissioned, will receive US$55,000 and up to 5% of ancillary revenues.

The company has hired former 20th Century Fox and Comedy Central executive Joe Lewis to develop comedy series and National Geographic Kids exec Tara Sorensen to develop kids programming.

“Amazon Studios wants to discover great talent and produce programming that audiences will love,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “In the course of developing movies, we’ve heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children’s genres. We are excited to bring writers, animators and directors this new opportunity to develop original series.”