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Amazon releases 10 new television pilots (Prime Instant Video/LOVEFiLM)

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- Pilot Season on Amazon

Unfortunately, it looks like you need Prime Instant Video or LOVEFiLM in the UK to watch them.

- Here's the 2 minute sizzle reel for the dramas/comedies if you want a quick look at all of the new pilots. The sizzle reel for the kids shows is here.

Details on the shows from Deadline:
Amazon’s second batch of pilots — 5 primetime and 5 kids one– are launching today on Prime Instant Video in the U.S. and LOVEFiLM in the UK. All are available for free, with viewers encouraged to give feedback, which will help Amazon brass to determine which pilots will go to series. The crop includes Amazon’s first drama pilots, The After from Chris Carter (The X-Files) and Bosch from Eric Overmyer (The Wire) and Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch). Half-hour comedy pilots include Mozart In the Jungle, from Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks), Alex Timbers and Paul Weitz; Transparent from Jill Soloway (Six Feet Under); And Rebels, from Ice Cube and Michael Strahan. The lineup features stars such as Gael Garcia Bernal, Malcom McDowell, and Jeffrey Tambor. The children’s pilots include pre-school shows, and new this year, shows for kids ages 6-11. Here is full list of Amazon’s pilots available for viewing with statements from some of the creators. Amazon’s first group of pilots last year resulted in series pickups for Garry Trudeau’s comedy Alpha House, tech comedy Betasand and the soon to premiere kids series Creative Galaxy, Tumble Leaf and Annedroids.

Primetime Pilots

Bosch

Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling Harry Bosch series and written by Eric Overmyer and Michael Connelly, drama pilot Bosch follows a relentless LAPD homicide detective as he pursues the killer of a 13-year-old boy while standing trial in federal court on accusations that he murdered a suspected serial killer in cold blood. Bosch is played by Titus Welliver(Argo, The Good Wife) and stars Annie Wersching, Amy Price-Francis and Jamie Hector. Henrik Bastin of Fabrik Entertainment (The Killing) produced and Jim McKay directed the pilot.

I’m really excited to be bringing Bosch to Amazon viewers. I think we’ve put together a show that is completely loyal to the books and presents in Titus Welliver a Harry Bosch relentless as a bullet and as complex as a DNA strand,” said Michael Connelly, bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Harry Bosch novels which the pilot is based on. “Whether you know the books or not, you’re going to want to follow this man into his own dark corners as well as those of L.A.”

The After

Written and directed by Emmy-nominee Chris Carter (The X-Files) executive produced by Marc Rosen of Georgeville Television and produced by Gabe Rotter, The After follows eight strangers who are thrown together by mysterious forces and must help each other survive in a violent world that defies explanation. Aldis Hodge, Andrew Howard, Arielle Kebbel,Jamie Kennedy, Sharon Lawrence, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Adrian Pasdar, and Louise Monot star in the pilot.

“We can’t wait to share The After with audiences all over the world via Amazon.com. It’s an exciting time to be making TV—and this is an exciting place to be doing it,” said Chris Carter, creator of The After.

Mozart in the Jungle

Dramatic comedy, Mozart in the Jungle was written by Oscar-nominated writer and director Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited), actor and musician Jason Schwartzman (Saving Mr. Banks, Moonrise Kingdom, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), and Tony-nominated writer and director Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher). The project is based on the memoir Mozart in the Jungle by Blair Tindall. Mozart in the Jungle is all about sex, drugs—and classical music—and shows that what happens behind the curtains at the symphony can be just as captivating as what happens on stage. Paul Weitz (About a Boy, Admission) directed the pilot and executive produced. Gael Garcia Bernal, Saffron Burrows, Lola Kirke, Malcom McDowell, Bernadette Peters and Peter Vack star.

Transparent

Written and directed by Emmy-nominee and 2013 Sundance Best Director winner Jill Soloway (Afternoon Delight, Six Feet Under and United States of Tara), Transparent is a darkly comedic story about an LA family with serious boundary issues. In this exploration of sex, memory, gender and legacy, the past and future unravel when a dramatic admission causes everyone’s secrets to spill out. Jeffrey Tambor, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Landecker and Jay Duplass star in the pilot.

“Collaborating with Amazon Studios has been incredibly rewarding, Amazon gave me the freedom to tell a story and introduce these characters in such an honest, organic way,” said Transparent creator Jill Soloway. “I hope we will be back soon with a full season of Transparent to share.”

The Rebels

Written by Jeremy Garelick and Jon Weinbach, sports comedy The Rebels follows Julie Levine (Natalie Zea) after her husband suddenly dies and leaves her as the sole owner of a pro-football team. The Rebels creative team also includes executive producer, Matt Alvarez (Ride Along), musician and actor Ice Cube and Michael Strahan, former football player for the New York Giants and host of Live with Kelly and Michael.​

Kids Pilots

Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street

Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is a live-action adventure show created by David Anaxagoras, a first-time writer, discovered through Amazon Studios’ open-door submission process. Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is a coming-of-age tale that centers around Gortimer, his two best friends Ranger and Mel, and their exploits on Normal Street—an ordinary suburb that has a hint of something magical just beneath the surface. The pilot was directed by Oscar winner Luke Matheny (God of Love, Maron) and guest stars Fionnula Flanagan.

“It is thrilling to see Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street come to fruition and to have the pilot directed by Oscar winning director Luke Matheny,” said creator David Anaxagoras. “As a creator that broke into the industry thanks to Amazon Studios’ open door process, it’s been a very positive experience working with Amazon and their excellent creative teams. As a teacher I really appreciate Amazon’s dedication to creating pilots that nurture the imagination.”

Hardboiled Eggheads

Hardboiled Eggheads, created by Emmy Award-winner Duane Capizzi (Transformers Prime, Jackie Chan Adventures, Men in Black: The Series) is an animated action-comedy for children ages 6-11. The ultra-precocious bespectacled Kelvin and Miles may look, dress, and speak like typical nerds, but when these two brainiacs suit up in their high-collared white lab coats and protective goggles to battle monsters born of toxic waste, martians lured to Earth, or even killer vegetables, they don’t look and sound so nerdy anymore.

The Jo B. & G. Raff Show

The Jo B. & G. Raff Show is an animated series created by multiple Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Josh Selig(The Wonder Pets). Created specifically to help teach preschoolers the importance of resolving conflict in constructive ways, The Jo B. & G. Raff Show follows two best friends, Jo B. and G. Raff, hosts of their very own TV show. Each day, just as their show is about to start, Jo B. realizes G. Raff has gone somewhere new and exciting and needs to go find him. Jo B. travels to get G. Raff, but G. Raff always wants to stay and explore. The two friends end up reaching a compromise and singing, “If I give a little and you give a little, together we can meet in the middle!”

“As someone who helped develop the pre-school pilot curriculum, I can say with conviction that parents can feel good about sharing these pilots with their young children,” said Dr. Alice Wilder, Educational Psychologist and Educational Advisor for Amazon Studios’ pre-school kids pilots. “Parents will find these pilots valuable because Amazon is working hard to develop shows that foster creativity, imagination, play and lifelong learning in early childhood. Imaginative play comes to life in Wishenpoof! as Bianca makes good choices using her magic and The Jo B. & G. Raff Show helps young kids learn the importance of compromise in constructive, creative ways that inspire kids to want to do it themselves in real life.”

Maker Shack Agency

Maker Shack Agency takes a unique look at the “maker” movement through the adventures of Wolfie, a 13-year-old inventor with grand idea and a motto of “fail forward.” Together with his friends Merle, a tech wizard, and Jo, a girl who can build anything, they create gadgets to help fellow classmates. Wolfie, Merle and Jo use all the branches of science and personal ingenuity to solve problems with a new invention in every episode. Created in conjunction with the think tank Applied Minds and the production company Electus, the pilot was written by Arland DiGirolamo (Sketchy), Geoff Barbanell(Kickin’ It) and directed by Alex Winter (Ben 10, Downloaded) and features original music from Dr. Dog.

Wishenpoof!

Written by Angela Santomero, creator of Blue’s Clues, Creative Galaxy, and the Emmy-nominated literacy series, Super Why!, Wishenpoof! is an animated pilot that revolves around Bianca, who has “wish magic” which means if she wishes to play under the sea then — Wishenpoof! — she’s a mermaid, swimming around with the sea horses. Bianca uses her wish magic to help others and learns to solve life’s problems in her own creative way because with magic, or without, we all have the power to make good choices. This is Santomero’s second Amazon Studios pilot. Santomero’s first pilot, Creative Galaxy, is currently in production and scheduled to be available on Prime Instant Video in 2014.​
 

bigkrev

Member
The After and The Rebels will be watched by me for sure. Not sure about the others yet.

I'm also really glad they are doing all this children programming as well. It's not something I need, but is really cool.
 
I can't say I'm a fan of this method of choosing pilots to develop into series.

It seems like Amazon is just throwing a bunch of shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.
 
I can't say I'm a fan of this method of choosing pilots to develop into series.

It seems like Amazon is just throwing a bunch of shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.

It is a strange process. Amazon Studios had all those short cheesy "development" clips a few years back that never went anywhere. Their whole methodology is painstakingly slow. I can't believe after 4 years all they have to show for is Alpha House and The Betas.
 
I can't say I'm a fan of this method of choosing pilots to develop into series.

It seems like Amazon is just throwing a bunch of shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.

Unless I am mistaken, isn't that what the networks also do currently? Instead of having executives and a small testing group look at the pilot, Amazon seems to be trying to let the intended audience be the focus group.
 
Unless I am mistaken, isn't that what the networks also do currently? Instead of having executives and a small testing group look at the pilot, Amazon seems to be trying to let the intended audience be the focus group.

Yeah. I think it's a great idea personally.
 
Unless I am mistaken, isn't that what the networks also do currently? Instead of having executives and a small testing group look at the pilot, Amazon seems to be trying to let the intended audience be the focus group.

But the focus group is really Amazon reviews, a horrible trollerific method. It's not very regimented - many directors were pissed off last time.
 

bigkrev

Member
I can't say I'm a fan of this method of choosing pilots to develop into series.

It seems like Amazon is just throwing a bunch of shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.

.... so exactly how pilots work? The only difference is instead of only internally screening them and deciding what to make into series, Amazon is letting everyone watch the pilots and getting feedback from the masses. It doesn't work on normal TV (because people will just turn it off if they dislike it, killing raitings, and you need a schedule), but for amazon, where it is only costing them bandwith, there is no downside to this.
 
Unless I am mistaken, isn't that what the networks also do currently? Instead of having executives and a small testing group look at the pilot, Amazon seems to be trying to let the intended audience be the focus group.

That says to me that Amazon is far more concerned with making popular shows than making good shows.

Which is probably how most networks operate, to be fair, but I still think it's better to let professionals sift through pilots than it is to let the public do it. It tells me that Amazon's management isn't good at evaluating the quality of the stuff they're producing - or simply aren't interested in doing so.
 

Jado

Banned
Unfortunately, it looks like you need Prime Instant Video or LOVEFiLM in the UK to watch them.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why is that a negative? That's like saying you need Netflix to watch Netflix.
 

ganon

Member
Lol, almost all the reviews on Amazon for Bosch and The After are 5 stars. Didn't see any real 'review' ._.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I can't say I'm a fan of this method of choosing pilots to develop into series.

It seems like Amazon is just throwing a bunch of shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.
Yeah I prefer when the pilots are filtered through a committee process of knowledgable TV execs, and then you get to watch 10 episodes before they pull it for poor ratings.
 
i like this method they still have executives making the final call but its nice to have some real feedback. a lot of interesting pilots that get made never get seen by the public. if more companies used this model we would prob have gotten a few more good shows here and there
 
Yeah I prefer when the pilots are filtered through a committee process of knowledgable TV execs, and then you get to watch 10 episodes before they pull it for poor ratings.

Or they could, I dunno, follow Netflix's lead. Seems to be working pretty well for them.
 

sans_pants

avec_pénis
Amazon studios was supposed to be an outlet for new writers to get into the business but it quickly turned into established people making everything and pushing out the unwashed masses


Probably a better idea for them but still pisses me off because I'm one of those inexperienced writers
 

GrapeApes

Member
About 60% through Bosch. Kind of a snoozefest. Might watch another episode to see if it picks up but that's about it.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I'll watch The After and Rebels.

That conductor one looks horrible.
 

Silkworm

Member
Anyone watch The After yet? Looking forward to impressions.

I watched it. I thought it was good for a pilot (my expectations weren't high). Some things seem a bit cheesy but overall I liked it. You'll get that X-file feel at the end and there are some "interesting" coincidences in b-days. Not sure where it's going but that
encounter with a weird creature at the end
got me interested in what is causing this apocalypse.
 

Busty

Banned
I enjoyed that sizzle reel more than I thought I would. I was going to check out these pilots anyway but they look a lot better than I was expecting.

While I'm not sure I totally agree with the way Amazon does business at least they are doing something that differentiates them from the competition.

But there still doesn't seem to be anything that couldn't be done anywhere else. The Jeff Tambor pilot looks interesting but will it be different enough to really distinguish Amazon?

Amazon studios was supposed to be an outlet for new writers to get into the business but it quickly turned into established people making everything and pushing out the unwashed masses

Probably a better idea for them but still pisses me off because I'm one of those inexperienced writers

It's worse than that. From what I'm hearing Amazon Studios are the very, very last place for people to pitch their stuff which means all that they get is the dregs of scripts and pitches from development season that no other network wanted.

I remember they recently bought a script from Shaun Cassidy that is apparently about a small town where a plague is spread by teens texting each other or something similarly ludicrous. A perfect example of a project that bounced around town before (crash?) landing at Amazon.

Supposedly Amazon don't pay very much for their projects or their productions which is why most of the bigger studios don't bother pitching them at all.
 
I feel like Amazon needs to do something to distinguish their original video content from the rest of the site.

I hate how browsing Prime's video selection feels more-or-less identical to browsing for five-pound bags of gummy bears.
 

sans_pants

avec_pénis
It's worse than that. From what I'm hearing Amazon Studios are the very, very last place for people to pitch their stuff which means all that they get is the dregs of scripts and pitches from development season that no other network wanted.

I remember they recently bought a script from Shaun Cassidy that is apparently about a small town where a plague is spread by teens texting each other or something similarly ludicrous. A perfect example of a project that bounced around town before (crash?) landing at Amazon.

Supposedly Amazon don't pay very much for their projects or their productions which is why most of the bigger studios don't bother pitching them at all.


Admittedly most of the amateur submissions were trash. Even the ones they decided to try and develop seemed to hinge on the idea over actual content. The writing quality was just bad.

And their deals suck for tv. I think it was like 25k at pickup plus 5k per episode that you write

And their process is maddening. Give them the rights to your work for 45 days, they send you a message on the last day and pass on it, giving you no real feedback at all.

And they dont have anyone in house that knows anything as far as I can tell. You can open up your work to be edited by other users, which is just about the worst idea ever
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Bosch is such a great character, but he would be squandered on case of the week format.

Yes, I've listened to the whole series on Audible.
If they took a risk and made multi-episode arcs and avoided the case of the week, it would have a chance to be something really special.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
The After sounds like it could be good. I might give it a watch if I have the time. Also, I love Coppola and Schwartzman so I'll probably also give Mozart in the Jungle a shot as well. Alsooo Jill Solloway is really talented so I sort of want to check out Transparent too.

This batch of pilots sounds significantly stronger than their first batch, at least.
 

Silkworm

Member
I'm watching now.

Don't get your hopes up too high, but enjoy it for what it is. I hope if it gets a green light that means Chris Carter gets full control and doesn't have it micro managed but I'm probably dreaming as the red tape for this type of production sounds pretty deep.
 
I've watched The After and Rebels so far. The After is a somewhat unusual take on the whole world doom thing, and Rebels seemed like a football version of Major League turned into a TV show. I enjoyed it greatly at least. I'm gonna watch some of the other stuff later. Much better than the initial round of crap they tried last time though, that's for sure.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
I've watched The After and Rebels so far. The After is a somewhat unusual take on the whole world doom thing, and Rebels seemed like a football version of Major League turned into a TV show. I enjoyed it greatly at least. I'm gonna watch some of the other stuff later. Much better than the initial round of crap they tried last time though, that's for sure.

Is there any nudity in Rebels?
 
Don't get your hopes up too high, but enjoy it for what it is. I hope if it gets a green light that means Chris Carter gets full control and doesn't have it micro managed but I'm probably dreaming as the red tape for this type of production sounds pretty deep.
It was a weird disaster show up until the point when
the creature
showed up, but after that I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.
 

Silkworm

Member
It was a weird disaster show up until the point when
the creature
showed up, but after that I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

Yeah that part spoiler tagged part is what intrigued me. Anyway, I'd like to see what it all means and Chris Carter can weave an interesting story as evidenced in his work on the X-Files. Man it'd be cool if Vince Gilligan got an opportunity to guest direct an episode or two on Carter's The After ;-)
 
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