To expand its reach to original video production field, online US retail giant Amazon.com has posted the new Amazon Originals TV pilots on the internet, from Amazon Studios, for free viewing, and getting feedback from the viewers, for deciding future strategy.
These pilots were the most watched TV shows across Amazon Instant Video over the weekend, making up 8 out of 10 of the most streamed episodes across the video service. The pilots, with stars such as John Goodman, Jeffrey Tambor and Bebe Neuwirth, can also be watched on Amazon Instant Video apps through many devices like Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Wii U, as well as hundreds of other connected devices. Already thousands of customer reviews have been submitted with 80% at ratings of 4 and 5 stars.
“For the past year the Amazon Studios team has collaborated with some of the best actors and writers in Hollywood to produce top-quality shows. Now we’ve handed the remote to our customers to hear what they think,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “In just a few days the pilots have received thousands of helpful and sometimes hilarious reviews. Keep the feedback coming—and help us decide which pilots will be turned into full series.”
Based on viewers’ reactions and reviews, the Amazon Studios production company will decide which projects to make into full TV series to be shown on Prime Instant Video, Amazon’s subscription-based online video service.
Since its launch in November 2010, more than 14,000 movie scripts and 4,000 series pilot scripts have been submitted to Amazon Studios. There are currently 25 movies on the development stage and in the processes of being tested with audiences. The original TV shows posted yesterday are the first set of series pilots for Amazon Studios. Amazon has decided that it must move beyond being a distributor of others’ shows to producing quality programming of its own.
