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Amazon studios

studios.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon studios

#21

Post by firefoxman1 »

nreece wrote: post #14
pdenya wrote: post #4

Crazy timing. Could be a first step towards the things mentioned in http://ycombinator.com/rfs9.html

Could be, but for now their official stand is: The goal of Amazon Studios is to work with Hollywood to turn the best projects into major feature films.

But "Hollywood" is such a broad term. Perhaps their intentions are to work with the "good" or necessary parts of Hollywood like actors, directors, writers, CGI teams, camera crews, sound experts, etc. without the large media companies themselves.

It's really been Amazon's core strategy all along: the classic "cut out the middle man."

Re: Amazon studios

#22

Post by paul9290 »

I've always wanted to write the following exposition and climax story.

Two strangers separately receive a note in the mail detailing how the other will die. The notes details the day and date of the strangers' deaths, an approximate location and a vague notion how it will happen. The notes provides small clues of their identities and thus both set out to id each other and prevent their deaths.

Ultimately, though, their quests to save one another ends in tragedy, as they mistakenly kill each other. Sorta you can't fight "Fate," type story.

Well if that sounds like a good idea for a movie or short-film I'd love to see it made

Edit: Offering script ideas (crowd-sourcing scripts) could possibly be a good "kill Hollywood," idea. Where the most popular crowd-sourced scripts get funded thru either KickStarter or Amazon Studios.

Re: Amazon studios

#24

Post by FreakLegion »

I'm disappointed in the shallow look people are giving this. You can't just read the marketing copy and take it at face value. Amazon Studios is actually pretty terrible for creatives, as many successful screenwriters et al. have been pointing out for over a year now:

http://artfulwriter.com/?p=1103

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/motion-captured/posts/the-mornin...

Since those were written things have improved slightly, but anyone thinking about participating should still have serious reservations:

http://johnaugust.com/2011/amazon-studios-now-slightly-less-...

Re: Amazon studios

#25

Post by gee_totes »

paul9290 wrote: post #22

I've always wanted to write the following exposition and climax story. Two strangers separately receive a note in the mail detailing how the other will die. The notes details the day and date of the strangers' deaths, an approximate location and a vague notion how it will happen. The notes provides small clues of their identities and thus both set out to id each other and prevent their deaths. Ultimately, though, the…

You might be interested in this book: http://machineofdeath.net/

Re: Amazon studios

#26

Post by easp »

trobertson wrote: post #13

> What is a test movie? > An Amazon Studios test movie should be an inexpensive, full-length movie > that tells the whole story of the script in a compelling way, with very > good acting and sound. Somehow, I don't think this will work. "Make a movie, to make a movie" doesn't seem like an attractive offer. I'm not a filmmaker, but from what I understand, it is much more convenient to send out a script than it is to p…

There is a lot of romance surrounding the movie business. That romance is a lot of the reason there are so many good looking and or talented waiters and waitresses in LA. It may be less visible, but you can be damn sure there are lots of aspiring writers and directors who are attracted by the same romantic notions.

With such a vast oversupply, I would not be surprised if there are plenty of people who are willing to make a movie for the chance to make a Hollywood movie (indeed, a lot of indie shorts and full-length flicks are already attempts at just that).

Or, just look at it through the lens of the tech startup industry. You think people aren't doing small projects on the side, for free, with friends, in the hopes of scoring something bigger?

Re: Amazon studios

#27

Post by robryan »

chancho wrote: post #15
nreece wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could be, but for now their official stand is: The goal of Amazon Studios is to work with Hollywood to turn the best projects into major feature films.

"Some of the best ideas may initially look like they're serving the movie and TV industries. Microsoft seemed like a technology supplier to IBM before eating their lunch, and Google did the same thing to Yahoo."

I would say also, with the YC rfs, I think any startup going down that path would be better of not being anti-hollywood as an official line.

Re: Amazon studios

#30

Post by jonnathanson »

firefoxman1 wrote: post #21
nreece wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could be, but for now their official stand is: The goal of Amazon Studios is to work with Hollywood to turn the best projects into major feature films.

But "Hollywood" is such a broad term. Perhaps their intentions are to work with the "good" or necessary parts of Hollywood like actors, directors, writers, CGI teams, camera crews, sound experts, etc. without the large media companies themselves. It's really been Amazon's core strategy all along: the classic "cut out the middle man."

This needs more upvotes. Let's stop painting "Hollywood" with a broad brush. What we really mean, when we direct our wrath at "Hollywood," is the studio system. The conglomerates. Etc.

Caught up in that system are some truly creative, kind, brilliant, hard-working people. Take writers, for example. I've spent a good portion of my career working with writers. Screenwriters are some of the coolest, geekiest, smartest, craziest, most endearingly awkward people I've ever known. They're not unlike the engineers I've worked with in other capacities, actually. Writing code and writing fiction are obviously very different trades, but the souls of the crafts are very similar.

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