As a kid, I didn't just watch TV, I read about it, talked about it and dreamed about it. I wanted to serve on the Enterprise. I wanted to be both Laverne and Wonder Woman. And I was the playground equivalent of IMDB, telling pals how Elizabeth Montgomery played the last woman on Earth in The Twilight Zone before she became Samantha in Bewitched. I've worked as a professional TV critic, but ultimately, I'm a fan. I wish everything on TV could be as good as The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Friends or Battlestar Galactica or House or The Closer. I never thought I'd watch TV on my computer, but thanks to Amazon Video On Demand, that's my new favorite "channel."
Here's a dose of happy for you: Rob Gardner, winner of Amazon Studios’ $1 million Best Test Movie award, gets the good news from Amazon Studios director Roy Price earlier this week. (The winning movie, a musical adventure called 12 Princesses, is available to download/stream for free at Amazon Instant Video.)
Congratulations to 12 Princesses and Origin of a Species, the projects selected today by a panel of top industry judges to receive Annual Awards totaling $1.1 million from Amazon Studios, the movie-development arm of Amazon.com.
“It has been an exciting year for Amazon Studios. We received projects from all over the world and have enjoyed collaborating with filmmakers and screenwriters to develop their original stories,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “Choosing the best test movie and the best script was extremely challenging; with thousands of projects submitted it was difficult to recognize only two.”
The $1 million Best Test Movie Award went to 12 Princesses, the musical tale of a farmboy who risks his heart (and his life) to discover how royal sisters escape each night from the imprisonment of their mad father. Rob Gardner of Mesa, Ariz., wrote and directed the test movie, based on his stage musical version of the Grimm fairy tale of “The 12 Dancing Princesses.”
“It was really well received and, since then, I’ve felt like it would make a great film,” Gardner said. “When I heard about the Amazon Studios contest on NPR, it sounded like the perfect avenue to try to get such a movie made.”
12 Princesses and other top Amazon Studios test movies are available to download or stream for free at the Amazon Studios site, and at Amazon Instant Video.
The $100,000 Best Script Award went to Origin of a Species, the story of a former police officer whose German Shepherds are infected with rabies and terrorize a small, Midwestern community. Brooklyn-based screenwriter Matthew Gossett said his story has roots in reality: “I used to work with a guy in Cincinnati who was embroiled in a property line dispute with his elderly neighbor, and as their confrontations escalated, I wondered what would happen if chaos erupted. This screenplay is about chaos fed by humans and set loose upon a town.”
Annual Awards judges included Lawrence Bender (producer, Inglourious Basterds), Akiva Goldsman (writer, A Beautiful Mind), Trevor Groth (director of programming, Sundance Film Festival), Alexander Payne (writer/director The Descendants) and Courtenay Valenti (
More than 7,000 scripts and 700 test movies have been submitted to Amazon Studios since its launch in November 2010. And in the past year, dozens of scripts, test movies and trailers have been awarded nearly $2 million.
Imagine that you could see a movie before it gets made, and tell the filmmakers what you think of it (Tweak that ending! Cut the sidekick! More chase scenes!). Now quit imagining, and check out the Amazon Studios “test movies” that just debuted on Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, where they are available to download and stream at no charge.
A test movie is a visual rough draft of a script. Live action? Animated? It’s all good: The key is that it allows movie fans from around the world to see a story in its early stages and share their thoughts on how that story should be made into a full-on feature film (or whether it even should be made into a full-on feature film) — before millions of dollars get spent.
The test movies premiering at Amazon.com are the best that Amazon Studios has to offer: Finalists for its $1 million Annual Award (winners to be announced on Feb. 7) and work created by specially selected filmmakers. Take a look! We’d love to know what you think.
Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon are probably best known as the stars of Reno 911!, but they've also written hit movies like Night at the Museum. And they've written a book, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit, that's a hilarious and genuinely insightful read for anyone who wants to know more about how stories get to the big screen. They recently talked with Amazon Studios about screenwriting and why comedy is so tough, and in this interview they answer such burning questions as: Will they write a book about writing TV for fun and profit? Did they really make more on unemployment than while doing '90s cult comedy favorite The State? How is working in TV different from working in movies? What happens when you try to create great entertainment by committee?
If he had it to do over again, would the creator of CSI: Miami let David Caruso wear the sunglasses that have become such a defining element of the show? Anthony Zuiker, aka “Mr. CSI,” shares some behind-the-scenes stories about the immensely popular TV franchise he created in our exclusive interview.
Hear more of our interview with Zuiker on the Amazon Studios blog, where he talks about the Vegas influence, how CSI has grown and changed, and making it in Hollywood. And on the Amazon books blog, Omnivoracious: Zuiker talks about his two new books: a memoir called Mr. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Made a Killing in Hollywood, One Body at a Time and the crime novel Dark Revelations.
Twitter star and bestselling author Andy Borowitz had what some would consider a charmed run in Hollywood: He started out working with TV legend Norman Lear, created Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (the sitcom that made Will Smith a megastar), and produced the movie Pleasantville, starring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire. And then he walked away — not unlike late director John Hughes, whom Borowitz admires greatly, and included in his new bestselling book, The 50 Funniest American Writers: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion. Hughes is best known for movies like The Breakfast Club, but he also wrote short stories, including "Vacation ’57," which as you may have guessed, served as the basis for the 1983 movie starring Chevy Chase.
I talked with Borowitz, and asked him about Hollywood, happiness and his advice for people who want a career in showbiz:
For Borowitz's thoughts on who didn’t make the 50 Funniest cut and what Mark Twain would have thought of Twitter, check out the rest of my interview on the Amazon.com books blog, Omnivoracious.
Ivan Reitman has made a lot of terrific movies: Meatballs, Stripes, Kindergarten Cop, No Strings Attached. But there’s one that’s special. One that’s helped define what a blockbuster comedy is, and brought joy to millions. That movie is Ghostbusters. “I like to think it did something that hasn’t been seen before – that combination of humor with a fairly original story, original characters, a mix of genres,” said Reitman, who recently judged the Amazon Studios Best Comedy Script contest. “It’s kind of a scary film and kind of a funny film. And a film of a scale that had not been attempted before that I can think of, and it really set this whole new genre.”
There are lessons in Ghostbusters for every screenwriter, and the most important one is: Don’t try to make another Ghostbusters. For one, Reitman himself is on the case (more on Ghostbusters 3 in a bit). But more importantly, the thing Reitman most wants screenwriters to be is authentic. Don’t try to make the movie or write the script that you think someone wants you to write. More specifically, he added: “Think about: What part of my own experience is unique to me? What do I have genuine and original insight into what is my own experience that I can ascribe and impart in my own way that has not been seen before?”
Some might say that with a cast that included Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis and Annie Potts, it would be hard to go wrong. And Reitman wouldn’t disagree. “Sometimes an inspirational performance can take a script out of failure,” he said. “But it’s very hard to make a bad script a lot better. I’d much rather start with a better script.” He had it with the first Ghostbusters. And the second? “There’s lots of funny stuff in the second Ghostbusters, but we didn’t quite get the story right, particularly the threat,” he said. “The actors were interesting, but I thought the plot was less than stellar in comparison to the first one, so there was a certain level of disappointment. Though taken on its own, it was a good movie.”
Ghostbusters 2 came out in 1989, five years after the original. And Ghostbusters 3? Coming next year, reportedly. “I think it’s going to happen,” Reitman said. “We really all want it to happen. Though I’m not sure about Bill. I think he’s gone to a place in his performance career that it’s not as important to him as it may be with others.”
Reitman won’t discuss the specifics of the plot, but he will acknowledge the pressure. “It’s an interesting pressure. People do sequels all the time now, and there doesn’t seem to be quite as much pressure on those screenplays as there is for a Ghostbusters movie. There’s such a love for the original film that it has placed almost a unique weight on it.” Fortunately, he said, they have a “very good” screenplay ready (by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who wrote Bad Teacher).
Speaking of pressure, Reitman is confident that Ashton Kutcher, his leading man in No Strings Attached, can handle what awaits when he leads one of TV’s hottest comedies, Two and a Half Men, into its post-Charlie Sheen era this fall. “Ashton is undervalued as an actor,” Reitman said. “He’s thought of as a good looking boy … but he’s a really good, subtle actor.” And funny. And Reitman would know.
-- Studios Steph
(Learn more about Amazon Studios and is opportunities for writers, filmmakers and movie fans.)
Writer/director Shane Black, an action hero to screenwriters everywhere, served as a guest judge for the Amazon Studios April awards – and took some time to answer a few questions for us (and dodge a few about Iron Man 3).
Shane Black’s voice, so deliberate and enunciated, takes on a conspiratorial tone. I hold my breath. “Here’s what people don’t know,” he says. “Here’s the big secret.” It’s not about Iron Man 3, the blockbuster sequel he’ll be directing for release in 2013 (he can’t say much about that). This secret is about screenwriting. “I don’t just say this for me, I’ve heard this from many people,” he said. “You write a script. It’s very difficult, but then you finish it. You think if you write, say, seven more, you’re cruising, everything’s great.”
Yeah, that sounds about right. Especially when you’ve written scripts like Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight and The Last Boy Scout, as Black has. “But each one is more difficult. If you’ve written nine scripts, the tenth is going to be even harder,” he says. Wait, what? “Maybe it’s just that you know more about writing and you’re not satisfied with less. But it never gets easier, only more grueling with every script. I’ve never had an easy one.”
Can’t help it; heavy sigh. Some secret! “That’s not to say it was all misery,” he continues quickly. “Difficulty doesn’t mean it was a miserable process. Difficult means you had to burn brightly and pace around 1,000 times and go through 10 reams of paper, but you get it. … I think it’s important to feel like you’ve really smashed at the envelope, flailed away at all the corners until you’ve exhausted the pool of ideas that exist for a project you’ve chosen, even if you don’t use most of them.”
He seems to still be in envelope-smashing mode for Iron Man 3, which he will be writing (with Drew Pearce) as well as directing. The movie is a reunion of sorts with Robert Downey Jr., who starred in Black’s directorial debut, the snappy neo-noir Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Black can’t get all plot-specific, but he can talk about what excites him about Iron Man, which he describes as a “distinctly entrepreneurial story” about someone who’s a genius, who makes wonderful machines, “a guy who can kick your ass, but also has a reason for doing it that he thinks is justified.” The story is a “coming of age for a rich guy, a pampered guy, who has to get back to his grassroots.”
As much as that though, or more than that, it’s a story about science, and how it can unite humanity. Lately, particularly post-Fukushima nuclear meltdown, science and its seeming gifts have been more divisive and painful. Black is excited by the space-age vibe of scientific discovery: “Iron Man is something for the 16-year-old boy with a copy of Popular Science under his arm and a dream. … Optimism combined with real-world kickass sentiment.”
And then there’s the chance to work with Downey again, to “encounter someone who is a brilliant talent, decent guy, a friend, see where he’s at and get reacquainted creatively,” he said. “I have utmost respect for this guy. I have never worked with anyone who is just so effortlessly good.”
It’s odd to think that in the mid-2000s, when Kiss Kiss Bang Bang came out, Downey was considered less than a sure thing as a leading man. But a superhero franchise and Sherlock Holmes reboot later, and perceptions have changed for Downey. And Kiss Kiss Bang Bang certainly changed perceptions of Black. “The most rewarding thing was that I don’t think people realized that I had weird taste,” he said. “Everyone just assumed that I was trying to make big-budget movies, but I really wanted to try some new things.”
Read more at the Amazon Studios blog. -- Steph, Amazon Studios
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Just two weeks after launching with a total of $2.7 million in monthly and annual contests for filmmakers and screenwriters, Amazon Studios is adding a new chance to win. Amazon Studios will award $20,000 to the two best scripts submitted by Dec. 31, 2010. Winners of this bonus contest will be announced in January.
Eligible scripts uploaded to Amazon Studios can compete for the money, but the real prize is a shot at seeing them on the big screen. Amazon Studios is looking to develop its top projects into commercial feature films under its first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures. We spent a few minutes with Amazon Studios chief Roy Price to ask about this new contest and the state of Amazon Studios.
Why are you doing a Bonus Contest?
Roy: Due to the overwhelming response! More than 1,300 projects have been uploaded to Amazon Studios and we want to reward the people who have embraced the opportunity to win money, get noticed and get their movie made.
How does someone enter?
Roy: If you’ve already uploaded an eligible script to Amazon Studios, then you’re automatically entered in the bonus contest already, as well as upcoming monthly contests and our Annual Awards. If you haven’t uploaded yet, then upload a script between 85 and 160 pages by December 31. There is no entry fee.
Why aren’t you doing a bonus contest for test movies?
Roy: The first wave of response has been mostly scripts, and that’s why the bonus contest is focused on scripts. We’re excited to see the test movies people create based on scripts uploaded to Amazon Studios, but that takes time.
Who decides the winners and how? Does the public play a part?
Roy: Amazon Studios contest winners are decided by a panel of industry experts and Amazon Studios representatives. Site popularity, reviews and feedback can help bring attention to a great script, and can help writers improve their work; however, the public does not directly determine winners.
What would you say to someone who is on the fence about submitting a script (or test movie) to Amazon Studios?
Roy: Amazon Studios is about opportunity. If you’ve got a great idea for a movie, you can put it in front of a potential audience in the early stages and get feedback that can help you make it even better. You might even meet someone to collaborate with on a new draft, or a test movie. Keep in mind, Amazon Studios is a process. We expect that you will get some suggestions, perhaps see an experimental film or two made from your script and then have the opportunity to tweak your script before the process runs its course. So even though we’re very excited about the new contests, keep in mind that the Amazon Studios process is not about just one month or one contest.
Thank you, Roy, and thank you to everyone who has uploaded a script or test movie to Amazon Studios, written a review, or even just come by to visit.
-- Steph, Amazon Studios
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Maybe you’ve got an idea for a movie. Or you’ve seen something on the big screen and thought, “I know how that could have been better.” Now, there’s a new way for you to put your story in front of a potential audience—and maybe even win some money in the process. Amazon Studios, which launched today, is a new website and collaborative film community that is offering a total of $2.7 million in its first year of monthly and annual contests as well as looking to develop top projects into commercial feature films under its first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.
Here’s how it works: Writers are invited to add scripts to Amazon Studios. Filmmakers are invited to add full-length test movies to Amazon Studios. Test movies may be made from your own original script or from any script submitted to Amazon Studios. Test movies must be full length (more than 70 minutes), but they don’t have to be “full budget.” While test movies must include imaginative stories with great acting and sound they don’t need to have theatrical-quality production value. Film fans can review Amazon Studios scripts and test movies, or even upload alternate, revised versions. Full-length test movies will introduce public test screenings to the earliest, formative stages of the movie development process. Amazon Studios has produced five test movie samples, in different styles and genres, which can be found on its Getting Started page.
“We are excited to introduce writers, filmmakers and movie lovers to Amazon Studios,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “Full-length test movies will show stories up on their feet and attract helpful feedback at an early stage. We hope that Amazon Studios will help filmmakers experiment and collaborate and we look forward to developing hit movies.”
The first contest deadline is January 31, 2011, but uploading your script or test movie sooner means more time for you to get valuable feedback and revisions. Winners of the first monthly contest will be announced in February of 2011, with the best test movie getting $100,000 and the two top scripts getting $20,000 each.
See you on the (virtual) lot! -- Steph, Amazon Studios
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