Amazon Studios

Amazon Studios is a subsidiary of Amazon that focuses on developing television series, and distributing and producing films and comics from online submissions and crowd-sourced feedback. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed through Amazon Video, Amazon's digital video streaming service, and is a competitor to services like Netflix and Hulu.

in 2020, Amazon merged it's film division with the others to form Buffalo Pictures.

Film and television
Scripts for television and films are submitted online to Amazon and are read by staff. Amazon aims to review submitted scripts within 90 days (although the process can last longer). If a project is chosen for development, the writer receives $10,000. If a developed script is selected for distribution as a full-budget movie, the creator gets $200,000; if it is selected for distribution as a full-budget series, the creator gets $55,000 as well as "up to 5 percent of Amazon’s net receipts from toy and t-shirt licensing, and other royalties and bonuses."

In 2008, Amazon expanded into film production, producing the film The Stolen Child with 20th Century Fox. In July 2015, Amazon announced it had acquired Spike Lee's new film, Chi-Raq, as its first Amazon Original Movie.

Amazon Studios had received more than 10,000 feature screenplay submissions as of September 2012 and 2,700 television pilots as of March 2013; 23 films and 26 television series were in active development as of March 2013. In late 2016, it reorganized its film division into Prime Movies.

On July 27, 2017, it was announced that, starting with the December 2017 release Wonder Wheel, Amazon Studios would be its own self-distributing company. Previously, Amazon Studios had relied on multiple external studios to distribute their projects. The company also acquired global TV ownership of The Lord of the Rings for $1 billion. However, Amazon still has external distribution clients outside of the United States, such as Elevation Pictures in Canada, as well as Warner Bros. and StudioCanal in the UK and France.

In January 2018, following the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox and its assets from Rupert Murdoch by The Walt Disney Company, it was reported that Lionsgate (which has partnered with Amazon Studios for films such as Manchester by the Sea which was co-released via Lionsgate's independent film subsidiary Roadside Attractions and The Big Sick) is being subject to a bidding war for a possible acquisition, with Amazon.com (owner of Amazon Studios including Prime Movies), CBS Corporation, Comcast, Verizon Communications, and Viacom having made offers. If Amazon.com's bid for Lionsgate wins, Lionsgate's film and television production/distribution assets will merge with Amazon Studios, while Amazon Prime will take control of Lionsgate's streaming services and incorporate them into Amazon Video. However, Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns has stated in an interview with CNBC that Lionsgate is mostly interested in merging with CBS and Viacom (both of which are in talks to merge back into one company).

In April 2018, Amazon Studios announced that they will no longer accept open submissions of screenplays.

Accolades
In 2015, Transparent was the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award and the first show produced by a streaming media service to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy (aka "Golden Globe for Best Series"). In 2017, for Manchester by the Sea, Amazon Studios became the first streaming media service to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture; the film was nominated for a total of six Academy Awards, winning two: Best Actor for Casey Affleck and Best Original Screenplay for Kenneth Lonergan. The film The Salesman (2016) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; it was directed by Asghar Farhadi and distributed in the US by Amazon Studios.

Comics
Amazon Studio's first and only comic book series, Blackburn Burrow, was released in 2012 as a free download. It contained a survey allowing Amazon to collect feedback to determine whether or not it was worthwhile to make the comic into a film.

Divisions

 * STX/Amazon Home Entertainment (50% joint venture with STX Entertainment)