Amazon Studio: Boo to You
On Tuesday, Amazon launched a new program called Amazon Studios, with the goal of helping burgeoning filmmakers achieve their dreams of cinematic success. The catch phrase of the new plan is “Win money. Get noticed. Get your movie made.”
Amazon is positioning itself as the place to be for 21st-century filmmaking; the company is offering money for promising projects, feedback on your hard work, a partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures and a forum for public viewing. Sounds awesome, right?
Wrong! As National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) Executive Director and filmmaker Jesse Harris brilliantly asserts in this article, “It’s a PR stunt and an insult to writers and directors everywhere.” What’s so horrible about Amazon Studios? Well, for starters, they are asking you to submit nearly completed feature length films for free. The film’s rights are signed away to Amazon for 18 months. And there’s a chance that someone on this “open platform” will steal your idea, revise it a bit, turn it into a blockbuster and not give you any credit (or money) for it. Esqeeze me? Writes Harris, “Basically the goal of Amazon studios is to take original ideas from inexperienced filmmakers and pay them very little or nothing for their work, all while creating an interesting social experiment for their users and a fake PR stunt that Amazon is revolutionizing Hollywood and supporting the next generation of filmmakers.”
Being part of the film industry is difficult. The competition is fierce, and loads of people work for free in hopes of gaining enough experience and exposure to make some cash. There’s something very disheartening about a major corporation like Amazon, with resources abounding, taking advantage of the film community’s desperate situation. Why not invest money in Kickstarter projects, offer support to existing film festivals or create a program based on those that have already found success? Don’t ask people to use their valuable and limited resources creating a flawless “test” feature film only to condone its misuse.
Filmmakers, we strongly encourage you to read the guidelines for submission closely, and then read Harris’s thoughtful article before you consider becoming a part of Amazon Studios. Deferring again to Harris: “Amazon may have the power to muscle their way into Hollywood, but we as filmmakers have the power to say no.”
