Amazon has just revealed the shows slated for its upcoming pilot season.
The online streaming service has two one-hour dramas and six kids shows for its next pilot season, Deadline reports. The pilots for these new shows will be made available exclusively on Amazon Video on June 17th. The dramas that will be premiering on the service are Mike Newell’s (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral) The Interestings and Billy Ray’s (The Hunger Games, Captain Phillips, State of Play) The Last Tycoon. On the children’s programming side the pilots include the live-action series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and animated shows The Curious Kitty and Friends, Jazz Duck, Morris and the Cow, Toasty Tales and Little Big Awesome.
Newell’s The Interestings, based on Meg Wolitzer’s (The Wife, The Ten-Year Nap, The Uncoupling) bestselling novel of the same name, centers on a group of creative and artistic friends who all meet at a summer camp in 1974. As they go through their lives in pursuit of their dreams and passions, the series follows the strains put on their friendship by successes, failures, deceit and betrayal. The Interestings stars Lauren Ambrose, David Krumholtz, Jessica Pare, Matt Barr, Gabriel Ebert, Jessica Collins and Corey Cott.
Ray’s The Last Tycoon, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last piece of work (which was unfinished at the time), tells the story of Hollywood Golden Boy Monroe Stahr as he fights his boss and mentor Pat Brady for control of their movie studio in the 1930s. It stars Matt Bomer (Stahr), Kelsey Grammer (Brady) and Lily Collins.
Amazon’s kids shows boast quite a talented cast. Morris and the Cow‘s voice cast is most notable, including Riki Lindhome, Thomas Lennon, Jermaine Fowler, Zoe Kravitz, Michael Pena and Erik Griffin. The shows have veteran creative teams as well, featuring talent that worked on projects ranging from Adult Swim to Spongebob Squarepants. Little Big Awesome is being written by Super Jail and Spongebob writer Ben Gruber, and is being animated by the Emmy-winning animation studio behind Metalocalypse, Titmouse. Toasty Tales comes from Rick and Morty and Robot Chicken alums Thomas Borowski and Caroline Foley, is written by Spongebob and Adventure Time writer Merriwether Williams and animated by Robot Chicken’s Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
Unlike fellow streaming service Netflix, Amazon releases pilots for its series before offering the entire seasons on Amazon Video. This has been Amazon’s process for the last few years, and is how they have developed successful series like Transparent and The Man in the High Castle. According to The Hollywood Reporter, vice president of Amazon Studios and digital video Roy Price spoke to the success of this model. “We’re focused on bringing customers compelling, must-see TV and we accomplish this by going directly to them for input. Our process has proven to work time and time again. Their feedback has helped create series that have become fan favorites among critics and customers.”