Amazon Studios Seeks to Level the Playing Field for Aspiring Filmmakers

Amazon Studios Seeks to Level the Playing Field for Aspiring Filmmakers

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

Amazon.com, not content to simply be a site that sells movies, may soon be in the process of making them. Variety reports that the site has launched Amazon Studios, a venue where aspiring writers and directors can share their work and gain the kind of exposure that struggling filmmakers are always looking for.

Users will be allowed to upload their own films and scripts, which will be reviewed monthly. The two best scripts each month will win $20,000 each. The best film will win $100,000.

Amazon’s director of product development, Roy Price, is the man in charge of the new venture. He states that the idea of the site is to create “full-budget theatrical films.” Apparently, this is not intended to be just another online filmmaking community.

From the looks of it, there are two ways this could go. On the one hand, the site could get flooded with too many poor quality submissions and not be able to sift through all the material to find anything worthwhile. In a year, this could be nothing more than a footnote in the story of Amazon.com.

On the other hand, it just may have the potential to revolutionize the filmmaking industry. In his popular book “Outliers,” New Yorker columnist Malcolm Gladwell explains that talent is not a direct route to success. You also have to know the right people and be in the right place to get your name out there. If Amazon Studios works as planned, now the film geek from the middle of nowhere has as much a much a shot at getting one of his films produced as the LA waiter who’s dating a major producer’s daughter while penning romantic comedies on the side. This could really level the playing field and spark a surge of fresh talent in the world of movies.

We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out, but it’s a terrific idea with a lot of potential. Now go ahead, start submitting scripts.