It looks like Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming platform, is growing and stabilizing after its leadership change in 2018. company are causing some of their own staff and new industry talent to become disgruntled and even run away.
In addition to this “gossip”, both inside and outside the company, there are worries about the absence of a creative direction that defines its own productions and also about certain economic overruns and resources of certain productions which did not have the best results. was expected
Recall that the company underwent a reorganization in 2018, positioning Jennifer Salke as the new director of the study after the abandonment of Roy Price due to accusations of sexual harassment. Everything was doubtful at that time, because the company was immersed in major controversies that directly affected its decision-making.
Over time, in view of the productions and the successes obtained, we can assure that the stability of the studio is a reality. An example of this is reflected in the general state of spending in Hollywood, where it was revealed that in 2022 the study came to spend 15,400 million euros on its productions. In addition to collecting a large audience with productions such as Jack Ryan and the series The Boys. If the company didn’t have stability, it wouldn’t be embarking on million-dollar projects, far from it.
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One of the points that generates the most controversy between some experts in the sector and the management of studies at Amazon falls on the production of The Rings of Power, a prequel to The Lord of the Rings. This production was decisive, both financially and in terms of audience for the streaming platform.
Experts point out that the production had a solid outcome, but not as stunning as Amazon Studios describes it. The reality is that we do not know if the prequel meets the company’s internal expectations, since it is the series that has obtained an average of 100 million viewers, in addition to obtaining new subscriptions to the Prime service. Likewise, it should be noted that the platform, like many others, generally provides little internal data on results.
For Salke, the series worked perfectly and he assured that “this desire to portray the program as something less than a success, does not reflect any conversation he has internally”, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Business Insider media was able to interview 21 executives and former executives of the company, as well as various experts in the sector and the Hollywood industry. Most agree that there is some concern, both inside and outside of Amazon, over the lack of a clear philosophy that differentiates its projects from other platforms. There are also discrepancies on how to manage the creative direction of content and there is even mention of a lack of communication between the teams.
In addition, the high costs of some productions were questioned, which subsequently did not have the expected success or quality. One of the productions that suffers from this is the Citadel series produced by the Russo brothers, known for their great productions The Avengers (Disney+) and The Invisible Agent (Netflix). Some leaders have even expressed that there is a great waste of resources and that the study is able to produce products of a higher quality than what it is currently doing.
By investing this expense in big productions, many small teams that have a contract with the company feel limited or even abandoned to carry out their project. In addition, many claim that it is difficult to negotiate with them because they have many projects on the table.
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The problem is that the studio has never had a clear philosophy, since its creation it has not had the ability to put its own stamp on its projects, differentiating them from the competition and this information, and the stages he follows, it gives the impression that they are only looking for big productions with big name professionals. At first glance, this may seem like a good strategy, but the problem is that there is always doubt as to whether the quality justifies the extra cost.
It should be remembered that Amazon is not a company dedicated to the film industry. Its Prime Video platform is yet another service it offers and it is undeniable that despite this it has managed to position itself and compete with the giants of the sector in a market that is currently oversaturated with productions and where it is struggling to stand out. We’ll see if these industry voices cause a change in direction at Amazon Studios and its creative philosophy.