It’s barely a shock when a big name director or writer transitions to television, especially when it’s done as a producer. The lines of division between the worlds of film and television have been fading for a long time, but Woody Allen is not one that anyone thought would make the jump, much less to Amazon, but according to a press release from the digital streamer and burgeoning content provider, that’s exactly what’s happening. And it doesn’t seem like Allen is going to pick a team and slap his name on top of it either — this is going to be a real deal Woody Allen joint.
Here’s a bit from the press release:
Amazon Studios today announced it has signed the critically-acclaimed Director Woody Allen to write and direct his first television series ever. Untitled Woody Allen Project, a half-hour series, has received a full season order and episodes will be written and directed by Allen. Customers will be able to see the series exclusively on Prime Instant Video in the US, UK and Germany. Additional details, including casting information, will be made available in the future.
Amazon’s Roy Price offered up the typical fluffy assessment of Allen in the press release, so I don’t feel the need to share it with you because you know that Woody Allen is a visionary, but Allen’s quote at the end is funny and maybe not totally in jest.
“I don’t know how I got into this. I have no ideas and I’m not sure where to begin. My guess is that Roy Price will regret this.”
Allen’s roots are in television where he was a writer on The Sid Ceasar Show in the late ’50s and early ’60s, but in the lifetime since then he’s stuck to films, working steadily over the last 50 years while crafting such iconic comedies as Annie Hall, Manhattan, Midnight in Paris, and now I’m offering the fluffy assessment of Allen’s work that you don’t need to read because you know… you know.
The point is, this is awesome news for fans of Allen’s specific brand of comedy and it’s a huge win for Amazon following Transparent‘s Golden Globe win for Best Comedy on Sunday night. Amazon may not yet have the cache that Netflix does, but it’s gaining steam and this is a real shot in the arm.
As you can tell from the release, little is actually known about this project beside Allen’s involvement, that he’ll write and direct it, and that it will be a half-hour long show that appears on Amazon Prime. One can speculate, though, that with Allen’s preference for independence and with the power of his name, that Amazon is basically throwing money at the man and allowing him to do what he wants to do. As for casting, let’s just say that a nebbishy man in his late 20s to early 30s might have a shot at getting a speaking part in this project — especially if he wears glasses and can play the clarinet.
Via Business Insider
