Serena Williams has signed a deal with Amazon Studios under which she will create scripted and non-scripted programming, including a docuseries that follows her exploits on and off the court, the tennis star said Tuesday. Williams made the announcement during a conversation with actor Michael B. Jordan that was part of a charitable event organized […]
Amazon Studios has restructured its television development team under studio chief Jennifer Salke. Amazon is reforming its TV development to focus on three areas: development, series and IP/talent management.
Amazon Studios will no longer be going to SXSW. The two screenings and panels planned for Tales of the Loop and Upload, in addition to a consumer marketing activation, have been canceled amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus. The move follows Facebook and Twitter’s recent decisions to withdraw their participation from the annual music, technology and entertainment festival in Austin, Texas.
Elaine Paul, CFO of Hulu, is departing the company to serve as CFO and VP of finance at Amazon Studios, working on a global slate of original film and TV production.
Exclusives
Several weeks after former NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke started her job as new head of Amazon Studios, the company has restructured its TV operation. Amazon Studios COO Albert Cheng, who served as interim head of the studio following the ouster of Roy Price last fall until Salke’s appointment, has been named co-head of television.
Sources say a successor, to report to NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt, will be named by the end of next week.
Jennifer Salke is jumping from NBC, where she serves as president of entertainment, to the top job at streaming giant Amazon Studios, filling the role previously held by Roy Price.
A+E Networks chief Nancy Dubuc has pulled herself out of contention for the top job at Amazon Studios. Sources said Amazon had been in negotiations with Dubuc but the executive became weary of the extended interviewing process and decided to withdraw from consideration.
Fox Television Group Chairman Dana Walden has bowed out of Amazon’s search process for a leader for its Amazon Studios entertainment arm. Walden had been high on the list of candidates pursued by Amazon after former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price made a hasty exit in November on the heels of sexual harassment allegations.
Almost two months after the abrupt exit of founding Amazon Studios head Roy Price over sexual harassment allegations in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the company is slowly going through the process of finding a permanent successor.
The exit follows the Tuesday’s resignation of programming chief Roy Price and Monday’s departure for development head Joe Lewis.
The news comes after programming chief Roy Price resigned from the streamer following allegations of sexual harassment. Sharon Tal Yguado will take over and head all scripted shows. Lewis’ departure follows news that he faced conflict of interest allegations at Amazon, where he cast his girlfriend, actress Yara Martinez, in the streamer’s scripted drama The Tick.
It would be nice to think that former Amazon Studios chief Roy Price resigned from his job because company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos simply couldn’t tolerate the idea that one of his key executives had sexually harassed a key producer. But something else may have also played a role in the decision to finally make a change: Bezos, it seems, simply wasn’t happy with how Price was running Amazon’s TV business. Now that Price is gone, Hollywood is wondering whether his departure will mark the beginning of an even bigger shake-up at the streamer.
Ray Price was put on leave last week following sexual harassment allegations and had not been expected to return. An Amazon spokesman confirmed the resignation Tuesday and had no additional comment.
Amazon Studios has made a decision on the two Weinstein Co. series it was “reviewing options” on. The company “no longer plans on moving forward with the David O’Russell Project. As for Matthew Weiner’s The Romanoffs, Amazon intends to move forward without the involvement of The Weinstein Co.,” the company said.
Roy Price, the head of Amazon Studios and global content at Amazon Video, was put on a leave of absence Thursday following allegations by producer Isa Hackett that Price propositioned her with crudely suggestive language after a 2015 Comic-Con event in San Diego.
