Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Amazon Studios Greenlights Second Seasons of Its Original Kids Series

Amazon Studios Greenlights Second Seasons of Original Kids Series Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street

Growing original kids programming slate also includes Wishenpoof! and recently greenlit series Just Add Magic and The Stinky & Dirty Show

Returning series come from accomplished creators Drew Hodges (Saturday Night Live, Community), J.J. Johnson (Dino Dan), Angela C. Santomero (Blue’s Clues, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood), and first-time creator greenlit from studio’s open-door pilot submissions process, David Anaxagoras


SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ:AMZN)— Amazon Studios today announced it has renewed second seasons of its current kids series: Creative Galaxy, Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, and recent Annie Award winner, Tumble Leaf. All four series will return exclusively to Prime Instant Video for Prime members to stream and enjoy as part of their membership. Amazon Original kids series are among the top kids titles across all of Prime Instant Video, with Creative Galaxy, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and Tumble Leaf delivering some of the most-streamed kids seasons on Amazon. These shows, along with Annedroids, have recently been honored by the Parents’ Choice Foundation.

    “Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids and Gortimer have all experienced a tremendous response from our customers and we’re excited to bring them back for another season”

“Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids and Gortimer have all experienced a tremendous response from our customers and we’re excited to bring them back for another season,” said Tara Sorensen, Head of Kids Programming for Amazon Studios. “Working with such remarkably talented and impactful creators in both the preschool and kids six to 11 space, it’s exciting to see where the storylines and characters will take us for another season.”

Annecy International Festival and Annie award-winning series, Tumble Leaf was created by Drew Hodges (Saturday Night Live, Community) and executive produced by Hodges and Kelli Bixler (Saturday Night Live, The Roadents) of award-winning studio Bix Pix Entertainment. Created for preschool-aged children, each episode of the stop-motion world of Tumble Leaf follows Fig, a delightfully curious blue fox, and his best friend Stick, a quirky caterpillar, as they embark on a fun and nature-filled adventure, learning science through their natural play. The series features voice work from newcomers Christopher Downs as Fig, Brooke Wolloff as Maple, Zac McDowell as Hedge, Addie Zintel as Pine, and Alex Trugman as Ginkgo.

Creative Galaxy, from Out of the Blue Enterprises, with Angela C. Santomero (Blue’s Clues, Super Why! Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) serving as Creator and Executive Producer, and Samantha Freeman as Executive Producer, is a make-along, create-along art adventure series for preschool-aged children. The series, animated by 9 Story Entertainment, features Arty, an adorable alien artist, and Epiphany, his inspirational side-kick, on their adventures through the Creative Galaxy solving problems through art. To give kids and parents the real-life tools they need to recreate Arty’s experience, a live-action piece at the end of each animated episode takes families through the craft project Arty showcased in the galaxy. Creative Galaxy features vocal talent from Christian Distefano (PAW Patrol) as Arty, Kira Gelineau (Dear Viola) as Epiphany, and guest stars Samantha Bee (The Daily Show), Jason Jones (The Daily Show), Cloris Leachman (Malcolm In the Middle), Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills 90210) and Brooke Shields (Lipstick Jungle).

Annedroids, created by Emmy-nominated J.J. Johnson (Dino Dan) and Sinking Ship Entertainment, is a kids six to 11 live-action adventure series about Anne, a young female scientist, her human friends and their android assistants, and the amazing scientific discoveries they make while undertaking the biggest experiment of them all: growing up. The series spotlights, through trial and error, how science, technology, engineering, the arts and math (STEAM) can inspire children to do great things. Annedroids stars Addison Holley (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) as Anne, Adrianna Di Liello (Stage Fright) as her friend Shania, and Jadiel Dowlin as Nick. The series also features vocal talent from Millie Davis (Orphan Black) as Pal.

Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, created by first-time writer David Anaxagoras and executive produced by Oscar winner Luke Matheny (God of Love), stars Sloane Morgan Siegel (Partners), Ashley Boettcher (Aliens in the Attic), Drew Justice (The Little Rascals Save the Day), and Robyn Lively (Saving Grace, Twin Peaks). The series, for kids six to 11, is a coming-of-age tale of friendship that centers around Gortimer (Siegel) and the bond with his two best friends Ranger (Justice) and Mel (Boettcher), as they chronicle their adventures on Normal Street—an ordinary suburban neighborhood that has a hint of something unexpected just beneath the surface. Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is the first kids series to receive a greenlight from Amazon Studios’ open-door pilot submissions process. Anaxagoras, a preschool teacher, was one of many aspiring filmmakers and screenwriters who submitted their ideas for original series through AmazonStudios.com, and whose concept moved forward as a pilot that debuted on Amazon Instant Video in February 2014.

Prime members can now watch episodes from the first seasons of Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street as often as they would like with the Amazon Instant Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at amazon.com/originals, at no additional cost to their membership. Customers who are not already a Prime member can sign up for a free trial at amazon.com/prime. Additionally, apps for Tumble Leaf and Annedroids, exclusively for Fire devices, are available to download for free at the Amazon App Store. Tumble Leaf, Creative Galaxy, Annedroids, and Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street are also available as part of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, the all-you-can-eat subscription service designed from the ground up for kids—FreeTime Unlimited is available exclusively on Amazon devices including Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablets, and a year-long subscription is included with every Fire HD Kids Edition.

About Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios most recently debuted its first live-action series for kids six to 11, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street. The studio has also launched three additional children’s series, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival Award-winning and Annie Award-winning Tumble Leaf from Bix Pix Entertainment; Creative Galaxy from Angela C. Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises, the creators of Blue’s Clues; and Annedroids, from Emmy nominated Sinking Ship Entertainment. All four children’s series have been honored by the Parents’ Choice Foundation. The studio has also debuted dramatic comedy Mozart in the Jungle from Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Weitz, John Strauss and Alex Timbers and Jill Soloway’s multi-Golden Globe Award-winning dark comedy Transparent; as well as a second season of the Garry Trudeau political comedy Alpha House.

Amazon Studios has also recently greenlit full seasons of two kids series Just Add Magic based on Cindy Callaghan’s young adult book and adapted by Joanna Lewis & Kristine Songco; and The Stinky & Dirty Show based on the “I Stink!” book series by Kate & Jim McMullan and written by Guy Toubes; along with The Man in the High Castle, based on the Philip K. Dick alternative history novel executive produced by Frank Spotnitz, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Christian Baute, Stewart Mackinnon, Isa Dick Hackett and Christopher Tricarico and co-executive produced by Kalen Egan and Jordan Sheehan; hour-long dark comedy Mad Dogs created by Cris Cole and executive produced by Cole, Shawn Ryan, Marney Hochman, Andy Harries, Suzanne Mackie and Charles McDougall; and docu-series The New Yorker Presents executive produced by Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney and Dawn Ostroff and co-produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and Jigsaw Productions.

Three additional original series will also debut in 2015, including kids series Wishenpoof! from Angela C. Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises; Hand of God from Marc Forster and Ben Watkins; and Red Oaks from Steven Soderbergh, David Gordon Green, Greg Jacobs and Joe Gangemi; as well as a second season of Transparent.

In 2015 Amazon Studios will begin to produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release, followed by early window distribution on Prime Instant Video.

Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films and episodic series—one that’s open to great ideas from creators and audiences around the world. Anyone can upload a script online and Amazon Studios will read and review all submissions. Those who choose to make their projects public can also receive feedback from the Amazon Studios community.

About Prime Instant Video
Amazon Prime members have instant access to stream tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, including award-winning Amazon Original Series, available on Prime Instant Video at no additional cost to their membership. In addition, new release movies like Gone Girl, Boyhood and Birdman along with in-season shows like The Walking Dead, Scandal and Better Call Saul are also available for rent or purchase on Amazon Instant Video for all customers to stream and enjoy.

Customers can watch shows and movies with the Amazon Instant Video app. The Amazon Instant Video app is available on hundreds of devices including connected TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as on mobile devices like Fire phone, Fire tablets, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Customers can also watch online at Amazon.com/PIV. Prime Instant Video is also the only U.S. online-only subscription streaming service that enables offline viewing—on a plane, on vacation, and anywhere else where you may not have Wi-Fi.

Amazon Prime members have exclusive access to popular TV series at no additional cost to their membership. Prime members can enjoy binge-worthy TV shows including Amazon Original Series’ airing now such as multi-Golden Globe winning series, Transparent, the hour-long drama, Bosch, based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling books, the Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman comedy, Mozart in the Jungle and the political comedy starring John Goodman, Alpha House, in addition to HBO favorites like The Sopranos, True Blood and Six Feet Under, and popular primetime series including 24, Covert Affairs, Downtown Abbey, Extant, Falling Skies, Grimm, Hannibal, Justified, Orphan Black, Teen Wolf, The Americans, Under the Dome and Veronica Mars. Prime members also have access to an exclusive collection of kids shows now airing including Amazon Original Series’ Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and the Annecy International Animated Film Festival Award-winning and Annie Award-winning Tumble Leaf, as well as popular shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, Blue’s Clues and The Bubble Guppies.

Comprehensive cast and crew information, including bios and filmographies, is available on Amazon's IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.

About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

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