SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced winners of the Amazon Studios (http://studios.amazon.com) best test movie and best script Annual Awards. Amazon Studios is an online movie development process that invited filmmakers and screenwriters around the world to submit full-length test movies and scripts to make money, get discovered and get their movie made. 12 Princesses, written and directed by Rob Gardner, a family friendly musical tale about a love-struck farm boy in a magical world, wins for best test movie of the year and will be awarded $1 million. Origin of a Species, written by Matthew Gossett, a thriller about an ex-cop facing the greatest obstacle of his life, won the $100,000 best script prize.
“It has been a very exciting year for Amazon Studios. We received projects from all over the world and have enjoyed collaborating with filmmakers and screenwriters on some amazing original stories,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “Choosing the best test movie and the best script of the year was extremely challenging--with thousands of projects submitted it was difficult to recognize only two. Still, after much deliberation and debate, it was the way 12 Princesses’ magical story came to life in the test movie that pulled it to the top for the million dollar prize, and it was Origin of a Species’ nail-biting suspense that stuck with us long after we finished reading the story.”
Amazon Studios first launched in November of 2010, since then the Amazon Studios community has submitted more than 700 test movies and 7,000 scripts. In the last year, 39 scripts, test movies and trailers were highlighted in contests and awarded more than $1.9 million in cash prizes. Additionally, Amazon Studios recently attached prominent producers to three projects discovered through the community to help further their development process.
12 Princesses and Origin of a Species both received tremendous community feedback on the site but it was ultimately the judges that voted to make them the 2011 winners. Judging for the best test movie award was Alexander Payne, director and writer of The Descendants, and Trevor Groth, director of programming for Sundance Film Festival. For best script of the year, Lawrence Bender, producer for Inglourious Basterds, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting, along with Akiva Goldsman, writer for A Beautiful Mind, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons and Courtenay Valenti, executive vice president of production for Warner Bros. Pictures selected the winner.
“Amazon Studios seemed genuinely interested in exploring avenues outside the standard channels, and I thought I’d give it a whirl,” said Matthew Gossett, winner of Best Script Award. “The experience has been great.”
For more information about Amazon Studios, visit http://studios.amazon.com. Follow the Amazon Studios blog (http://amazonstudios.tumblr.com/) for up to date news, tips on filmmaking and writing or insightful interviews with industry leaders.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.