If Amazon’s Golden Globe wins for Transparent on Sunday night didn’t establish it as a major player in television, today’s news certainly will. The internet giant’s Amazon Studios has signed iconic director Woody Allen for his first ever television project.
The series is currently untitled, but Amazon has already given it a full season order. Each 30-minute episode will be written by Allen and most - if not all - will be directed by him as well.
Amazon secured international distribution for the series, so it will only be available on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. Further details on availability will be announced soon.
“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 [Amazon Studios Vice President] Roy Price will regret this,” Allen said in a statement.
“Woody Allen is a visionary creator who has made some of the greatest films of all-time, and it’s an honor to be working with him on his first television series,” Price added. “From Annie Hall to Blue Jasmine, Woody has been at the creative forefront of American cinema and we couldn’t be more excited to premiere his first TV series exclusively on Prime Instant Video next year.”
Allen’s latest film was Magic in the Moonlight with Colin Firth and Emma Stone. He is working on a new film with Stone, which will also star Joaquin Phoenix. That movie is expected to be released this year.
Despite being in the entertainment business since the 1950s, Allen has never written or directed a sitcom before. He has the most Oscar nominations as a screenwriter in film history and has won four Oscars in total, most recently for writing Midnight in Paris in 2011.
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