Conductor Rodrigo DeSousa, will take the stage once again in the hit Amazon Original Series ‘Mozart in the Jungle.’ Amazon today announced it has greenlit a second season that will premiere early next year exclusively on Prime Instant Video.
Based on the critically-acclaimed memoir “Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs & Classical Music” by Blair Tindall, “Mozart in the Jungle’ draws back the curtain at the New York Symphony, where artistic dedication and creativity collide with mind games, politicking and survival instincts. Returning to the series are stars Gael Garcia Bernal (Rosewater), Saffron Burrows (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Lola Kirke (Gone Girl), and Malcolm McDowell (“The Mentalist”).
The second season of “Mozart in the Jungle’ will be Executive Produced by Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom), Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited), and Paul Weitz (About a Boy). Additional details will be announced in the coming months.
“The first season of Mozart in the Jungle was a big hit with our customers and I’m thrilled that we’re able to produce a second season,” said Roy Price, Vice President of Amazon Studios. “Roman, Jason, and Paul brought viewers into this rarely-seen world of the symphony. I know fans of the series will be in for treat when the second season premieres early next year.”
“Jason, Paul and I are delighted to work on a second season of Mozart in the Jungle,” said Roman Coppola. “There are so many interesting stories we want to tell and we’re looking forward to shooting another season with our wonderful cast and team of collaborators. We’re grateful to all the folks at Amazon who believe in this project and support us to portray the world of our symphony in what we hope will be an interesting, fun and imaginative season of television. We can’t wait for the curtain to rise on season two.”
Amazon today also announced it has greenlit five new Amazon Original Series, including “The Man in the High Castle,” which is based on the Philip K. Dick alternative history novel; an hour-long dark comedy “Mad Dogs,” docu-series “The New Yorker Presents,” along with kids shows “Just Add Magic” and “The Stinky & Dirty Show.”
The new Amazon Original Series come from an acclaimed creative roster including Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”), Ridley Scott (Blade Runner), Cris Cole (“The Good Times Are Killing Me”), Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”), Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie), Joe Nussbaum (George Lucas in Love), and Kate & Jim McMullan (“I’m Dirty!”). These new shows will premiere exclusively to Prime members in the US, UK and Germany later this year and in 2016.
As part of its unique development process, Amazon gives customers an opportunity to provide feedback on which pilots they want turned into series that are then available to Prime members. During pilot season, any Amazon customer in the US, UK, and Germany can watch, rate and comment on the pilots. At the end of pilot season, that feedback helps determine the shows that become an Amazon Original Series.
To date, customers have helped Amazon greenlight 13 series including the multi-Golden Globe-winning show “Transparent,” which will return for a second season later this year.
“During the latest pilot season, Amazon customers made ‘The Man in the High Castle’ our most watched pilot ever,” said Roy Price, Vice President of Amazon Studios. “These new series, including our first docu-series, are some of our most ambitious to date and I’m looking forward to their premieres in the future.”
Based on Philip K. Dick’s Hugo Award-winning 1962 alternative history, “The Man in the High Castle” considers the question of what would have happened if the Allied Powers had lost World War II. Almost 20 years after that loss, the United States and much of the world has now been split between Japan and Germany, the major hegemonic states. But the tension between these two powers is mounting, and this stress is playing out in the western U.S. Through a collection of characters in various states of posing (spies, sellers of falsified goods, others with secret identities), “The Man in the High Castle” provides an intriguing tale about life and history as it relates to authentic and manufactured reality. The hour-long dramatic pilot starred Alexa Davalos as Juliana Crain, Luke Kleintank as Joe Blake, Rupert Evans as Frank Frink, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Tagomi, Joel De La Fuente as Inspector Kido, Rufus Sewell as John Smith and DJ Qualls as Ed McCarthy. The pilot was directed by David Semel and written by Frank Spotnitz, both serving as Executive Producers. Also executive producing are Ridley Scott and David W. Zucker with co-executive producer Jordan Sheehan of Scott Free Productions, and Executive Producers Stewart Mackinnon and Christian Baute of Headline Pictures. In addition, Isa Dick Hackett will executive produce and Kalen Egan will co-executive produce on behalf of Electric Shepherd. Christopher Tricarico is also Executive Producer.
“Mad Dogs” is an hour-long dark comedy drama created by Cris Cole and Executive Produced by Cole, Shawn Ryan and Marney Hochman, Andy Harries, Suzanne Mackie and Charles McDougall. Based on the hit UK series, “Mad Dogs” follows the reunion of a group of underachieving forty-something friends—a mixture of single, married and recently divorced, all seemingly at crossroads in their lives. Celebrating the early retirement of an old friend at his gorgeous Belizean villa, grudges begin to emerge and secrets explode as their trip becomes a labyrinthine nightmare of lies, deception and murder. “Mad Dogs” is a twisted tale of friendship put to the ultimate test. As the chain of events unfolds, cracks within the group widen before the friends realize the only people they can trust are each other, the last people they should be relying on! The pilot starred Steve Zahn as Cobi, Billy Zane as Milo, Romany Malco as Gus, Michael Imperioli as Lex and Ben Chaplin as Joel. Mad Dogs was directed by McDougall and is being co-produced with Sony Pictures Television.
America’s most award-winning magazine, which marks its 90th anniversary this year, comes to life in half-hour docu-series pilot “The New Yorker Presents.” The pilot episode featured Tony-Award winner Alan Cumming and actor Brett Gelman in a short film based on a story by Simon Rich and directed by Emmy Award-winning director Troy Miller; a poem by Matthew Dickman; a documentary by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme about biologist Tyrone Hayes based on a Rachel Aviv article; and an interview with famous performance artist, Marina Abramović, conducted by The New Yorker writer Ariel Levy. Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney is Executive Producer, joined by Dave Snyder and Dawn Ostroff. The pilot was co-produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and Jigsaw Productions. Future episodes will include new segments that come from noted filmmakers, star talent and New Yorker writers.
