This story was originally published on May 11 and was updated after Amazon announced it would buy the MGM film studio.
Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, used to have a tendency to micromanage the company's foray into television, according to a new book.
In "Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire," which was released on May 11, author Brad Stone described how Bezos was so involved in Amazon Studios' projects that he had 12 rules that each TV show had to follow — or Studios execs would have to explain why they didn't.
"Look, I know what it takes to make a great show," Bezos told the former Amazon Studios president Roy Price in 2017, the book says. "This should not be that hard. All of these iconic shows have basic things in common."
He then listed them "off the top of his head," according to the book.
The full list of steps, as quoted from "Amazon Unbound," was:
- A heroic protagonist who experiences growth and change
- A compelling antagonist
- Wish fulfillment (e.g., the protagonist has hidden abilities, such as superpowers or magic)
- Moral choices
- Diverse worldbuilding (different geographic landscapes)
- Urgency to watch next episode (cliffhangers)
- Civilizational high stakes (a global thread to humanity like an alien invasion — or a devastating pandemic)
- Humor
- Betrayal
- Positive emotions (love, joy, hope)
- Negative emotions (loss, sorrow)
- Violence
The confrontation with Price stemmed from Bezos' frustrations with the Amazon series "The Man in the High Castle," according to the book. Bezos called the execution "terrible" and asked during a meeting, "Why didn't you guys stop it? Why didn't you reshoot it?"
Amazon Studios executives "had to send Bezos regular updates on the projects in development that included spreadsheets describing how each show had each storytelling element," the book says. If any of the elements were missing, they had to explain why.
Representatives for Amazon Studios declined to comment.
Amazon announced on Wednesday it would buy the MGM film studio, which releases the James Bond movies and co-owns the rights to them. Making a Bond TV show is probably in Amazon's sights, but it will have to be greenlit by producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who co-own the rights and are in charge of the direction of the series.
If a Bond show happens, it won't have to adhere to Bezos' rules.
In an interview on the Vox podcast "Recode" earlier this month, Stone, the author of the new book, said that Bezos wanted a "scientific way to place his bets" in streaming, but that the rules were short lived.
While Bezos, who is stepping into an executive chairman role this summer, is not as involved with Amazon's shows now, the company is still taking big bets on genre-heavy projects like the superhero series "The Boys" and its upcoming big-budget "Lord of the Rings" series.
The first season of the latter alone will cost $465 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, including the $250 million Amazon paid for the rights to the series.
And Bond likely isn't the only MGM property Amazon will look to expand. Its catalog also includes "RoboCop," "Rocky," and more.
"The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM's talented team," Mike Hopkins, the SVP of Prime Video and Amazon Studios, said in a statement on Wednesday. "It's very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling."
