Intimate sport docos, adaptations of the most buzz-worthy books, and brand new sketch comedy: Amazon already knows what audiences like, taking its world domination to the field of film and TV with great success over the past decade or so.
But what if I told you those exciting titles would be coming from right here in Australia? At a ritzy Sydney showcase event, Prime Video has announced impressive investments into Australian content, with seven new Australian Original productions. In the sizzle reel below, the Kates (McLennan and McCartney, of The Katering Show and Get Krack!n) sum it all up pretty nicely: “we are vibrating with anxiety.”
For starters, Amazon Prime Video revealed that it will present the upcoming ensemble series Nine Perfect Strangers to Aussie audiences later this year, an adaptation of author Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel. Filmed in New South Wales, the tense miniseries stars Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Asher Keddie, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall and Samara Weaving amongst others. It’s a mere glimpse at the star power we can expect from Prime Video‘s commitment to bringing Australian talent to a world stage.
The teaser above flaunts new sketch series The Moth Effect, the return of “Australia’s favourite family” in Back To The Rafters, and an apocalyptic comedy that’s “Lord of the Flies but in cocktail dresses.” Sigourney Weaver stars in novel adaptation The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and Cate Blanchett narrates and executive produces the searing bushfire documentary Burning.
High hopes for @evaorner‘s upcoming Cate Blanchett-produced doco about the Black Summer bushfires. Eva’s previous films (including Chasing Asylum) showed she has the courage to not pull any punches and hold our government to account https://t.co/uICbacR4JL
— Luke Buckmaster (@lukebuckmaster) May 19, 2021
Prime Video is also promising a backstage pass to the greatest local sport scenes, if you’ve already burned through Making Their Mark. Kick Like Tayla follows Tayla Harris’ experience in boxing and the AFL Women’s Competition, and Warriors On The Field will highlight the stories of Indigenous footy legends. Add on world-class coverage of Australian Swimming Trials, with a prestigious team of Olympian commentators, and you get the sense that Prime Video is betting big on its ability to capture all facets of Australian culture and entertainment.
At the Prime Video Presents Australia 2021 showcase event, the streamer congratulated itself on creating 2,500 jobs and investing $150 million in Australian productions since 2019, across 14 series to date. “We believe that putting the spotlight on the very best stories from Australian creators will not only excite our Australian viewers, but also our Prime members around the world”, claimed Amazon Studios’ Head of Originals for Asia Pacific Erika North, pointing out that series such as The Wilds have attained international attention despite being filmed in little old Queensland.
North continued, “We are proud to greenlight seven new Australian Amazon Originals with talented Australians, and today underlines our commitment to investing significantly in Australia within the creative community.”
And with an approximated two million Aussie subscribers keenly watching, we look forward to seeing more local titles popping up on the homepage sometime soon. Especially the Kates’ “Tassie gothic feminist noir murder mystery crime thriller comedy.”
