Amazon Studios Developing Sigmund and the Sea Monsters with Sid and Marty Krofft

Amazon Studios Developing Sigmund and the Sea Monsters with Sid and Marty Krofft

Veteran television producers will create reimagined pilot for classic children's series

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2015-- (NASDAQ:AMZN)-Amazon Studios today announced it has signed a development deal with iconic television producers Sid and Marty Krofft to develop a reimagined pilot of classic 70s children live action series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.

Sid and Marty are geniuses and we are honored to be working with them to bring to the world a return of what we believe is TV's most fabulous and funniest sea creature ever, said Roy Price, Vice President, Amazon Studios.

Sid found Sigmund swimming in the ocean as seaweed, said Marty Krofft. Boy, are we lucky to re-create Sigmund and the Sea Monsters with Roy Price and Tara Sorensen at Amazon Studios.

Many of the most colorful and fondly remembered children's series of the 1970s and 1980s sprang from the imaginations of Sid and Marty Krofft. Their groundbreaking, live-action fantasy shows were mainstays of the Saturday morning airwaves, which had previously been the exclusive domain of cartoons. The Kroffts made their television debut in 1969 with NBC's H.R. Pufnstuf, which centered on the magical adventures of a boy named Jimmy, a talking flute and a six-foot dragon. The series, which introduced the brothers' innovative mix of live-action and puppetry, was made into a Universal Pictures feature in 1970. The show continues to be broadcast around the world. Pufnstuf was quickly followed by The Bugaloos on NBC (1970) and Lidsville on ABC (1971). Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost premiered on NBC in 1974 and in 1975, respectively. Later kids shows included Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer and The Krofft Supershow, which included installments of Wonderbug, Big Foot & Wildboy, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Dr. Shrinker and Kaptain Kool and the Kongs. Their slate of children's series gained notoriety with Pufnstuf ranking among TV Guide's top cult shows ever for two years and Land of the Lost's success in syndication leading to a remake of the series in 1991.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Kroffts also found success as producers of popular primetime variety series such as The Donny and Marie Show, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, Pink Lady and Jeff and the top-rated Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters. Krofft puppets were also regular characters on other variety shows of the period. In 1984, the Kroffts made the bold move of giving comedian Richard Pryor his own award-winning Saturday morning children's series on CBS, Pryor's Place. Besides capitalizing on Pryor's irreverent humor, the show explored important social issues such as child abuse, divorce and the importance of reading. The Kroffts got political in 1987 with D.C. Follies, a satirical TV series lampooning current events with amazing, larger-than-life puppets of celebrities, politicians and newsmakers.

About Amazon Studios

Amazon Studios most recently debuted its first hour-long drama, Bosch, based on Michael Connelly's best-selling books. Bosch joins other Amazon original series Mozart in the Jungle, from Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Weitz, John Strauss and Alex Timbers, Jill Soloway's multi-Golden Globe Award-winning dark comedy Transparent, along with the second season of the Garry Trudeau political comedy Alpha House. The studio has also launched its first live-action series for kids 6-11, Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street and three additional children's series, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival Award-winning and Annie Award-winning Tumble Leaf from Bix Pix Entertainment; Creative Galaxy from Angela Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises, the creators of Blue's Clues; and Annedroids, from Emmy nominated Sinking Ship Entertainment.

Amazon Studios has also announced three additional, original series to debut in 2015, including Hand of God from Marc Forster and Ben Watkins; Red Oaks from Steven Soderbergh, David Gordon Green, Greg Jacobs and Joe Gangemi; and kids series Wishenpoof! from Angela Santomero and Out of the Blue Enterprises; as well as a second season of Transparent.

Amazon Studios will begin to produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release, followed by early window distribution on Amazon Instant Video, exclusively for Prime members.

Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films and episodic series-one that's open to great ideas from creators and audiences around the world. Anyone can upload a script online and Amazon Studios will read and review all submissions. Those who choose to make their projects public can also receive feedback from the Amazon Studios community.

Comprehensive cast and crew information, including bios and filmographies, is available on Amazons IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.

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