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  • Amazon’s ‘Hand of God’, ‘Red Oaks’ Get Full Seasons

    Amazon’s ‘Hand of God’, ‘Red Oaks’ Get Full Seasons

    In late August, Amazon debuted five new pilots for Amazon Prime users’ viewing pleasure: The Cosmopolitans, Really, Hysteria, Hand of God, and Red Oaks. Today, Amazon is announcing that two of those shows have survived the pilot round and have been greenlit for full series productions

    It’s the latter two – Hand of God and Red Oaks. Hand of God is the television debut of director Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, World War Z). It stars Sons of Anarchy‘s Ron Perlman as Judge Pernell Harris, “a hard-living, law-bending married man with a high-end call girl on the side, who suffers a mental breakdown and goes on a vigilante quest to find the rapist who tore his family apart.”

    Red Oaks is produced by director Steven Soderbergh. It stars Craig Roberts (Submarine), Paul Reiser, Richard Kind, and Jennifer Grey, and is being directed by David Gordon Green of Eastbound & Down acclaim. “A coming-of-age comedy set in the “go-go” 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt, Red Oaks is about enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end—and the future begins,” says Amazon Studios. It revolves around an assistant tennis pro at a country club, and its “colorful” cast of characters.

    Like with all other Amazon pilot seasons, customer feedback helped determine which pilots got picked up.

    “We are excited to get working on full seasons of Hand of God and Red Oaks,” said Roy Price, Vice President of Amazon Studios. “These shows come from some of the most talented creators in the business. Customers loved the pilot episodes and we can’t wait to hear what they think of the entire series.”

    Amazon, who’s been battling for a while now to gain any ground on Netflix in the original content from streaming providers race, made a significant leap forward last week with the debut of Transparent. It’s receiving rave reviews. Amazon’s also set to premiere the second season of its first-ever original series, Alpha House, on October 24.

    Image via Amazon Studios, YouTube screenshot

  • Amazon Rounds Out New Pilot Season with Soderbergh-produced ‘Red Oaks’

    Amazon Rounds Out New Pilot Season with Soderbergh-produced ‘Red Oaks’

    Amazon’s third round of pilots, inarguably its most promising set of original content yet, has just been finalized with the addition of a new comedy, Red Oaks. Amazon describes it as “a coming-of-age comedy set in the “go-go” 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt, Red Oaks is about enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end — and the future begins.”

    The new comedy stars Craig Roberts (Submarine), Paul Reiser, Richard Kind, and Jennifer Grey. It’s being produced by Steven Soderbergh and directed by David Gordon Green, of Eastbound & Down acclaim.

    “Greg Jacobs told me this idea on the set of Behind the Candelabra and I told him it was great and that he should start working on it immediately,” said Steven Soderbergh. “Then, while we were on the set of The Knick he gave me the script he wrote with Joe Gangemi and I said, ‘This is ready to go, let’s find a director.’ We very quickly agreed to approach David because the humor was sharp without being mean, and we felt he would understand and appreciate that.”

    Here’s Amazon’s full synopsis:

    Red Oaks is set in 1985, and features college student David Myers who is both reeling from his father’s heart attack and conflicted about what major to declare in the fall. Myers gets a summer job as an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in suburban New Jersey and while there, he meets a colorful cast of misfit co-workers and wealthy club members including an alluring art student named “Skye” (played by guest star Alexandra Socha) and her corporate raider father “Getty” (played by Reiser).

    “To be able to collaborate with Steven, David and Greg, three of the most highly-regarded creators in Hollywood, is an absolute pleasure,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “Red Oaks brings together not only top-notch talent, but also a hilarious and wonderfully written script that we think our customers will enjoy seeing come to life later this year.”

    Clearly feeling the pressure from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Studios seems to have really stepped up its pilot game and announced a handful of shows with a lot of potential. Red Oaks joins Hand of God, which features Ron Perlman as a hard-living preacher, and Hysteria, a thriller about an epidemic that spreads, in part, via social media. Also coming to Amazon’s third pilot season are the Jay Chandrasekhar dramedy Really and The Cosmopolitans.

    Like all of Amazon’s pilot rounds, viewer feedback will help determine which shows receive full season orders.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons