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3:42 p.m. PST 02/08/2021
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Natalie Jarvey
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Future CEO Andy Jassy is unlikely to make any big studio moves – but has forged ties with Hollywood while leading the tech giant’s web services division.
You’ll have to forgive anyone in Hollywood who responded to the February 2 announcement that Andy Jassy will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon, “who?
Amazon Lifetime, Jassy spent nearly two decades running the highly profitable cloud computing division of the Seattle-based e-commerce giant, a role that hardly put him in a position to rub shoulders with the creatives in making movies and shows. television set for Amazon Studios. But Jassy’s appointment as CEO, which will take place in the third quarter when Bezos becomes executive chairman, is expected to have little impact on the company’s entertainment business, according to Amazon insiders.
“One of the great things about Hollywood is that when a new boss comes in, there’s a whole change of guard. It’s not Amazon’s way, ”says former Amazon vice president of digital media Bill Carr, who oversaw Prime Video and Amazon Studios in their early days and co-wrote the next book. Working Backward: Information, Stories, and Secrets From Amazon.
WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who worked under Bezos at the start of Amazon, calls his former boss “one of the most talented and successful business professors on this planet, for those willing to listen. and to learn. ” Jassy is one of the executives who have benefited from these lessons. He spent a year and a half observing the billionaire Amazon founder before founding Amazon Web Services, which he integrated into a data hosting company with $ 45 billion in revenue in 2020.
Those familiar with both executives say Jassy shouldn’t stray far from the path Bezos has charted. Where Jassy could differ the most from Bezos is in his personal interest.
It was Bezos’ passion for entertainment – not to mention his desire to attract more Amazon Prime Membership subscribers – that drove the company to launch the Amazon Studios entertainment arm in 2010. In years since, Bezos – who has long kept a home in Los Angeles and bought the Warner Estate from David Geffen for $ 165 million in 2020 – has become a staple at awards shows. “Jeff has been a strong supporter and supporter of Amazon Studios’ efforts and is keenly interested in their progress, and it’s helpful,” says Tom Wellington, Co-Director of Television at WME. “Jeff’s interest has allowed Prime Video and Amazon Studios to have a bit of a place in Amazonian culture to do things in a way that works more for Hollywood.”
Still, Bezos has been relatively distracted when it comes to programming. He does not participate in field meetings. Instead, Amazon Studios executives, led by Jennifer Salke, are heading to Seattle to present their go-ahead decisions. “I would never say no to something the team wanted to do, but I could say yes to something the team didn’t want to do,” Bezos told THR in an interview in 2015.
Sources say there have been a few projects in which Bezos has taken a more active role, including Amazon’s $ 250 million deal for the rights to JRR Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings which included a five-season engagement in a television series based on the fantasy novels. Bezos’ personal interest in spacesuits The extent Also reportedly played a role in Amazon’s decision to relaunch the series after it was canceled on SyFy. (In a rare move, Bezos revealed the Amazon Studios season four pickup The extent himself in a 2018 appearance at a National Space Society conference.)
Relatives of Jassy, meanwhile, describe him as having a penchant for the sport – he’s a New York Giants fan and co-owner of the Seattle Kraken professional hockey team – and the music, informed by the leading groups in his youth. One person who knows Jassy well says he’s unlikely to get involved in the creation of an Amazon Studios project, but has a media savvy to be an ally of the company’s entertainment partners.
That’s what he did as CEO of AWS, which offers a suite of multimedia service products that are now part of the essential backbone of video streaming. Walt Disney Co., Netflix, Comcast and NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, Sony, Fox Corp. ViacomCBS, Discovery Inc. and MGM are all customers of the Amazon realm of Jassy and use AWS to run their streaming services. Jassy is known to occasionally get involved in high-level discussions between AWS and its customers, whether to help close a deal or to resolve an issue.
While Amazon’s entertainment transactions are a high-profile part of the business, they shouldn’t be high on Jassy’s top priorities as CEO, a role he takes on as the 1.7 trillion company dollars is subject to increased regulatory scrutiny. The Amazon Studios division has a content budget of $ 7 billion, but the company does not split its revenue or operating profit. After all, shows like Jack ryan and The boys are meant to help Amazon ensure its 150 million Prime subscribers continue to renew their memberships.
Salke projected his confidence in the future of the Los Angeles outpost amid the change of CEO on the morning of the Golden Globes on February 3. After the studio won 10 nominations, she said THR that Bezos remains “a huge fan of our company”.
Even after Jassy takes over the reins of Amazon, Carr says it would be a waste of Hollywood’s time to roll out the red carpet: “I would be very surprised if Andy started to get his hands firmly on Amazon’s art direction bar. Studios and weigh in on the specific decisions of the green light. “
Alex Weprin contributed to this report.
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