Making a move that is rare among AVOD platforms, Amazon announced the first original series for its recently launched free-to-consumer service, IMDb TV.
Short-forum animated series You’re Not a Monster will voice star Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet as Max, a psychotherapist to anxious iterations of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, Medusa and other frightening folks. Kelsey Grammer will play Max’s great, great grandfather and mentor, a veteran shrink himself who also happens to be a vampire.
The formidable supporting voice cast includes Ellie Kemper, Patton Oswalt and Amy Sedaris. Creator Frank Lesser (The Colbert Report) will serve as animation director.
Notably, the production credits include Grammer’s Grammnet Productions, as well as “IMDB Originals.”
Attendees of Comic-Con in San Diego will get a first peak at the first season of 10 four-to-five-minute episodes later this month.
The launch of an original show by an AVOD platform is notable. Subscription services, of course, have used the original series model to grow their subscriber ranks. But the price tag of producing originals is typically "way beyond what anyone in the AVOD ecosystem could spend," noted Farhad Massoudi, the CEO of Tubi, discussing the AVOD business model with MCN in April.
Of course, IMDB isn't just owned by anyone--we're talking about Amazon, here.
Launched in January under the name Freedive, Amazon recently changed the name of tits ad-supported streaming service to IMDB TV. The service, which claims to run half the number of ads than found on a typical linear network, is available with the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem of devices, on iOS and Android mobile devices, and the open internet via IMDB.com.
In addition to the name change and its first original show, IMDB TV also announced the ongoing addition of “thousands” of new movie titles which it said would triple the platform’s library.
The first wave of new titles hit the service on July 1. Here is the list of movies:
n alphabetical order):
A FISH CALLED WANDA (1988)
A KNIGHT'S TALE (2001)
AGE OF INNOCENCE, THE (1993)
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (2013)
BEFORE WE GO (2014)
BEN-HUR (2016)
CABLE GUY, THE (1996)
CADILLAC RECORDS (2008)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS (1976-1981)
CLIFFHANGER (1993)
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000)
DESPERADO (1995)
DOMINION (2014-2015)
EASY RIDER (1969)
FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001)
FINDING FORRESTER (2000)
FLATLINERS (1990)
FUNNY GIRL (1968)
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (1997)
LA LA LAND (2016)
LEGEND OF ZORRO, THE (2005)
LEVERAGE (2008-2012)
LOVE & MERCY (2014)
MADE OF HONOR (2008)
MALLRATS (1995)
MASK OF ZORRO, THE (1998)
MAX (2015)
MI-5: THE GREATER GOOD (2015)
MONSTER CALLS, A (2016)
MOON (2009)
MY GIRL (1991)
MY GIRL 2 (1994)
NET, THE (1995)
NIGHT GALLERY (1970-1973)
NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE (2001)
RATCHET & CLANK (2016)
REMAINS OF THE DAY, THE (1993)
REVOLUTION (2012-2014)
RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, A (1992)
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
SAVING SILVERMAN (2001)
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)
SHAUN THE SHEEP (2015)
SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992)
SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER (1993)
STUART LITTLE 2 (2002)
THE FOLLOWING (2013-2015)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1978-1982)
THE LAST WITCH HUNTER (2015)
THE PROFESSIONAL (1994)
VERTICAL LIMIT (2000)
WILD CARD (2015)
WILD THINGS (19
