Inside Amazon’s Search for a Top Movie Exec

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Amazon’s Prime Video is going big with fall TV, launching the most expensive TV series in history, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” and taking full control of NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” But on the film side, things are a little less groundbreaking and more in flux as the industry waits to see what the e-commerce giant plans to do with MGM and which top movie-studio exec Amazon will select to run its film business.

Among those whom Variety hears Amazon has spoken with in recent weeks are Netflix film chief Scott Stuber, Paramount Pictures alum Emma Watts and Warner Bros.

vet Toby Emmerich. But according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, though Amazon “loved” Watts and doesn’t see Stuber as being interested in this type of role, deliberations are far from over and Amazon still has distance to go before the top film exec is chosen. “There’s been so much bloodletting in the streaming wars that it’s really a question of how much appetite and financial power a company has,” Peter Newman, head of NYU’s MBA/MFA dual degree program, says. “In the case of Amazon, obviously, they have financial might.

They haven’t had a cogent plan for what they are doing with it.” He says Amazon’s streaming has always been seen as an addendum to the rest of its business plan — and it “could at any point in time decide to step on the accelerator,” noting the company is considering high-profile film industry execs at a time when competitors are scaling back. “It’s anyone’s guess, but if they were to hire a high-profile executive that is well known and has access to talent in the feature film area, that’s what would signal that they’re ready to take a shot at it.” Insiders at Amazon say