According to its job site, Amazon is set to begin developing original programing through its People’s Production Company.
Amazon is looking for a creative executive to “help develop half-hour comedies for online and tradition distribution,” according to one job listing.
The listing, first pointed out by GigaOm, says a successful applicant will have experience in animation, a network of writers and artists, “excellent taste in comedic series” and “experience with online series development and production.”
Another job listing seeks a creative director to develop half-hour children’s series.
An Amazon spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday morning.
It remains to be seen how successful these services can be at producing content. Amazon may have a better chance than Netflix or Hulu, said Adam Hanft, founder and CEO of Hanft Projects, the marketing and branding firm.
“Amazon has a vast monetization engine; Netflix doesn’t,” he said. “As a result, Amazon knows how to invest in content in a much more meaningful way than anyone else.”
But Hanft is still leery about any of these services developing content themselves, suggesting Amazon might do better by acquiring an existing studio.
Amazon continues to ramp up its streaming video offerings, most recently striking a deal with Viacom to stream television shows like The Jersey Shore and SpongeBob SquarePants. That deal brought Amazon’s streaming library to more than 14,000 movies and TV episodes, compared to more than 20,000 at rival Netflix.
Amazon’s aggressive content acquisition strategy has led industry insiders, including Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, to predict that Amazon will soon offer streaming video as a stand-alone service. Amazon currently bundles streaming video into its Prime membership, which gives users free two-day shipping for $79 annually.
Amazon rejected those predictions last week when Brad Beale, its head of digital video content acquisition, told Gigaom that the company has no plans to break out the video streaming platform any time soon.
