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Amazon Unveils New Storyteller Tool

Free online tool enables writers and filmmakers to quickly and easily turn their scripts into storyboards.

SEATTLE, WA -- Amazon Studios, the original film and series production arm of Amazon.com, has announced a new innovation for writers and filmmakers—Amazon Storyteller. Currently in beta, Storyteller is a free online tool that turns scripts into storyboards, complete with characters and dialogue that can then be shared with others for feedback.

“We’ve found that many writers want to see their story up on its feet in visual form but find it harder than it should be to create a storyboard,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “Storyteller provides a digital backlot, acting troupe, prop department and assistant editor—everything you need to bring your story to life. We want to see great stories turned into movies and television shows and we’ll continue to develop new features and tools that help people develop great stories.”

Storyteller begins by scanning a movie script that has been uploaded to Amazon Studios. It identifies the scenes, locations and characters from scene descriptions, and “casts” them from a library of thousands of characters, props and backgrounds. Filmmakers can recast or change locations, or they can upload their own images. Storyteller places the cast in front of the right background so that filmmakers can focus their time on the emotion and energy of scenes by using pan and zoom, changing the facial expressions and positions of characters, adding vehicles or props or adding captions with descriptions or additional dialogue. Once completed, the storyboard can be published on Amazon Studios where other users are able to view it and give feedback on the project. Amazon Storyteller is free—anyone can visit AmazonStudios.com and use this new tool to visualize their movie script and share it with others.

More information about Amazon Storyteller is available at www.amazonstudios.com/storyteller.

Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films and episodic series—one that’s open to great ideas from creators and audiences around the world. Anyone can upload a script and will then be notified within 45 days if that script is optioned.

Amazon Studios will read and review all submissions and those who choose to make their projects public will also receive feedback from the Amazon Studios community.

Just last week, Amazon Studios greenlit its first-ever original series, including comedies Alpha House and Betas, and kids series Annebots, Creative Galaxy and Tumbleaf. These original series will premiere exclusively on Prime Instant Video later this year and in 2014.

Source: Amazon Studios

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.

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