Amazon would like it all. But Random House has decided it will have some too. And so will Macmillan.
Amazon generates $48 billion in revenue and has 63 percent of the eBook market, reports The Globe and Mail. It has already moved into book publishing. And now its Amazon Studios will be making movies, with 15 film projects in development.
Random House started its own film arm in 2005, and is joining with FremantleMedia (known for American Idol and The X Factor) to create Random House Television, reports the Toronto Star. Random House Television will develop shows from the publisher’s books and tap some of its leading writers for original content.
Macmillan hasn’t been left behind. It has a film division, too, and will be expanding into television, perhaps with a TV spinoff for supernatural military novel SEAL Team 666.
[Thanks to John Mansfield for the story.]
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Sounds like an attempt at vertical integration to me. Amazon pays the writers, publishes the books, buys the media arights, produces the film, distributes the film, franchises the film, and launders all the profits. They had better be savvy about the product, though, or they might end up having to read the books and watch the films themselves, too.
For that matter Brass Cannon Books has a film/television; Brass Cannon Media. One of the advantages of ‘self-publishing’ is 100% control over your rights. We currently have MARLOWE in preparation and hope to produce “The Shenandoah Spy” as a film in 2014 or 2015. We have an offer out for the lead role of “Belle Boyd” to a major star. It’s not that hard to do, especially if you know how to write screenplays as well as novels. It’s not just about how many books you can sell.