????幾個月來，科技業界一直在猜測亞馬遜公司（Amazon）何時——而非是否——會征集劇本以及增強其內容創作團隊，以大舉進軍原創電視節目領域。現在，官方消息已經發布：亞馬遜將開始制作原創電視節目內容。

????周三，亞馬遜宣布有意開發原創喜劇和兒童節目，并由其在線視頻流媒體服務“亞馬遜即時視頻”（Amazon Instant Video）發行。亞馬遜電影網站“亞馬遜工作室”（Amazon Studios）總監羅伊?普萊斯在一份新聞發布稿中表示：“亞馬遜工作室希望發掘優秀創作人才，推出觀眾喜聞樂見的節目。在開發電影的過程中，我們聽說內容創作者們對原創的系列喜劇和兒童節目很感興趣。我們很高興能為劇作者、動漫人士和導演帶來這一新機會，使他們能開發原創系列節目。”

????亞馬遜工作室將征集各類原創劇本，每月選出一個新項目，并請觀眾對這個項目做出評價。如果某個項目被選中，創作者將獲得1萬美元。如果該項目正式投拍為完整的原創系列劇，創作者將獲得5.5萬美元以及最高5%的版稅。羅伊?普萊斯對科技網站AllThingsD表示，亞馬遜旨在用可與“真正的”電視節目相匹敵的預算投入，制作出品質不相上下的原創系列劇。

????《財富》雜志（Fortune）今年3月曾報道過，亞馬遜在電視領域這一試水將由喬?路易斯領銜。他是好萊塢資深人士，曾任20世紀福克斯公司（20th Century Fox）制作總監，美國喜劇中心頻道（Comedy Central）開發經理，以及云電視網絡Bark Industries的首席執行官。在喜劇中心頻道時，他負責Tosh.0的制作。這是一部由喜劇明星丹尼爾?托什主持的系列節目，它對等科技文化話題進行品評，每周還推出一個人氣視頻單元。《財富》雜志通過LinkedIn上的一個帖子發現了對路易斯的這一任命，但該帖隨后被刪掉了。

????高德納公司（Gartner）的分析師雷?瓦爾德近期向《財富》雜志表示，亞馬遜此舉“有其內在邏輯”。他援引了谷歌公司（Google）為例，谷歌便正在開發新的原創內容。而與此同時，流媒體視頻供應商Hulu計劃今年在影視節目上投資5億美元，使其產品既有傳統電視節目，又有有線網絡節目。而網飛公司（Netflix）則于去年2月推出了自己首部原創系列劇Lilyhammer。

????事實證明，這類原創內容能成為亞馬遜付費服務發展的重要推手。2005年推出的這項服務旨在鼓勵用戶在該網站花錢消費。每年只需花上79美元，會員就能享受不限量貨品兩天送達的免費快遞服務。此外，亞馬遜為了讓用戶嘗到更多甜頭，還設法增加了多項特色服務，比如和網飛公司相仿的影視流媒體無限量供應服務。這項服務也旨在銷售出更多Kindle平板電腦。原創電視節目正式推出后，還能豐富整個產品線。

????亞馬遜工作室2010年11月正式成立，迄今已收到700多部電影和7000多個劇本，該公司目前正在制作的電影有15部之多。

????譯者：清遠

????For months, the technology world has wondered when -- not if -- Amazon would get into original TV programing by soliciting scripts and beefing up its nascent in-house staff. Now, it's official: Amazon (AMZN) will produce original television content.

????On Wednesday, the company announced its intentions to develop original comedy and children shows that will be distributed by way of its online streaming service, Amazon Instant Video. "Amazon Studios wants to discover great talent and produce programming that audiences will love," Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, said in a release. "In the course of developing movies, we've heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children's genres. We are excited to bring writers, animators and directors this new opportunity to develop original series."

????Amazon Studios will solicit original scripts, option one new project a month, and test that project with an audience. If the project is optioned, the creator will receive $10,000. If the project is turned into a full original series, the creator will $55,000 and up to 5% in royalties. As studio head Roy Price told AllThingsD, the company aims to make these original series have the same quality as "real" TV shows, with production budgets to match.

????As Fortune reported in March, Amazon's TV push will be led by Joe Lewis, a Hollywood veteran whose previous experience includes stints as Director of Production at 20th Century Fox (NWS), Manager of Development at Comedy Central, and CEO of the cloud-based TV network Bark Industries. At Comedy Central, he was an executive in charge of the production of Tosh.0, a series hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh that melds viral web videos with popular culture commentary. Fortune discovered Lewis' hiring through a LinkedIn posting, which was later taken down.

????"I think there's a logic to it," Gartner analyst Ray Valdes told Fortune recently of the effort. Valdes pointed to Google (GOOG) as one example of a company which is also focusing its efforts on new original content. Streaming service Hulu, meanwhile, plans to spend $500 million on TV and movie programming this year to round out its offerings of traditional broadcast and cable programming. And Netflix launched its first original series, Lilyhammer, last February.

????Original content of this type could prove to become an important driver of Amazon's Prime service. Launched in 2005, Prime aimed to get customers to spend more. For $79 a year, members got free two-day delivery on an unlimited number of items. Amazon has sweetened its offerings from there adding, among many other features, an unlimited movie and TV streaming service similar to Netflix. The service is also intended to help sell more Kindle tablets. Original TV could bolster the entire offer -- if shows take off.

????Amazon Studios which launched in November of 2010, has received more than 700 test movies and 7,000 scripts to date. The company also has 15 movies in development.