Podcast – Amazon Studios Senior Development Executive Sarah Christie
Sarah Christie talks about the development process for Australian series at Amazon Studios, what makes a good pitch and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
Sarah Christie, Sigourney Weaver
Find this episode of the Screen Australia Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Pocket Casts
It was while working at Goalpost Pictures that Sarah Christie found herself gravitating toward development.
“I was always working closely with Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne and very much fell in love with development, working at Goalpost and being in writers’ rooms, doing script coverage, working with incredible artists,” she says of her first stint there, as a producer’s assistant.
On the latest episode of the Screen Australia Podcast, Christie, who’s now a Senior Development Executive at Amazon Studios, looks back on her career, as a producer’s assistant at Goalpost Pictures, then working as an entertainment lawyer with Media Art Lawyers, and back to Goalpost as development producer.
“[When] a full-time role came up at Goalpost it drew me back into the world of film and I got to head up the development slate across feature films and television,” she says. “[I] have worked on some incredible projects like I Am Woman and New Gold Mountain. I was a co-producer on Black Snow, and about two years ago now I joined the Amazon Studios team and work across the scripted slate from start to finish.”
Throughout the episode, Christie explains Amazon Studio’s strategy going forward, the difference in developing and writing projects with a streamer, what makes a great pitch, and why it was a no-brainer to greenlight their newest project The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which launched on Prime Video on 4 August.
“When we were able to dive into Sarah Lambert's scripts, the way that she had taken Holly [Ringland]’s story and transformed it into a series adaptation was just so propulsive and really building out the mystery and themes around female resilience and friendship, but also the power of stories,” she says. “It was something we hadn't seen before.”
For the full episode, listen to the Screen Australia Podcast.
Subscribe to Screen Australia Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Pocket Casts
Audio Transcript
Caris Bizzaca [00:00:05] Welcome to the Screen Australia podcast. I'm Caris Bizzaca, I'm a writer, content producer and creator of this podcast, which is part of Screen Australia's in-house publication, Screen News. I'd like to firstly acknowledge the various countries you are all listening in from - the Unceded lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This podcast has been created on the lands of the Gadigal people of the larger Eora Nation, and I've had the great privilege to be a visitor and be able to work on these lands for many years. Always was, always will be. For this episode of the podcast, we are talking to Sarah Christie, the Senior Development Executive at Amazon Studios in Australia. Throughout the podcast, Sarah talks about getting her start in the industry, then working as an entertainment lawyer in development with goalpost pictures and joining the scripted team at Amazon Studios. She also explains their strategy going forward, the difference in developing and writing projects with a streamer, what makes a great pitch and why it was a no brainer to greenlight their newest project, The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart, which launched on Prime Video on the 4 August. Before we get to the chat, remember you can subscribe to the podcast through places like Spotify and iTunes, where you can leave a rating and review. Any feedback send to [email protected], and don't forget, you can also subscribe to Screen Australia's Industry News for the latest funding announcements, opportunities, videos and more. Now he's Sarah Christie from Amazon Studios. So first of all, could you tell me about your background in the industry and your current role?
Sarah Christie [00:01:42] I'm currently working at Amazon Studios as a Senior Development Executive looking after Australian Originals, but I got my start in the industry quite a while ago now. I started off when I was in university working for a production company called Mint Pictures as a transcriber and researcher and an assistant across documentary and reality shows. I think the first show I ever worked on was one called Cricket Superstar and it was like a crash course in cricket very quickly. I loved seeing how different stories came together but always really had a passion for drama and fiction and ended up landing a role at Goalpost Pictures, where I ended up staying for eight years. I was always working closely with Rosemary Blight and Kylie du Fresne and very much fell in love with development, working at Goalpost [Pictures] and being in writers’ rooms, doing script coverage, working with incredible artists. About halfway through that journey, I decided I should finish my law degree and ended up becoming an entertainment lawyer and worked at Media Arts Lawyers for about two years, working across music and film law, cutting my teeth in intellectual property and contracts. Then a full-time role came up at Goalpost [Pictures] and it drew me back into the world of film and I got to head up the development slate across feature films and television and have worked on some incredible projects there, like I Am Woman and New Gold Mountain. I was a co-producer on Black Snow and about two years ago, joined the Amazon Studios team and [now] work across the scripted slate from start to finish, and it was an absolute privilege to be able to work on Australian stories but within this massive global company and see our shows be broadcast across the world to 240 countries and territories and over 200 million customers worldwide. It's such an exciting place to be working and supporting Australian stories and creatives.
Caris Bizzaca [00:04:07] If we can backtrack a little bit, you're doing entertainment law. What prompted you to pursue law and working in the screen industry [in a law context] and that switch over to development?
Sarah Christie [00:04:22] I have a background in law, but I've always been very interested in creative pursuits. Growing up I was really interested in music, but also drama and English, and I saw film as a way of combining a lot of those passions, but I knew that film was not always a guaranteed career path. It was a hard industry to crack into, and I ended up doing a law degree as well. I actually really loved working as a lawyer and in development, but there did come a time where I had to make a decision and I took the leap over to Goldpost [Pictures] full time when a job came up. I'm so glad I took that way because I love the work that I do every single day, but I think [my] law skills [are] that I draw on every day at Amazon; contracts and negotiating is a big part of producing, alongside the creative, and I love using the left and right part of my brain.
Caris Bizzaca [00:05:27] What do you enjoy specifically about the development process?
Sarah Christie [00:05:33] I love development. When I first started out, there weren't actually that many positions as a development producer in Australia. A lot of people working in development were writers and taking time to script edit between projects. There's been a real shift in the last couple of years towards development and producing and really being that creative producer and supporting a project from start to finish. To work in development, you really have to love to read. You read a lot of scripts. A story can come from anywhere, from an article, from a book. Starting on projects and then reading the drafts all the way through production is such a joy. It is a part of the industry where you're constantly learning as well. You're diving into different stories every day, like at Goalpost [Pictures] working on projects like I Am Woman, I got to dive into the history of Helen Reddy and the Second Wave feminist movement. On shows like Black Snow; learn from incredible Australian South Sea Islander people and the history of the cane fields in Queensland, and then working on a show like Deadloch; being thrust into inverting the crime genre and looking at how to land that tonal balance between crime and comedy. You're just constantly stretching your brain and entering different worlds, it's super exciting. Then collaborating with some of the most incredible artists, screenwriters, directors is such a joy. Every project has such a long time-frame. Often you can be working on projects for upwards of five years and you have to really be invested in that creative vision, but also those partnerships that you're making along the way.
Caris Bizzaca [00:07:27] And multiple projects at the same time, I imagine?
Sarah Christie [00:07:30] Exactly.
Caris Bizzaca [00:07:32] So jumping across [stories].
Sarah Christie [00:07:34] Yeah, definitely upwards of ten on the boil at the same time, so it's great to have that elasticity and be jumping between different stories and collaborators on each.
Caris Bizzaca [00:07:46] Your role at Amazon Studios, what does that actually entail?
Sarah Christie [00:07:51] I'm the Senior Development Executive at Amazon Studios, and I oversee creative projects from start to finish: that's everything from hearing new pitches and working with producers and writers on developing that story through production, going to set, watching rushes and through to post-production where the story comes together in a whole new light, and delivery, so working alongside our marketing and PR teams in making sure that story is communicated to the public and we're getting as many customers on VOD as possible.
Caris Bizzaca [00:08:31] Could you talk through the scripted team there?
Sarah Christie [00:08:35] I think one of the most exciting things about working at a company like Amazon Studios is you’re in an international framework. There are versions of our scripted team all over the world from Italy to Mexico and Canada, but we know to be successful in that global platform, we have to be successful locally first and that's why we have scripted teams on the ground working really closely with our producing partners and writers. Our scripted team is myself on Creative working alongside Lucinda Reynolds, who recently joined the team, and we have a great production and post-production team as well. Then we work with our content and marketing PR colleagues really closely when it's coming to the lead up to launch and creating a campaign for the series that we're working on together.
Caris Bizzaca [00:09:30] A little bit of history, when did Prime Video launch in Australia and can you talk through some of those projects that have released since then?
Sarah Christie [00:09:43] Prime Video launched in 2016 and we've been commissioning original content here in Australia since 2019. Over the past four years we've produced 26 Australian original titles across scripted, unscripted and film. When we're looking to curate our Australian originals slate, we know that customers here aren't a monolith, so we really are looking to create something for everyone. What's really exciting for us is when our local titles do take off globally as well, and we've had shows like Luxe Listings [Sydney] that have reached audiences across the UK, Canada, America and shows like The Test, which have reached cricket fans all over the world like India, New Zealand and UK. 2023 is our biggest year yet for Australian originals. We've had nine Australian titles that have launched across a year with three more to come. We've had our three big scripted originals Class of '07, Deadloch and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, which is launching on August 4th. Then we've got an incredible amount of unscripted content coming through the pipeline as well with The Defenders, which just won the Audience award at Sydney Film Festival, and we've got Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles coming up later in the year, and a documentary Dance Life about the story of Brent Street, which is very much like Australia's answer to Cheer. We feel like we're really creating content for customers across the board in Australia and hope that there's something there for everyone.
Caris Bizzaca [00:11:31] We're using the terms 'Amazon Studios' and 'Prime Video'. Can you explain the difference between those two?
Sarah Christie [00:11:40] The way I like to think about it is Amazon Studios is the creative producing entity and we work alongside our production partners on actually producing the project. Whereas Prime Video is where the show ends up and we work very closely with our colleagues at Prime Video across the marketing, PR and launch of the campaign. It's really that creative element and that distribution element and looking at how we can create a service with content that's being acquired, originally commissioned and then getting it out to the widest audience possible.
Caris Bizzaca [00:12:17] On that note, what is Prime Video's strategy for Australian screen stories going forward?
Sarah Christie [00:12:25] At Prime Video we're relentlessly focused on the customer and engaging audiences both locally and globally and we know that to be successful globally we really have to be successful locally again and again. When we talk about local stories, we're really talking about the origin. That's the story and the creatives and where that story comes from, but as I've said previously, we want to make content for all Australians. We're really looking to create a service where there's something for everyone across unscripted, scripted and film. When we're looking around the corner at what's next, we're always thinking 'what is going to be relevant to customers two, three years in the future?' We ask ourselves questions about why this concept, why this story? Why is it going to cut through, the timeliness, the themes, but also look at the team behind that story and are they going to be able to execute on this vision that they've put forward to us?
Caris Bizzaca [00:13:39] Could you speak more broadly to how content ends up on Prime Video?
Sarah Christie [00:13:47] We commission and acquire content, so what that really means is some projects come in early stages and we develop from the ground up with our producing partners, whereas other content comes to us fully finished and we license it to add to the programming holistically on the service. The scripted development team works on original programs and works very closely with our content team - Tyler Bern, Alexandra Gilbert - on creating a holistic catalogue of programs for Australian audiences.
Caris Bizzaca [00:14:24] You were saying before about the team at Amazon Studios and particularly around scripted, but if we're looking more broadly, what types of projects does Amazon Studios fund for Prime Video? Is it also documentary and features? Can you talk through those formats that it funds?
Sarah Christie [00:14:46] We work across all formats, so we fund development for scripted series', feature films and documentary. We're really looking for the best story despite format and the best ways to bring customers in and engage them with really distinct Australian stories.
Caris Bizzaca [00:15:04] On that point, are you looking at things that are shorter episode lengths for series, or some longer episode lengths, can you talk to that?
Sarah Christie [00:15:17] It's an interesting question because traditionally on free-to-air television, you always had to work towards a specific time and slot and ad breaks but when we look at stories coming in, we are really driven by how far do we think this story can go? We aren't working to a specific runtime. It doesn't have to be exactly 54 minutes. When we're developing those touchstones that you come back to again and again, looking at the structure of where do you need a turning point to make sure an audience remains engaged? We still look at that very, very closely throughout development, but we are very driven by the story when it comes to the length, the format, whether it be [The] Lost Flowers [of Alice Hart] is seven one-hours [episodes], whereas Class of '07 is eight half hours [episodes], and Deadloch is eight one hours [episodes] despite being a crime comedy. We really are taking that bespoke approach depending on the project.
Caris Bizzaca [00:16:24] Traditionally people would write things to ad breaks, do you feel like the development of something that's for an online or a streaming platform is very different because you don't have those breaks. Do you approach it very differently?
Sarah Christie [00:16:40] Yes and no. There is a great amount of freedom in working in this streaming environment because you can be driven by the story and the best way to tell it. You don't have those constraints that you may have on a more traditional free-to-air network in terms of ad breaks and run time, though those structures and storytelling principles are there for a reason and that's because they work. We do look at things like at what point do we feel we need to really hook an audience in, traditional act breaks are helpful because it shows turns in the story, when does a conflict need to come up? Those traditional story principles drive how we may approach the development of a story.
Caris Bizzaca [00:17:32] Is there a preference with development for projects to come on as early as possible? How developed are some of these ideas that are coming to you at Amazon Studios?
Sarah Christie [00:17:46] It really is project to project. We really encourage producers and writers to come to us with the stories that excite them most and that they're really passionate about and have a clarity of vision about how they want to put a certain project, a certain story together, whether that be a series, feature film or reality show. I think different materials come with different stories. For series, we do prefer to see a pilot script, but in saying that we have gone into development on projects just off a pitch and based off a really exciting idea and team that we felt like we wanted to back and develop the story from the ground up together.
Caris Bizzaca [00:18:31] Kacie Anning was on this podcast earlier this year, check it out, for anyone that's listening that hasn't listened to it: Class of '07 podcast.
Sarah Christie [00:18:40] It's a great podcast.
Caris Bizzaca [00:18:41] Oh, thank you [laughs]. Kacie spoke about how the development model for Amazon is different to what a lot of Australians would be used to. Can you elaborate on that at all?
Sarah Christie [00:18:54] It was great hearing about Kacie reliving her experience of the development of Class of '07. We take a very robust approach with all of our development. We really want to support the writer's vision and collaborate on getting the best materials possible. For us, that really is developing a pilot script, a mini-Bible, and often two or three more scripts in hand with that for a series. Kacie spoke a little bit about being character first and really understanding your story from start to finish. When we're going through that development phase, we really are asking those questions about what is this character's journey, what is motivating them, why do they start here, and why are they making this turn in the middle of the story to get to the resolution? And for a mini-Bible, we are looking for breakdowns across the entire series. Once we do get to the position where we are able to greenlight a title, we're very much ready to go into that plotting room and break down episode to episode, filling out the structure of the story and the meat of the scene.
Caris Bizzaca [00:20:12] In terms of what Amazon Studios is looking for right now, can you talk to that, whether it's genre, episode numbers?
Sarah Christie [00:20:22] On the series side, I think we're very much genre agnostic. We do believe a story can come from anywhere. As I mentioned, we do ask ourselves those similar questions again and again, like looking at the uniqueness or freshness of a concept and its ability to break through. The why now is really important and the team around the project. Tyler [Bern] spoke about previously YA being a big priority area for us and that does continue to be a focus and a priority area, but we are developing quite a lot in that space. A genre that we're quite excited about finding something in the short term is that elevated thriller space. But likewise, we'd be open to an inventive comedy. Jury Duty did extremely well for us, and we'd love to find something similar from the point of view of really surprising audiences, but with a distinct Australian focus.
Caris Bizzaca [00:21:25] And what are you not looking for?
Sarah Christie [00:21:31] Yes, that's always a good question. It helps narrow it down. We curate our service particularly for our Australian customers, but we also have a huge amount coming in from our international territories and we feel like the U.S. shows that produce per prime in the big world-building, Sci Fi/ supernatural space whether that be Rings of Power or The Wheel of Time, we don't feel like there's a gap we need to fill there locally and we're not currently in commissioning in the kids genre either, but we would look at something in the family space, like Kick Like Tayla, for example, did quite well for us.
Caris Bizzaca [00:22:10] When it comes to pitching, can you talk about what, to you, makes a good pitch?
Sarah Christie [00:22:20] We hear so many pitches every single week and when a pitch really stands out for us, you can see that the team has a real clarity of vision about what they want to say from a thematic point of view, but also the characters or where a story is going to go. The culture of pitching in Australia has evolved a lot in the last couple of years and become more formalised, which just makes it easier for us to make decisions about whether a project is ready to take that next step and really understand the story people are wanting to tell. It excites us when we can see the creators are excited about a project and have been very thoughtful about how they want to execute on their vision.
Caris Bizzaca [00:23:15] If someone thinks that they have an idea that would be the right fit for Prime Video, how do they go about getting in touch? What should they keep in mind?
Sarah Christie [00:23:27] We always want to hear from producers, writers, agents, and you can get in touch directly through myself or the scripted team (Lucinda Reynolds) as your first port of call when you're pitching any scripted film or film idea.
Caris Bizzaca [00:23:46] From everything that we were talking about earlier with development, I was wondering if we could use the latest scripted series, which is The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart as a bit of a case study. At what stage did that project come to Amazon Studios?
Sarah Christie [00:24:05] That project came across your desk in a fairly advanced stage of development. We received a pilot script, episode two and a mini-Bible. Of course, the series is based on Holly Ringland's book of the same name, which absolutely blew us away. It's a stunning novel. It's a page turner. Likewise, when we were able to dive into Sarah Lambert's scripts, the way that she had taken Holly's story and transformed it into a series adaptation was just so propulsive and really building out the mystery and the themes around female resilience and friendship, but also the power of stories and storytelling and the narratives we tell ourselves. It was something we hadn't seen before.
Caris Bizzaca [00:24:56] What were some of the other things that really connected with you, making you think, yes, this is definitely something that belongs on Prime Video.
Sarah Christie [00:25:07] We receive a huge amount of material every day from different producers and writers. The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart really stood out from the pack in terms of the story itself. It's an emotionally compelling drama series, but with a great mystery behind it. Sarah Lambert's scripts were just an absolute delight to read on the page. This story is epic in scale. We traverse between a coastal town in New South Wales to a flower farm in Thornfield and sweeping landscapes up in the Northern Territory. When we saw the caliber of the team behind this project with Made Up Stories, Sarah Lambert as a lead writer and showrunner, and Glendyn Ivin directing all seven episodes, we just knew this was the team that could deliver on such a undeniable creative vision.
Caris Bizzaca [00:26:10] You were saying it was in more advanced development stage, how much longer was the development than in-house to take it to screen?
Sarah Christie [00:26:22] From start to finish when the project first hit Amazon's desk to production was a six-month period. The team really did come to us with a clear idea of the series arc, and that was fleshed out over those six months before going into production over, I think it was a 96-day period filming and then another six months in the edit, so it was a long process.
Caris Bizzaca [00:26:53] It's been a journey.
Sarah Christie [00:26:53] It's been a journey, but an incredibly gratifying one as well, and we're so excited about what the team have delivered on-screen.
Caris Bizzaca [00:27:04] Adding on to that, this has a great cast; Sigourney Weaver, Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell. Were there already cast talks at that stage or was that later, while it was already at Amazon?
Sarah Christie [00:27:24] We didn't have any cast attached when the project first came in to Amazon. That was really a process of working with the producers and for season and our casting team on the ground as well to, to build out. We always knew that role of of June, which is played by Sigourney Weaver, was our touch point to build out around and cast around and Made Up Stories always had Sigourney on the list and we were so thrilled that she really identified with the story and the role and she's delivered an incredible performance. Then to build out such a strong local contingent with Asher Keddie and Leah Purcell and Alycia Debnam-Carey as well as Frankie Adams in those lead roles, was such a drawcard for the series to really resonate with Australian audiences, but also reach a global scale.
Caris Bizzaca [00:28:24] And lastly, do you have any other advice for Australian creatives who might be listening?
Sarah Christie [00:28:32] My advice would be to get in touch and we're always open to hearing new ideas. What excites us the most is when we see the passion and drive in producers and creatives coming to us and sharing their stories. There's a long road from the beginning of an idea, a seed, to having a project fully realised on screen. You just have to be incredibly invested in the story that you want to tell, but also surround yourself with people that you trust and incredible collaborators because it's going to be a long journey together getting to that point where you have your show or your film released.
Caris Bizzaca [00:29:16] Fantastic. Well, we will leave it there, but thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today and talking to us all about Amazon Studios.
Sarah Christie [00:29:23] Thank you.
Caris Bizzaca [00:29:27] That was Sarah Christie from Amazon Studios, and you can catch the titles she referred to throughout the episode, such as Class of 'O7' Deadloch, The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart, The Test, and more on Prime Video. If you're enjoying this episode, you can subscribe to this podcast to places like Spotify and iTunes, and you can also subscribe to the fortnightly Screen Australia newsletter to keep up to date with new initiatives, opportunities, videos, articles and more. Thanks for listening.