Yahoo News Amazon Orders Animated Comedy From Aubrey Plaza
Amazon is making biscuits with Aubrey Plaza.
The online retailer/streamer has handed out a series order for Kevin, an animated comedy from Aubrey Plaza and Joe Wengert (Big Mouth).
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The series revolves around a lifelong house cat who decides that he doesn’t want to live with people anymore. The comedy is loosely inspired by a real breakup and the cat caught in the middle. Titmouse will handle animation for the series.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Joe and Amazon to bring this cat’s story to the screen. We can’t wait for the world to meet Kevin!” said Plaza and Murphy in a joint statement Thursday.
Plaza and Wengert will write the series and exec produce alongside Dan Murphy, Plaza’s producing partner at Evil Hag Productions and co-writer of the children’s books The Legend of the Christmas Witch and its sequel.
Wengert, for his part, is a writer, actor and stand-up comedian and longtime performer at UCB. He served as an exec producer on Netflix’s Big Mouth and counts New Girl, Human Resources, Single Parents, Kroll Show and Playing House among his credits.
“I am extremely excited to be working with Amazon and my old friends Aubrey and Dan on this show,” said Wengert, who will serve as showrunner on the series. “The real Kevin was with me during some of my lowest moments. This show is my chance to thank him — by creating a world where he can find less of a total bummer situation for himself.”
Wengert and Plaza are both UCB alums who previously worked together on the 2006 telepic Fu—ed, which Plaza directed, and the UCB comedy Asssscat.
“Uniquely told through the lens of a house cat, this hilarious series hits on the extremely relatable theme of self-discovery and living your desired life,” said Melissa Wolfe, head of animation, Amazon MGM Studios. “Aubrey, Joe and Dan are telling a fantastic story and this is a great addition to our growing animated slate for our global Prime Video customers.”
Amazon’s roster of adult-leaning animated fare includes Invincible, Fairfax, Hazbin Hotel and Undone.
Animated comedies have become a staple on streamers, thanks in large part to their ability to repeat well. They traditionally cost less to produce than live-action scripted programming and, in success, can lead to lucrative lines of merchandising (see Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.).
Plaza is no stranger to animation, having appeared in and exec produced the FXX animated series Little Demon with Danny DeVito and Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty) and voiced a role in Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim show. Her credits include NBC’s beloved Parks and Recreation, HBO’s The White Lotus, and features Emily the Criminal and Ingrid Goes West. She next stars in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and Amazon’s My Old Ass. She’s repped by CAA, MGMT Entertainment and Schreck Rose.
Murphy is with CAA and MGMT. Wengert is with CAA, Mosaic and Yorn Levine.
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