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Marc Sadeghi had just returned from a work trip to New Zealand when he was asked to meet with someone from Human Resources.

Sadeghi was settling into his job as global head of visual effects for Amazon Studios, based at the streamer’s Culver City office. He had quickly discovered that he had less staff support than he expected, and he was deeply frustrated by Amazon’s “coach only” policy for company travel.

Amazon is famously frugal, and generally requires employees to fly coach or pay for their own seat upgrades. This stands in marked contrast to the free-spending norm for senior executives in Hollywood, and for Sadeghi it was especially vexing. He had back problems — scoliosis and sciatica — and needed more room to stretch out. He had brought it up several times, to no avail.

Now he was being asked to meet with an Hr person from Seattle to go over some “allegations.

Film and TV production will be allowed to resume in California as early as June 12, according to guidelines issued by the state Friday. Like rules for other industries, the Ok for work to resume will be given on a county-by-county basis using benchmarks like Covid-19 infection rate. The guidelines give great leeway for the industry to come together to decide on its own specific rules.

The move comes after a false start last month, when the Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20 announced that he planned to issue the guidelines a few days later. That timeline caught entertainment leaders off guard; many were hard at work as part of industry-wide joint task force to develop its own set of rules, ones written specifically for Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help inform their state regulations.

Newsom’s guidelines seemingly offer a great deal of deference to the industry to...

Film and TV production will be allowed to resume in California as early as June 12, according to guidelines issued by the state Friday. Like rules for other industries, the Ok for work to resume will be given on a county-by-county basis using benchmarks like Covid-19 infection rate. The guidelines give great leeway for the industry to come together to decide on its own specific rules.

The move comes after a false start last month, when the Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20 announced that he planned to issue the guidelines a few days later. That timeline caught entertainment leaders off guard; many were hard at work as part of industry-wide joint task force to develop its own set of rules, ones written specifically for Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help inform their state regulations.

Newsom’s guidelines seemingly offer a great deal of deference to the industry to...

Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is a live-action adventure show for kids 6-11 created by David Anaxagoras, a first-time writer, discovered through Amazon Studios’ open-door submission process. We asked David to share his experience on bringing his project to life with Amazon Studios. Watch the Amazon Original Pilot now and help decide if it should be made into a series.

I had quit screenwriting in spring of 2012, just around the time when Amazon Studios opened up to TV pilot submissions. I had written many feature film screenplays (and gotten nowhere) but I had never attempted a TV pilot. So I figured I would have just one more go.

And I had just one idea.

I wrote “Gortimer” for an audience of one — me. I knew it was different from the current crop of standard corporate “kidcoms” and thus no one would buy it. I wrote it anyway. I...

“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street” is a live-action adventure show for kids 6-11 created by David Anaxagoras, a first-time writer, discovered through Amazon Studios’ open-door submission process. We asked David to share his experience on bringing his project to life with Amazon Studios.

I had quit screenwriting in spring of 2012, just around the time when Amazon Studios opened up to TV pilot submissions. I had written many feature film screenplays (and gotten nowhere) but I had never attempted a TV pilot. So I figured I would have just one more go.

And I had just one idea.

I wrote “Gortimer” for an audience of one — me. I knew it was different from the current crop of standard corporate “kidcoms” and thus no one would buy it. I wrote it anyway. I wrote it because I wanted to see something with a sense of adventure where ordinary kids ventured...

With a penchant for hats and a wry smile, Larisa Oleynik squinted and pointed her way into the hearts of kids growing up in the 90s as the titular character on Nickelodeon's "The Secret World of Alex Mack."

The series, created by Thomas W. Lynch and Ken Lipman, ran from 1994-1998 on Nickelodeon and was a cornerstone of the network's Snick block of kid programming.

"It's funny because for a period of time it was very uncool to be Alex Mack, and so I'm glad that it's like cool and retro," Oleynik said with a laugh. "It's come back around ... I still get people asking me to turn into a puddle. It's kind of funny and cute ... I think [the powers] were, for me, more of a metaphor for all the weird changes you go through in that time in your life."

Now, 18 years after the show's premiere, Lynch discusses the secret origins of "Alex Mack,...

With a penchant for hats and a wry smile, Larisa Oleynik squinted and pointed her way into the hearts of kids growing up in the 90s as the titular character on Nickelodeon's "The Secret World of Alex Mack."

The series, created by Thomas W. Lynch and Ken Lipman, ran from 1994-1998 on Nickelodeon and was a cornerstone of the network's Snick block of kid programming.

"It's funny because for a period of time it was very uncool to be Alex Mack, and so I'm glad that it's like cool and retro," Oleynik said with a laugh. "It's come back around ... I still get people asking me to turn into a puddle. It's kind of funny and cute ... I think [the powers] were, for me, more of a metaphor for all the weird changes you go through in that time in your life."

Now, 18 years after the show's premiere, Lynch discusses the secret origins of "Alex Mack,...