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Amazon’s Prime Instant Video greenlights children’s pilots for production
MUMBAI: Amazon Studios, the movie and series production arm of online retail major Amazon.com, has announced that five children‘s test pilots have been greenlit for production. This announcement comes on the heels of the first pilot production commitment in December, which greenlit six comedy pilots, bringing the total number of Amazon Studios pilots currently in production to 11.
Once completed, all 11 pilots will be posted on Amazon Instant Video, Prime Instant Video, Lovefilm UK and Lovefilm Germany for Amazon customers to watch for free. Viewer feedback will help determine which series Amazon Studios should produce.
Amazon Studios director Roy Price said, “Production is already under way for the first set of comedy pilots we announced last month, and now we are excited to add even more pilots to the list-five amazing preschool children‘s series. Our children‘s series come from industry luminaries with credits such as ‘Blue‘s Clues‘, ‘Sid the Science Kid‘ and ‘Dino Dan‘. We think parents-and our very youngest customers-are going to love the magical combination of entertainment and learning that they‘ll discover in these children‘s series.”
Angela C Santomero (Blue‘s Clues), creator and executive producer of the debut series, which is one of five children‘s series to receive a pilot order said, “We are thrilled to be working with Amazon Studios on our pilot and can‘t wait to soar into a creative arts curriculum with Creative Galaxy. We know that art can have a powerfully positive effect on children, and through our proven signature approach to preschool television, we will actively help young viewers learn how to think creatively in their own lives. Working with Amazon Studios has been fantastic, and we look forward to jumping into the production process.”
Children‘s pilots include ‘Creative Galaxy‘ which is an animated interactive art adventure series, designed to inspire kids‘ creative thinking through crafts, story, music and dance.
Meanwhile ‘Oz Adventures‘ is a problem solving series, Dot, Dorothy‘s daughter, goes off to Oz everyday with the children of the beloved characters from L. Frank Baum‘s classic book, The Wizard of Oz. In each episode, the yellow brick road leads Dot to a new magical location where she solves problems alongside her Oz friends.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
