Amazon Studios are continuing their move to strengthen their slate of original programming, with the production of a new comedy pilot – Red Oaks. Directed by David Gordon Green (Prince Avalanche), and written by Gregory Jacobs (Criminal) and Joe Gangemi (Wind Chill), Red Oaks has now added actor Craig Roberts to its cast in the lead role.
Focusing on a 20 year-old man named David Myers (Roberts), the story sees him land a job as an assistant tennis pro at Red Oaks Country Club, which is predominantly Jewish. As he tries to get to grips with his new situation, he must also figure out what kind of life he wants to lead. Roberts joins a cast that already includes Jennifer Grey, Paul Reiser and Richard Kind.
Having got his start on British television shows, such as Young Dracula, The Story Of Tracy Beaker and Casualty, Craig Roberts made the move to the big screen with Richard Ayoade’s directorial debut, Submarine, in 2010. His career has since gone from strength to strength including, most recently, re-teaming with Ayoade for The Double, appearing in box office hit Bad Neighbours and having a part in the successful sequel, 22 Jump Street.
Amazon Studios are now in full swing, green-lighting a raft of projects and pushing pilots into production for their streaming service. Following the success of their first batch – which included shows such as Alpha House, Betas, and Bosch – they are now moving ahead with initial episodes of The Cosmopolitans, Hand Of God and Red Oaks. As before, customers will have a hand in deciding which shows go to series. As Director of Amazon Studios, Roy Price, explained at the outset:
“We built Amazon Studios so that customers could help decide which stories would make the very best movies and TV shows. It’s exciting to see the process in motion, doing exactly what we set out to do. The success of [the] first set of pilots has given us the push to try this approach with even more shows – this is just the beginning.”
Now, with Craig Roberts committed to the lead role of Red Oaks, customers can look forward to giving their feedback on the show very soon.
