James Farrell is leaving his post as head of international originals at Amazon MGM Studios to start his own company making international young adult films.
Amazon MGM has not named a replacement for Farrell and it is understood that the company’s regional international originals executives will now report direct to Amazon MGM Studios head Jen Salke. The regional executives are Javiera Balmaceda, covering Latin America, Canada and Australia; Nicole Morganti, overseeing southern Europe; Tara Erer, heading Northern Europe and the UK; and Nikhil Madhok in India.
At Amazon, Farrell has overseen the production of such straight-to-streaming movies as Spanish romance Culpa Tuya, German thriller The Calendar Killer and UK-produced drama My Fault: London, as well as unscripted UK series Clarkson’s Farm.
Farrell joined Amazon MGM a decade ago from Sony Pictures and was appointed Los Angeles-based head of international originals in 2018. The operation now has teams in 17 locations around the world producing more than 150 originals a year.
In a memo to Amazon MGM staff, Farrell provided no details of his new company but said he could “think of no better time to do something unexpected, and leave Amazon to start my own company, creating the same type of international YA movies we’ve been making here, but as part of a new venture with some great friends in the industry.”
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