Implications of Amazon's Renewal of Third Season of 'Mozart in the Jungle'
Amazon has gotten involved with the content production side of television, producing a number of series to rival its most direct competitor Netflix.
The company has managed a few hits, including "Mozart in the Jungle," which was a major winner at the Golden Globes this past year. The series is slated to return for yet another series, according to the Verge, emphasizing Amazon's growing power in the industry.
The series is among just a few of the Amazon series to head for a third season. "Transparent," which had been a major awards winner a year earlier, is also headed to its third season making it, alongside "Mozart in the Jungle" the longest running series from the company from its current slate.
The renewal of "Mozart in the Jungle" is all the more prominent because the series' main topic relates the adventures of a New York Symphony Orchestra and its attempts to remain relevant. The series portrays the subject, which has been mostly overlooked in Hollywood, in a comedic manner, taking a deep look at the behind-the-scene conflicts that go on in the Classical Music world. The first series established the difficult transition from one conductor to another as well as the journey of a young oboist trying to prove her worth in a highly competitive world.
The second season of "Mozart in the Jungle" took up the internal complications of a labor dispute while also opening the world of the story and having the orchestra travel to Latin America and Mexico. The third season, which picks up after the ramifications of the labor dispute, is set to take the orchestra all the way to Europe.
It is impossible to overlook the fact that the series is headlined by a Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, a victory for those battling for diversity in film and television. Bernal won the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy series this past year.
The wins at the Golden Globes undoubtedly raised the profile of the show and renewal for another season will probably also increase the budget of the series. Not to mention that the cost of traveling and shooting in multiple European cities could be far higher than anything that the series has cost in previous years.
Of course the choice to renew comes down to the data reference points that Amazon has closely guarded to this point and that likely indicates that the show has either grown its viewership over the course of its two seasons or got a big surge from its performance on the awards circuits.
The new season is slated shoot later this year, so it is likely that it either debuts in early or mid 2017.