Actress Michelle Williams, Jeff Blackburn and Anne Blackburn attend the Amazon Studios Oscar Celebration in 2017 in West Hollywood, Calif.Jeff Blackburn, one of Amazon’s highest-ranking and longest-serving executives, is returning to the company after a brief hiatus and will serve as senior vice president of a new Global Media & Entertainment division.
“Jblack’s interest in returning to Amazon presented us with a good opportunity to combine our entertainment businesses in a single org under a leader who knows them well,” Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services and soon-to-be CEO of Amazon, said in a memo. Amazon Studios has allocated at least $465 million for the first season of “Lord of the Rings” alone, an unprecedented budget for a streaming show.