James R | On 23, Jun 2016

Amazon has hired HBO veteran Nick Hall to head up its comedy development team.

Hall first joined HBO back in 2008, before being promoted to VP in 2011 and SVP in 2014. During his time at the cable network, he has been involved in some of HBO’s most famous comedies, from Looking and Curb Your Enthusiasm to Judd Apatow’s upcoming series, Crashing.

Hall was Manager of Comedy Developement at Warner Bros. TV before his HBO stint. Following the network’s restructuring, though, which saw former head of comedy Casey Bloys replace Michael Lombardo as head of programming, with Amy Gravitt succeeding Bloys as head of comedy, Hall departed – and Amazon was no doubt keen to be his new home.

Hall’s arrival at Amazon Studios comes at a time when its comedy output is becoming increasingly acclaimed: both Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle have now won multiple Golden Globes, repeatedly beating Netflix to the awards punch. With more comedy in the pipeline, Amazon will be hoping for that HBO touch to give an extra clout to its Prime Video originals. Hall will report to Joe Lewis, Head of Half Hour TV Series.

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