There's a new kid on the block at Culver Studios.
Inside a towering soundstage, just around the corner from where such television comedies as TBS' Cougar Town and Showtime's Episodes have been filmed, another production is in full swing.
A set depicting a high-tech, two-storey office is hosting a boozy party scene for Betas, a comedy about a quirky crew of app creators in Silicon Valley.
But unlike its neighbouring productions, the new series will likely never air on televisions. Instead, it will stream on them, in addition to many other devices. Betas is one of the first original series from Amazon, the online retail giant that's taking a cue from Netflix and Hulu by producing its own shows that will only be available on Amazon Instant Video, a content service for paying members.
"In the old days, I remember if you were a film actor, you didn't do TV," said Ed Begley Jr, who stars in Betas as a goofy, patriarchal investor. "That wall came down many years ago. Now, I think the same thing is happening on the web. This isn't just someone with a Handycam filming something that looks like public access TV. This is a real show."
