Amazon Freevee Announces Greenlight of Tribunal, From Creator and Executive Producer Judge Judy Sheindlin. Seasoned veterans Judge Patricia DiMango and Judge Tanya Acker will be joined by former District Attorney Adam Levy in new courtroom series, with Petri Hawkins Byrd serving as bailiff.
CULVER CITY, California—April 28, 2022—Today, Amazon Freevee, formerly IMDb TV, announced a pickup order for the court program Tribunal. Created and executive produced by television icon Judge Judy Sheindlin, Tribunal will feature a panel of three judges collectively adjudicating real cases. Uniquely, Tribunal will add a video element to the court format, allowing viewers to follow scenes surrounding the events of each case.
The order follows the Season One success of Judge Sheindlin’s first streaming series, Judy Justice, which, in its inaugural season, was the number one Original program on Amazon Freevee in first streams and hours watched, with customers viewing more than 40 million hours to date. The program, which released new episodes every weekday, was the streaming industry’s first series with a daily episodic release cadence, and has been recently renewed for a second season.
Tribunal is a court program presided over by Judge Patricia DiMango, a former New York State Supreme Court Justice and Administrative Judge of the New York State Supreme Court, Criminal Term, Kings County; Judge Tanya Acker, a Yale Law School graduate, experienced civil litigator, former Judge Pro Tem in Los Angeles County Superior Court, and Adam Levy, former Putnam County, New York District Attorney, and an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and New York Prosecutors Training Institute. Levy, Judge Sheindlin’s son, is the third generation continuing her legal legacy. Judge Sheindlin’s granddaughter—and Levy’s daughter— Sarah Rose is the law clerk on Judy Justice. Additionally, Petri Hawkins Byrd will return to the courtroom, serving as the program’s bailiff.
“Tribunal is an exciting new format which combines traditional court with a video-enhanced presentation,” said Judge Judy Sheindlin. “The panel of judges offer a dynamic combination of different backgrounds, experiences, and opinions that are unique, unparalleled, and compelling.”
“With the strong support our customers have shown for Judy Justice, we’re excited to add another Judge Sheindlin program to our slate. Judge Sheindlin has been a pioneer in creating premium courtroom content for more than 25 years and Tribunal reinforces our vision of a modern television network that embraces day-part agnostic programming,” said Lauren Anderson and Ryan Pirozzi, co-heads of content and programming at Freevee.
Tribunal is created and executive produced by Judge Judith Sheindlin. Scott Koondel will also serve as an executive producer.
“We’re delighted to be extending our partnership with Amazon Freevee. Over the past year we’ve worked closely with the team to bring Judy Justice to customers, and have been thrilled with the reception,” said executive producer Scott Koondel. “Freevee has made a home for Judy Justice, and we’re elated to have the opportunity to continue to develop Judge Sheindlin’s signature courtroom format.”
Freevee recently announced a 70% year-over-year increase to its Originals slate, including the upcoming spinoff of Amazon’s longest-running Original series, Bosch: Legacy, premiering May 6 (all seven seasons of the Prime Video original, Bosch, are also now available to stream on Freevee); the Australian crime drama Troppo, premiering May 20; and a new home-design series, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis, premiering June 10. Spanning drama and comedy, scripted and unscripted, additional Freevee Originals currently available include the recently released buddy-cop Drama Pretty Hard Cases; the court program Judy Justice; zany true-crime docuseries Bug Out; sports docuseries UNINTERRUPTED’sTop Class: The Life and Times of the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers; spy thriller Alex Rider; music docuseries Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary; and the heist drama Leverage: Redemption. Additional Originals in various stages of production for the free streaming service include Greg Garcia’s comedy series Sprung, premiering this summer; High School, a scripted series adapted for television by Clea DuVall, produced by Plan B, and based on the New York Times best-selling memoir by Grammy-nominated, platinum recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin; Primo, the coming-of-age comedy from Michael Schur and Shea Serrano; and On Call, the half-hour procedural drama from prolific TV producer Dick Wolf.
