Julie Plec's Tennis Academy Drama 'Rally' Sets Up Amazon Prime Video Series in Melbourne

Working professionals with an eye on Amazon Prime Video's expanding drama slate should take note of Rally, an eight-episode coming-of-age sports series currently in casting and pre-production for a February 2027 production start in Melbourne, Australia. Created, written, and showrun by Julie Plec, one of the most prolific figures in prestige network drama, the series is set inside a hyper-competitive elite tennis academy and follows ambitious young players grappling with isolation, sacrifice, and the emotional cost of chasing greatness. With Amazon Studios and Universal Television jointly backing the project, this is shaping up to be a significant international production with the kind of budget and crew depth that working professionals at every level will want to track closely.

Julie Plec is the engine driving this one creatively, and her involvement alone signals a production with serious institutional support and a clear vision. Plec built her reputation as the co-creator and showrunner of The Vampire Diaries, which ran for eight seasons on The CW and spawned two spinoffs, The Originals and Legacies. She later created Vampire Academy for Peacock and has maintained a prolific output as both a writer and executive producer across more than a decade of television. Her shows tend to run on tight ensemble dynamics, emotionally driven character arcs, and serialized storytelling that rewards loyal viewership. Those tendencies map naturally onto Rally's premise, where the psychology of competition and the tension between individual ambition and human connection sit at the center of every story. Rounding out the producing team are Emily Cummins and Guymon Casady, the latter known for his producing work on projects including The Magicians and his long tenure at Story Mining and Supply Co., the production company also attached here. Executive producers Andre Agassi and Justin Gimelstob bring an extraordinary layer of authenticity to the project. Agassi, one of the most decorated tennis players in history and an eight-time Grand Slam champion, lends the kind of sport-specific credibility that productions in this genre rarely have access to. His presence suggests that the athletic and competitive details of the academy world will be rendered with genuine insider knowledge, which in turn implies meaningful investment in technical advisors, on-court production infrastructure, and authentic portrayal of professional training environments.

The production is a joint venture between Universal Television and Amazon Studios, operating under the UTV and Amazon Studios banner with Ouroboros Productions and Story Mining and Supply Co. also attached. The Amazon Prime Video attachment is the clearest signal of scale here. Prime Video has been investing heavily in prestige drama series internationally, with productions like The Boys, Reacher, and its slate of international originals demonstrating a consistent appetite for high-production-value content. An eight-episode straight-to-series order on Prime Video for a project with this level of producing talent and studio backing places Rally firmly in the upper tier of streaming drama in terms of likely budget, crew size, and production ambition. Crew can reasonably expect this to be a full union production operating under applicable Australian agreements, with department head-level positions carrying commensurate pay and scheduling expectations.

Melbourne is the confirmed filming location, and for crew reading this, that detail carries real strategic importance. Victoria has become one of the most attractive production destinations in the Asia-Pacific region, driven by the Australian federal government's Location Incentive and Victoria's own Production Attraction Strategy, which together can return meaningful rebates on qualifying Australian production expenditure. Melbourne itself has a deep and experienced local crew base, anchored by facilities including Docklands Studios Melbourne, which offers large-scale stage infrastructure capable of supporting a production of this ambition. The city has hosted major international productions in recent years, including Netflix's Clickbait and various features, which means local crew in most departments have meaningful experience working on internationally financed, streamer-backed shoots. Given the sport-specific nature of Rally, the locations department will have interesting work ahead of them identifying and securing access to tennis facilities, training academies, and the kind of institutional spaces that can convincingly portray an elite competitive environment. Melbourne's tennis infrastructure is world-class, anchored by Melbourne Park and the surrounding precinct, which hosts the Australian Open, so the production is well-situated geographically for authentic locations sourcing.

With cameras scheduled to roll on February 17, 2027, and a production window running through May of that year, the timeline is long enough that crew at the department head level are likely just beginning to come onto the radar of the producing team now, while below-the-line crew in most departments should expect serious outreach in the second half of 2026. The casting team is already active: Deanna Brigidi, CSA, and Andrea Bunker, CSA, are co-leading casting, with Gregory Korn as casting associate and Mia Cascio as casting assistant. Agents and managers representing young dramatic talent, particularly those with athletic backgrounds or the ability to credibly portray competitive athletes, should have their clients ready. For a show set in an academy environment with what will likely be a young ensemble, casting will be extensive and the search broad. The coming-of-age sports drama format, with its combination of athletic action and emotionally grounded character work, implies meaningful demands across multiple departments: the art department will be tasked with building or dressing convincing academy spaces, the costume department will navigate the specific visual language of elite tennis culture, and any stunt or athletic coordination team will need genuine sport-specific expertise to stage competition sequences with authenticity.

ProductionList.com members can access the full Rally production listing now, including confirmed crew contacts, the production office address as it becomes available, and scheduling updates as the February 2027 start date approaches. Given that this is a Melbourne-based shoot from a major streamer with a prestige showrunner, positions will fill well ahead of cameras rolling. If you are a department head, coordinator, or specialist crew member with Australian work rights or international experience, this is the moment to get your name in front of the right people. Bookmark the listing, check back regularly, and use the ProductionList.com contact tools to reach the production team directly as staffing accelerates through late 2025 and into 2026.

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