Online streaming services such as Amazon and Netflix have set their sights on the established television companies and movie studios—and are using top-class talent as their weapon.
The latest coup came from Amazon late last week when it announced that the former stars of the BBC's "Top Gear" television program—Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May—would join to head up "an all-new car show".
Both Netflix and Amazon have ramped up investment in original programming and scooped up awards in the process. Both companies have also revived shows that were discontinued elsewhere, such as "Arrested Development" on Netflix.
Here's a list of the top actors and writers teaming up with Netflix and Amazon and the shows and movies to which they have or will contribute.
—By CNBC's Arjun Kharpal on August 4, 2015.
Jeremy Clarkson
Show: To be confirmed
Service: Amazon Prime Instant Video
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will return to screens to head up "an all-new car show" on Amazon Prime in 2016.
Amazon will screen the show exclusively, taking advantage of the international popularity the trio enjoy. That's despite the controversy surrounding Clarkson, who punched a BBC producer on "Top Gear" and was subsequently fired.
"I feel like I've climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship," Clarkson said in a statement after Amazon announced the news.
Kevin Spacey
Show: House of Cards
Service: Netflix
"House of Cards" has become one of Netflix's most successful shows.
Kevin Spacey plays the role of Frank Underwood, the political drama's vindictive lead character. He won a Golden Globe for his efforts this year.
"House of Cards" has also been nominated for several Emmy awards—highlighting the challenge posted by streaming services' original shows to traditional television.
Spike Lee
Movie: Chi-Raq
Service: Amazon Prime Instant Video
Spike Lee's next movie, "Chi-Raq," will be Amazon's first original film and will be shown both in movie theaters and online.
The movie was written and directed by Lee and aims to "shed light on the serious, but often overlooked issue of violence in inner city Chicago," Amazon said in a press release.
Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson and Samuel L. Jackson are among the cast members.
Amazon's movie arm was launched in January in a bid to produce and acquire original movies. The U.S. e-commerce company said filming for "Chi-Raq" wrapped last month, but gave no date for its upcoming release.
Jane Fonda
Show: Grace and Frankie
Service: Netflix
"Grace and Frankie" centers around a pair of women whose husbands have left them to run off with each other.
Acting legend Jane Fonda plays Grace, while co-star Lily Tomlin plays Frankie. The latter was nominated for a Emmy this year.
The show began this year and Netflix has commissioned a second series.
Woody Allen
Show: To be confirmed
Service: Amazon Prime Instant Video
Amazon struck a coup when it signed up movie-directing legend Woody Allen for an as-yet-unnamed television series.
Amazon has offered no details about casting or release date, but has said the show will be available on its streaming service for viewers in the U.K., U.S. and Germany.
Allen appears less than enthused by the project.
"It was a catastrophic mistake for me," he said at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Jason Bateman
Show: Arrested Development
Service: Netflix
Fans were distraught when cult television show "Arrested Development" was axed in 2006. But Netflix came to the rescue in 2013, when it released the fourth season of the comedy with the original cast, led by Jason Bateman.
Bateman plays Michael Bluth, and the series follows the lives and loves of the Bluth family.
Chloe Sevigny
Show: Bloodline
Service: Netflix
A Hollywood veteran, Chloe Sevigny has appeared in movies such as "American Psycho" and "Boys Don't Cry."
But her recent venture has been starring in Netflix's "Bloodline," a drama about a family with a dark past.
The series was nominated for two Emmy awards this year and is set to return for a second season.
Adam Sandler
Show: The Ridiculous Six
Service: Netflix
Last year, Adam Sandler agreed to write, produce and star in four movies for Netflix.
"The Ridiculous Six" is the first of these, but little detail is known, except that it is a "comedic, western ensemble," according to Netflix.
"He (Sandler) is among the few actors in the world whose films consistently rank among the most viewed by Netflix members in the U.S. and across its global territories from Brazil to the U.K.," Netflix said in a press release last year.
Sandler is a prolific comic movie actor, with films including "Grown Ups" and "Happy Gilmore".
Idris Elba
Movie: Beasts of No Nation
Service: Netflix
British actor, Idris Elba, is hot property right now and rumored in the media to be the next James Bond.
In the meantime, the Golden Globe-winner will play a warlord in upcoming "Beasts of No Nation."
The movie will be released later this year and will debut simultaneously in select movie theaters in the U.S. and worldwide on Netflix.
Elba plays the role of Commandant, who takes in a young boy and instructs him in the ways of war in an unnamed African country.
"Beasts of No Nation" is directed by Emmy Award winner Cary Fukunaga, the director of "True Detective."
Famke Janssen
Show: Hemlock Grove
Service: Netflix
Famke Janssen has swapped the mutant world of "X-Men" movies for the supernatural happenings of "Hemlock Grove", a fictional town in the U.S.
The horror-thriller has been commissioned for its third and final season and is likely to appear this year on Netflix.
Janssen plays a character called Olivia Godfrey, the mother of Roman Godfrey, one of the central characters in the series.
"Knowing it will be our last (season), gives us the opportunity to go out in a mushroom cloud of clever and soul-shattering mayhem," executive producer, Chic Eglee, said in a press release.
Janssen, who was born in Amsterdam, is known for her role as Jean Grey, a mutant in the "X-men" movies.
Deborah Ann Woll
Show: Daredevil
Service: Netflix
Fresh off of her success in HBO's "True Blood," Deborah Ann Woll was snapped up by Netflix for its Marvel collaboration on the series "Daredevil".
Woll plays one of the show's main characters, Karen Page.
The series follows Matt Murdock, a child that was blinded by a chemical spill and then grew up to have superhuman senses.
The first season aired earlier this year, with a second season to follow in 2016.
Jeffrey Tambor
Show: Transparent
Service: Amazon Prime Instant Video
Jeffrey Tambor won a Golden Globe for his performance in Amazon's most successful television series, "Transparent".
The show follows a family after they find out that their father, played by Tambor, is transgender. It has now been commissioned for a third series.
Tambor is no stranger to shows by streaming providers. He was part of the cast for the renewed season of "Arrested Development" on Netflix.
