SANTA MONICA, Calif. – July 2, 2019: Amazon Prime Video today announced that it has secured This Is Football, a six-part premium documentary event series exploring the emotions, stories, passions and triumphs at the heart of the world’s most loved sport. The series will launch August 2, 2019 exclusively on Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
This is Football, is produced by leading British indie October Films in collaboration with pre-eminent Spanish TV and film production house Brutal Media, and Starbucks for Amazon Prime Video.
This Is Football (6×60’) unpacks the unique phenomenon that grips and unifies billions of people from every corner of the globe. Across the episodes universal themes of the human experience are explored: Redemption – football’s uplifting role in rebuilding the soul of Rwanda after the genocide, Belief – the inspirational rise of women’s football and two teams who gave everything to make it happen, Chance – the agony and the ecstasy of the fates that humble champions and keep every fan believing in the impossible, Love – four stories from every corner of the earth where the love of the game transcends adversity,Pride – how Iceland’s football Vikings take on the world and give every underdog hope, and Wonder – unlocking the secrets of Lionel Messi’s genius and the global delight of watching him play. Each story unfolds dramatically through the experience of men and women of different races, cultures and creeds, all of them remarkable, all of them united in their passion for football and chosen from every continent on Earth.
The series is written and co-created by award-winning foreign correspondent and sports author John Carlin (Invictus), based on an original idea by Carlin and Raimon Masllorens. The films are directed by a team of award winning directors and producers led by Creative Director James Erskine (One Night in Turin, Le Mans: Racing is Everything) and Series Executive Producer Jos Cushing (Mygrations, Walking The Nile/Himalayas/Americas). The series is scored by Grammy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated composer Lorne Balfe (Mission Impossible: Fallout, Churchill, The Queen).
Filmed across the globe from Iceland to Argentina, Spain to Rwanda, China to the United States, and including a glittering cast of characters from legendary players to presidents, poets to priests, managers to mathematicians – This is Footballcreates a unique and timeless portrait of the game and humanity itself.
This Is Football joins Prime Video’s growing stable of sports docu-series and live sports, including All Or Nothing: Manchester City; forthcoming live and exclusive Premier League football matches, US Open Tennis and ATP World Tour Tennis events in the UK; and NFL games, all available to watch on Prime Video at no extra cost to a Prime membership.
“The universal appeal of football is something we know resonates strongly with the Amazon Prime Video audience worldwide, so I’m delighted that we are able to bring this fascinating six-part series of unique stories about the world’s most talked about sport exclusively to Prime Video,” said Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “We’re thrilled to add This is Football to our stable of award-winning docu-series and live sports for Prime Video audiences around the world.”
Gina Woods, senior vice president, Public Affairs for Starbucks: “Starbucks mission of inspiring and nurturing the human spirit brings customers and partners together in our stores every day. While we do this through coffee, football has a similar ability to unite people around the world across boundaries of age, background and beliefs. It’s this shared spirit of connection and values that drew us to the project and we’re thrilled to share it with our partners and customers around the world.”
Adam Bullmore, Managing Director of October Films and Executive Producer of This Is Football said: “Football is now a universal language and everywhere you look, football is touching lives and inspiring us in remarkable ways. So, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Amazon Studios and Starbucks to bring these stories to a global audience.”
Raimon Masllorens, CEO of Brutal Media and Executive Producer of This Is Football highlighted: “We cannot be more proud to have teamed-up with our amazing partners for such a great match. It’s really a dream come true that one of our most beloved projects, cooked in-house for such a long time, is now a top tier TV series that will get to every home in the world. Thanks to this team work I’m sure This Is Football will spread the magic of football and their human stories among diverse and massive audiences around the globe.”
Joe Roth, Executive Producer of This Is Football, added: “This is a fantastic series of stories that begin to explain why it’s the world’s most popular sport.”
This Is Football is a Starbucks Production. The Series Executive Producer is Jos Cushing and Creative Director is James Erskine. The Executive Producers are Raimon Masllorens for Brutal Media and Adam Bullmore for October Films, Joe Roth, and John Carlin.
