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Thursday, August 4, 2016

Amazon and Sky Announce Original Drama, "Britannia"

Amazon and Sky Greenlight Original Dramatic Series Britannia

Currently in production and set for a 2017 debut, Sky and Amazon’s first co-production is written by the multi-award winning Jez Butterworth and stars Kelly Reilly, David Morrissey and Zoe Wanamaker; Series will launch exclusively to Prime members in the US

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon and Sky today announced it has added Britannia to its lineup of dramatic Amazon Original Series in the US and Sky Original Dramas in the UK. Britannia is written by the multi-award winning Jez Butterworth (Jerusalem, Spectre) and stars Kelly Reilly (True Detective, Sherlock Holmes), David Morrissey (The Walking Dead, The Hollow Crown) and Zoe Wanamaker (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, My Family). Filmed completely abroad, Britannia is set in 43AD as the Roman Imperial Army, determined and terrified in equal measure, returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia, a mysterious land ruled by wild warrior women and powerful Druids who can channel the powerful forces of the underworld. Britannia is scheduled to premiere on Sky 1 in the UK and Ireland, and on Prime Video in the U.S. in 2017.

    “Jez Butterworth has written an incredible drama that is entertaining and emotional but also asks important questions about what drives men and women to stand and fight; this is a battle for the heart of Britain like you’ve never seen before.”

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Sky on this series entirely produced overseas,” said Roy Price, Vice President, Digital Video and Amazon Studios. “Our customers will experience a cinematic world with bold characters anchored in a ruthless period of history.”

“This is one of the most ambitious dramas we’ve ever made and one of the most exciting,” said Anne Mensah, Sky’s Head of Drama. “Jez Butterworth has written an incredible drama that is entertaining and emotional but also asks important questions about what drives men and women to stand and fight; this is a battle for the heart of Britain like you’ve never seen before.”

Britannia is produced by Rick McCallum (Star Wars) and executive produced by Vertigo Films’ James Richardson (Monsters, Bronson) with Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown from Neal Street Productions (Penny Dreadful, Call the Midwife) and Anne Thomopolous (Rome, Band of Brothers). The series is written by Jez and Tom Butterworth (Fortitude, Tin Star) with Richard McBrien (Spooks, Merlin).

In the US, Britannia adds to a growing roster of dramatic Amazon Original Series, including The Man in the High Castle, Bosch and Hand of God, as well as upcoming series Goliath, Good Girls Revolt, Sneaky Pete and Patriot. In the UK, Britannia joins 12 original drama series already on air or set to air over the next couple of years on Sky Atlantic and Sky 1 including The Young Pope, Hooten & The Lady, Guerrilla, Tin Star, Delicious, Riviera, Jamestown and The Last Dragonslayer, as well as returning series including Fortitude and Agatha Raisin. The news also follows a successful year for Sky original drama, with BAFTA nominations for The Last Panthers and The Enfield Haunting and record-breaking audiences for Stan Lee’s Lucky Man on Sky 1.

The international distribution rights (excluding the US) for Britannia will be handled by Sky Vision, Sky’s international production and distribution arm. WME and Sky Vision negotiated the deal with Amazon.


About Amazon Video
Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch, and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:

  •     Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, kids series Tumble Leaf and Chi Raq, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership
  •     Add-on Subscriptions: Dozens of subscriptions to networks like SHOWTIME, STARZ and more, available to Amazon Prime members as add-ons to their membership
  •     Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new-release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers
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  •     Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing of certain content

In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items across all categories, more than one million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos, access to borrow books with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, and more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more visit: www.amazon.com/prime.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

About Sky
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 21 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose.

Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £4.9 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate

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