AMAZON PRIME VIDEO INCREASES INVESTMENT IN GERMAN AMAZON ORIGINALS

New German Amazon Original series announced today include the series adaptation of the fantasy classic The Gryphon, the Reeperbahn drama Luden and a behind-the-scenes documentary on FC Bayern München

Amazon Prime Video also confirmed Sebastian Hellmann and Jonas Friedrich as the first presenters for its live broadcasts of the UEFA Champions League

MUNICH, Germany; 2 February 2021 - At a 'Prime Video Presents' event today, Amazon Prime Video today unveiled four new German Amazon Original series, new seasons of popular and upcoming Amazon Originals, first trailers of upcoming highlights, exclusive collaborations and first UEFA Champions League presenters.

Speakers at Prime Video Presents included Jennifer Salke (Head of Amazon Studios), Georgia Brown (Director of European Amazon Originals), Philip Pratt (Head of German Amazon Originals), Volker Neuenhoff (Head of German Amazon Original Unscripted TV) and Dr. Christoph Schneider (Managing Director Prime Video Germany), outstanding personalities from German TV, music and sports such as Oliver Berben (Constantin Film), Otto Steiner (Constantin Entertainment), Quirin Berg (W&B Television), Rafael Parente (NEUESUPER), Manuel Neuer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Oliver Kahn, Michael Bully Herbig, Barbara Schöneberger, Anke Engelke, Max Giermann, Kurt Krömer, Teddy Teclerbhan, Bushido, and many more.

With the announcement of the new Amazon Original series The Gryphon and Luden as well as the true-crime series Gefesselt (working title), a first-look series deal with Ziegler Films and bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek, new seasons for LOL: Last One Laughing, Binge Reloaded and Der Beischläfer as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary on FC Bayern Munich, Amazon Prime Video underlined it's investment in Germany for the leading video streaming service.

"In addition to our fantastic global Original series and movies that audiences around the world love, like The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and upcoming release of the highly anticipated Coming 2 America, we know viewers also want to see unique, authentic and entertaining local stories that reflect the places and faces on their doorstep," said Georgia Brown, Director European Amazon Originals at Prime Video. " We are dedicated to producing a curated slate of ambitious and high-quality German series across genres, and are we are super excited to take those stories to 150 million Prime members around the world."

"Upcoming highlights like the high-end series We Children of Bahnhof Zoo and the comedy show LOL: Last One Laughing show our ambition to bring unique shows that appeal to our millions of Prime members in Germany," said Philip Pratt, Head of German Originals at Prime Video. "I am delighted that with the Reeperbahn drama Luden and our first German fantasy series The Gryphon, we can introduce new highly ambitious and high-quality German series for Prime members. We have many more great ideas in development. For example, I'm looking forward to Original series projects with bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek and Ziegler Films, another season of LOL: Last One Laughing and many more formats in the coming months."

"With our Amazon Original sports docu-series we have created benchmarks for the access for sports fans," said Dr Christoph Schneider, Managing Director Prime Video Germany. "I am delighted that we can give Prime members an exclusive look behind the scenes of the great FC Bayern Munich. With our partners at W&B Television, we are able to bring viewers closer to the German record champion and triple winner than ever before."

All the news featured on Prime Video Presents:

· UEFA Champions League: Sebastian Hellmann (53) and Jonas Friedrich (41) have been confirmed as the first additions to the Prime Video presenting team, which will lead live coverage through the UEFA Champions League on Tuesdays from the 2021/22 season. Hellmann will be the presenting the broadcast, Friedrich will commentate on the action on the field. Prime members will exclusively see the top match of the UEFA Champions League live on Tuesdays as well as the highlights of all other matches of the day from the upcoming 20/21 season. Prime Video will show 16 matches per season, including play-offs, group stage and knock-out matches excluding the final. More presenters, commentators and pundits will be announced in the lead up to the matches.

"I'm really looking forward to the challenge of hosting the UEFA Champions League for Amazon," said Sebastian Hellmann. "We want to make a great program and deliver high entertainment value to viewers in Germany. With a lot of new and familiar faces, also in terms of involving our guests and experts."

Jonas Friedrich: "I'm honored to be part of the team and am massively looking forward to the UEFA Champions League on Prime Video."

· FC Bayern München documentary: An as yet untitled Amazon Sport documentary behind the scenes at FC Bayern Munich is currently being filmed and will be available exclusively on Prime Video this year. Exclusively for Prime Video, the German record champion, triple winner and currently the most successful club in the world will provide insights into the processes and happenings at Säbener Straße. Produced by W&B Television for Amazon Prime Video, the documentary is closer than ever from the victory in the 2020 Champions League final in Lisbon to the end of the 2020/21 season. It follows the people who have shaped the club and made it great - from the president to the groundskeeper - and shows how greats like Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Uli Hoeneß pass the baton to a new generation, led by president Herbert Hainer, Oliver Kahn and Hasan Salihamidžić. This also involves the history of the club and its moments of fate, its self-image and the image others have of it

"We are proud to be able to tell the story of FC Bayern with this documentary, because it is a great success story - from the tradition-rich past to the present with its great sporting successes to our ambitious future," says FC Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. "Especially now, when Corona is unfortunately forcing us to distance ourselves, this documentary is a wonderful opportunity for our fans to experience first-hand what is going on in our team and our club."

FC Bayern München board member Oliver Kahn: "This documentary is a great opportunity to expand FC Bayern's global presence. We can reach millions of people with our story and get them excited about us. FC Bayern looks back on a gripping history, has been setting standards in top-class sport for decades and also has its sights firmly set on the future. We are always ready to break new ground. This documentary is another important step into the future of our club."

· The Gryphon, an Amazon Original Fantasy series based on the cult novel of the same name by Wolfgang Hohlbein, Germany's most successful living novelist with 40 million books sold worldwide. On their way to adulthood, the three outsiders Mark, Memo and Becky come into contact with a fantastic world called the Black Tower. There, the Griffin, a world-devouring monster, has been mercilessly plundering and subjugating all living creatures for centuries. And the three friends, of all people, seem destined to end this reign of terror. Showrunners Erol Yesilkaya (script) and Sebastian Marka (director) adapt the material into six 45-minute episodes. The Gryphon is a production of W&B Television in cooperation with DogHaus Film for Amazon Studios. Executive producers are Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann (The Lives of Others, Dark) as well as André Zoch (How to Sell Drugs Online Fast).

"We were all fans of the novel as teenagers and the enthusiasm immediately sets in today as adult readers," said Quirin Berg. "Sebastian and Erol have an impressive vision and I'm delighted that today, thanks to Amazon, we are able to realise such a great and fascinating material as a series and thus inspire millions of viewers worldwide."

Erol Yesilkaya and Sebastian Marka: "Our adaptation of The Gryphon has an absolutely fresh approach to the fantasy genre - a bit like Donnie Darko got lost in Middle Earth."

· Luden, an Amazon Original series with a special insight into the Hanseatic city of Hamburg at the end of the 1970s. The Luden - these are pimps who control the red light milieu on St. Pauli. It is in this milieu that Sonny Boy Klaus Barkowsky's rise to legendary 'Lamborghini-Klaus' begins. Made into a pimp by the tough prostitute Jutta, he founds the 'Nutella' gang, which soon engages in a battle for power and big money with the established 'GMBH'. The Munich production company NEUESUPER (Hindafing, Acht Tage), will realise Luden as a six-part high-end series for an international audience. The Writers' Room includes Niklas Hoffmann, Peter Kocyla, Vivien Hoppe and Rafael Parente, who also acts as producer with Simon Amberger and Korbinian Dufter.

"Often enough, reality is more spectacular than any fiction," said producer Rafael Parente. "The Luden cartels of the 70s and 80s in St. Pauli are such a case for me. The legends about the Nutella Gang, the Chicago and the GMBH are German pop culture. But who were these young people, these partly very charismatic underdogs who first turned the Kiez into an anarchic party and later into a bloodbath? We would like to get to the bottom of this with Luden. Uninhibited, unembellished and without resentment".

· Exclusive trailer premiere for We Children of Bahnhof Zoo. On 19 February 2021, the long-awaited high-end series adaptation of Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo will launch exclusively on Prime Video, bringing together a new generation of German actors. Attendees of Prime Video Presents were treated with the reveal of the official trailer featuring Jana McKinnon (as Christiane), Michelangelo Fortuzzi (as Benno), Lena Urzendowsky (as Stella), Bruno Alexander (as Michi), Jeremias Meyer (as Axel) and Lea Drinda (as Babsi). The trailer will be released shortly.

· Start date and second season for the Amazon Original comedy show LOL: Last One Laughing. From 1 April 2021, host Michael Bully Herbig is gathering ten of Germany's funniest comedians - Anke Engelke, Barbara Schöneberger, Carolin Kebekus, Max Giermann, Kurt Krömer, Wigald Boning, Torsten Sträter, Rick Kavanian, Mirco Nontschew and Teddy Teclebrhan - for the German version of the international Prime Video hit. They have one common task: not to laugh! Two episodes of the six-part comedy show will be released every week. You can see a first teaser clip here. Even before the start of the first season, Amazon today confirmed another season of LOL: Last One Laughing. The German version of LOL: Last One Laughing is a Constantin Entertainment production. Producer is Otto Steiner, director is Ladislaus Kiraly.

· There are also new episodes for the Amazon Original series Der Beischläfer and the Amazon Original comedy show Binge Reloaded. Both formats will receive a second season.

Produced by The Amazing Film Company (producer: Thomas Peter Friedel) and co-producer Ring of Fire, the first season of Der Beischläfer about Munich original Charlie Münzinger (Markus Stoll) was fabulously well received by Prime members, earning an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

In Binge Reloaded, Prime Video presented a cross-section of a 'fictional' TV evening in sketch-like clips at the end of last year - including well-known and popular streaming or TV moments and characters. The cast of Binge Reloaded includes parody veterans Michael Kessler and Martin Klempnow, who were already involved in the format Switch Reloaded, as well as Tahnee Schaffarczyk, Antonia von Romatowski, Joyce Ilg, Jan van Weyde, Paul Sedlmeir and Christian Schiffer. Binge Reloaded is produced by Redseven Entertainment for Amazon. Georg Kappenstein is producer, Sebastian Benthues is executive producer.

· Gefesselt (working title) will be Prime for Video's first true crime series from Germany. Produced by Neue Bioskop, the series describes the search for a serial killer who terrorized Hamburg between 1986 and 1992. The so-called "acid barrel killer" hid the bodies of his female victims in acid barrels, which he buried in a garden. He was finally hunted down only by the courageous efforts of a woman who was not part of the actual investigating team, but who, as a contact person for the relatives of the kidnap victims, picked up the trail of the perpetrator and had to assert herself against resistance within the police. Directed by Florian Schwarz, six episodes will be filmed this year for broadcast in spring 2022.

· The docuseries Unzensiert - Bushido's Wahrheit follows the story of one oft he most successful and most divisive artists of Germany. Prime members not only get insights into the beginnings and rocky rise of the rapper Bushido, they also get to know the family father Anis "Bushido" Ferchichi.

· Series cooperation with bestselling author Sebastian Fitzek and Ziegler Film: Prime Video, Sebastian Fitzek and Ziegler Film agree on an extraordinary cooperation and aim for an exclusive high-end series development. Prime Video has contractually secured exclusive rights to a number of selected bestsellers by Sebastian Fitzek, who has won several awards as the most successful author of the year.

Sebastian Fitzek: "I am convinced that my novels are in the best hands with this team and I am very much looking forward to setting new standards together in the adaptation of my psychological thrillers, which will not only thrill my readers."

Regina Ziegler: "It's a great pleasure for me to be able to continue the so successful collaboration with Sebastian Fitzek in free TV and cinema now also for series on Prime Video."

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