Amazon Prime super-charges France investment

Amazon Prime has greenlit seven French TV and film originals and renewed Celebrity Hunted as part of acceleration of investment in the country. 

Thomas Dubois, head of French originals at Amazon Studios, is leading on the commissions, which include scripted series Alphonse, Killer Coaster and Ourika and dating show Cosmic Love. 

Starring The Artist’s Jean Dujardin and written and directed by Nicolas Bedos (La Belle Epoque) Alphonse is a sharp comedy, illustrating the Academy Award winner’s versatility as a performer, portraying a journey of self-discovery.  

The series is based on an original idea by Dujardin and Bedos and produced by Alain Goldman for Montmartre Films, which recently tied with Banijay France.  

Killer Coaster tells the story of Sandrine, a sloppy and crazy cop disavowed by her department, who decides to take on an undercover job selling cotton candy at a fair after discovering a dead body in the fun house. 

It is produced by Vacarme, part of Asacha Media Group-owned Kabo Family, and created and written by Derby Girl’s Nikola Lange and Thomas Mansuy. 

Urban western Ourika is created and written by Clement Godard, Elie Yaffa aka French rapper Booba, Clément Gournay and Vincent L’Anthoën.  

It follows Driss and William, dealer and cop of the up-and-coming generation, who go head-to-head during the Paris riots of 2005. It is produced by Prelude, part of Vendôme Productions and 7Scope.  

Elsewhere, ITV Studios France-produced Cosmic Love, hosted by Nabilla Vergara, is a dating format that tries to determine if romance is written in the stars. 

Four singles, each representing one of the four Zodiac elements – Fire, Air, Water, and Earth –  rely on astrology to find live.  The series will land later this year, with the scripted titles coming to Prime Video in 2023. 

Additionally, Amazon Prime has recommissioned Shine TV format Celebrity Hunted for a second series. Casting for Celebrity Hunted: Chasse à l’Homme will be announced at a later date. The renewal is joined by a third series greenlight of comedy reality series LOL: Qui Rit, Sort!  

The investment in France also comprises premium licensed content coming to its service in 2022. Amazon Prime France will launch an exclusive docuseries on French tennis icon Yannick Noah ahead of this year’s French Open, and an exclusive docuseries on football coach Guy Roux later in the year.  

French streamer Salto is coming to Prime Video Channels in the country from next month. 

“Today, we unveiled a series of outstanding projects underlining the strength of our commitment to French customers and offering the largest and best content selection they can find,” said Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, country manager for France at Prime Video during a Showcase Event.  

“These exciting originals, exclusives, sports announcements also underline how we more than ever are a force for good for the French audiovisual industry, promoting diversity in front and behind the camera.” 

Georgia Brown, head of European Originals at Amazon Studios added: “We’re incredibly focused on investing more time, passion, and budget than ever to achieve the highest quality series and movies for our audiences in France,  

“We believe that putting the spotlight on the very best stories from French creators will not only delight our French viewers, but also our Prime members around the world.”