AMAZON PRIME VIDEO UNVEILS NEW ITALIAN SERIES

During a virtual event, Amazon Prime Video revealed upcoming projects from its Italian office, including new original series that have been greenlighted. Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios; and Georgia Brown, Director of European Originals, participated in the presentation, among other senior Amazon executives.

Dark crime comedy “The Bad Guy” was the first project unveiled by the company. The title revolves around the story of Nino Scotellaro, a Sicilian public prosecutor who devoted his entire life to fighting against the mafia and is suddenly accused of being one of the very men he has always fought against. After being condemned, and with nothing left to lose, Nino decides to pull off a Machiavellian revenge plan. Amazon said it will launch globally in 2022.

The second project was young adult drama series “Prisma,” a remake of the Danish series “Skam,” which was a hit in Italy. It tells the story of Marco and Andrea, two identical twin brothers who are both challenging gender norms in different ways. Their journey to self-discovery will also involve their group of friends, all attempting to find their own place in an ever-changing world. Amazon said the show will also debut in 2022.

Regarding acquisitions, Viktoria Wasilewski, Head of Content for Prime Video Italy, revealed that the streamer has picked up “Monterossi,” a six-episode detective thriller series with a comedic twist based on Alessandro Robecchi’s successful crime novels; and “Ben: Respira,” a documentary about one of the most talented young Italian artists.

“We are building a curated slate of exceptional and distinctive Original Italian productions. Our approach is to work with the most innovative Italian creators and talent to create captivating and ambitious local stories for our customers, bringing to life characters and worlds in a way they will not have seen before. Today’s announcements are the results of that ambition and we look forward to bringing these compelling stories to our viewers not only in Italy, but also to over 200 million Prime members around the world,”  Georgia Brown said.

“The Italian slate of Amazon Original productions is the culmination of our efforts to innovate and take our programing to the next level. We plan to deliver on our promises and offer great local content first and foremost for customers in Italy, and we are excited to present our upcoming slate from some of the most prestigious and talented people working in the Italian TV and film industry. At Amazon Studios we are devoted to bring to our viewers the diverse work of outstanding filmmakers as we strive to be the home for talent. With this exciting line-up of Italian scripted TV programs, we are proud to be bringing the showrunners, producers, directors and talent delivering these stories into the Prime Video family in Italy,”  added Nicole Morganti, Head of Italian Originals at Amazon.