Amazon and Endemol Shine International announced today that, Prime Video will be the exclusive subscription home for HUMANS starting spring 2016.
Written by British writing partners Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Spooks: The Greater Good), the sci-fi series explores the blurring lines between humans and machines. The exclusive content licensing agreement comes on the heels of the shows successful premiere for both US and UK audiences-Humans' series opener in the UK was Channel 4's highest rated original drama in twenty years, and the first four episodes averaged 2M US viewers.
About Humans: Set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'synth' -a highly developed robotic servant eerily similar in appearance to humans. Husband and father Joe Hawkins, played by Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr. Selfridge) hopes synth Anita, played by Gemma Chan (Sherlock) will repair his fractured marriage with Laura, played by Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd). But what if a few rouge synths - including Anita - are able to feel pain, process emotion, and even think independently? Calling into question what it means to be human, audiences will learn if technology will finally surpass its creators. The show also stars William Hurt (A History Of Violence) Dr. George Millican, Colin Morgan (Merlin) as Leo, Emily Berrington (24: Live Another Day) as Niska, Ivanno Jeremiah (The Veteran) as Max, Sope Dirisu (The Mill) as Fred, Neil Maskell (Utopia) as D.S. Peter Drummond, and Danny Webb (Alien³) as Hobb.
The smash hit is produced by Kudos (Utopia The Hour), Matador Films (Real Humans),
AMC (The Walking Dead) and Channel 4. Executive producers include Derek Wax (The Hour) Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch), and Chris Fry (The Smoke) of Kudos, and Henrik Widman (Real Humans) and Lars Lundström (Real Humans) of Matador Films.
Endemol Shine International and Amazon Announce Content Licensing Agreement to bring Kudos Produced Humans
Exclusively to Amazon Prime Members
Endemol Shine International and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced an exclusive content licensing agreement that will make the smash hit Humans (8 x 60') available for Amazon Prime members to stream and enjoy at no additional charge to their membership, starting next spring. Prime members will be able to watch the popular series via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at www.amazon.com/primevideo.
Cathy Payne, Chief Executive of Endemol Shine International commented, "We are ecstatic that Humans has had such a wonderful response from the audience to-date. It is a brilliant production with a superb cast and we look forward to working with Amazon in the US to take it to an even wider audience".
"Humans was one of this summer's top new series and is exactly the type of smart, thought-provoking shows that Prime members love," said Brad Beale, Vice President of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. "We are excited that Prime members will soon be able to experience the sci-fi drama at no additional charge."
Penned by British writing partners Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Spooks, Spooks: The Greater Good) and produced by Kudos, the
MAKERS of
UTOPIA The Hour and
BROADCHURCH Humans is based on the award-winning Swedish sci-fi drama Real Humans from Matador Films. The series stands as a top five-cable drama launch among adults 25-54 in the US this season and has averaged 2.0 million viewers and 1.0 million adults 25-54 through its first four episodes in live+3 ratings. In the UK, the first episode consolidated at 6.1m making it Channel 4's highest rated originated drama in 20 years. Series 1 of Humans attracted an average of 4.7million viewers* per episode and an 18% share of the viewing audience on Sundays from 9-10pm. Every Sunday the series attracted the highest share of 16-34 year old viewers to its time slot with an impressive average share of 26% of Channel 4's key demographic - triple the slot average.
Co-produced by
AMC and Channel 4 with Kudos, Humans is set in a parallel present and explores what happens when the lines between humans and machines are blurred. The series taps into society's preoccupation with and mistrust of advancing technology and artificial intelligence. What does it mean to be human? Can the very traits through which we define humanity (love, trust, loyalty, friendship, sacrifice) be taught? What really is family? Exploring humans' inherent fear of the unknown and the possible implications of granting machines consciousness.
Humans is produced by Kudos in association with Matador Films. Executive producers are Derek Wax (The Hour, Occupation, Lip Service) and Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch, Utopia, The Hour) with Chris Fry (The Smoke, Spooks) as Producer for Kudos, and Henrik Widman and Lars Lundström for Matador Films. Season two was commissioned for Channel 4 by Simon Maxwell and Beth Willis, and Joel Stillerman and Kristin Jones for AMC.
Humans stars William Hurt (A History of Violence, Damages) as Dr. George Millican, Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Honourable Woman) as Laura Hawkins, Gemma Chan (Sherlock, Doctor. Who) as Anita, Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr. Selfridge, The Imitation Game) as Joe Hawkins, Lucy Carless (Code of a Killer) as Mattie Hawkins, Colin Morgan (Merlin, The Fall 2) as Leo, Pixie Davis (Utopia, The White Queen) as Sophie Hawkins, Ivanno Jeremiah (The Hollow Crown) as Max, Theo Stevenson (In Bruges, Fred Claus) as Toby Hawkins, Emily Berrington (24: Live Another Day, Sons of Liberty) as Niska, Neil Maskell (Utopia) as D.S. Peter Drummond, Will Tudor (Game of Thrones) as Odi, Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It, Just William) as Vera, Danny Webb (Doctor. Who, Being Human) as Hobb, and Sope Dirisu (Utopia) as Fred.
ABOUT ENDEMOL SHINE INTERNATIONAL
Global distributor Endemol Shine International has a portfolio of over 38,000 hours of owned and third party programming across scripted and non-scripted genres. This includes Broadchurch, Peaky Blinders, The Fall, Humans, The Frankenstein Chronicles, Code of a Killer, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Grantchester, Kingdom, Hot in Cleveland, Home and Away, MasterChef, The Block, 24 Hours in A & E, Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, One Born Every Minute, My Kitchen Rules,
THE BIGGEST LOSER and Mr Bean.
Endemol Shine International has regionally focused distribution hubs in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Sydney, Miami, Moscow, Singapore and Mumbai, which serve broadcasters and other platforms in every market.
Endemol Shine International is part of Endemol Shine Group, the new joint venture bringing together Endemol and Shine, to create a global content creator, producer and distributor with a diverse portfolio of over 600 revenue generating titles across scripted and non-scripted genres; coupled with digital, gaming, and distribution operations.
