Amazon Studios Strikes First-Look Deal With London-Based Producer Brightstar

Peter White

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EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has struck a first-look deal with Brightstar, the London-based production company founded by The Crown producer Tanya Seghatchian and Cold War producer John Woodward.

It is the latest first-look deal by the SVOD service revealed this week and one of its first with British production talent. Earlier this week at TCA, the company announced first-look deals with Blake Lively, Connie Britton and her production company Deep Blue, Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi’s Significant Productions and an overall deal with Lena Waithe.

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Under the deal, Brightstar will work with Amazon Studios to develop TV series for Amazon Prime Video’s service in over 200 countries and territories.

Seghatchian (left) and Woodward are currently exec producing Netflix’s Kaos, the darkly comic reimagining of Greek mythology from The End of The F***ing World’s Charlie Covell. Seghatchian has served as an exec producer on Netflix’s The Crown after developing and producing the first four films in the Harry Potter franchise for Warner Bros.

The pair are producing Jane Campion’s forthcoming feature film Power of the Dog and recently produced the Amazon Studios feature film Cold War. Woodward (below) was previously CEO of both the British Film Institute and the UK Film Council, where he had overall responsibility for a slate of 300 plus British feature films across a decade including numerous Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Palme D’Or nominees and winners such as The King’s Speech, The Constant Gardener, Gosford Park, and The Iron Lady.

“John and Tanya are prolific producers who have made their mark on the film and television industry with award-winning projects that have resonated worldwide,” said Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios. “They and their company Brightstar are a perfect fit for Amazon Studios and our commitment to creating original, high-quality, compelling storytelling for our global audience.”

Woodward and Seghatchian added, “Brightstar’s first-look TV deal with Amazon is a ‘win-win’ for everyone involved. The Amazon Studios team is so responsive and committed, which makes them terrific partners. And crucially, they place huge faith in the importance of talent right across the globe. That’s the Brightstar approach too and will underpin everything we bring Amazon over the coming years.”

Brightstar’s deal was negotiated by Henry Holmes and Hillary Bibicoff of Holmes Weinberg.

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