Amazon Prime Scores 'This Is Football' Documentary

Amazon Prime Video has secured video rights to the sports documentary series This Is Football, the streaming service announced Tuesday.

The six-part premium documentary series, produced by October Films, will premiere Aug. 2 and explores the emotions, stories, passions and triumphs at the heart of soccer.

This Is Football is written and co-created by sports author John Carlin (Invictus), based on an original idea by Carlin and Raimon Masllorens. The films are directed by a team of directors and producers led by creative director James Erskine (One Night in Turin, Le Mans: Racing is Everything) and series executive producer Jos Cushing (Mygrations, Walking The Nile/Himalayas/Americas).

“The universal appeal of football is something we know resonates strongly with the Amazon Prime Video audience worldwide, so I’m delighted that we are able to bring this fascinating six-part series of unique stories about the world’s most talked about sport exclusively to Prime Video,” said Vernon Sanders, Co-Head of Television, Amazon Studios in a statement. “We’re thrilled to add This is Football to our stable of award-winning docu-series and live sports for Prime Video audiences around the world.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.