Amazon Nets Starbucks-Produced ‘This Is Football’ Documentary Series

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Amazon has ordered a documentary series to go from . “This is Football” will span the globe and tell six stories about the global power of soccer. Veteran producer and film exec Joe Roth, an owner of the Seattle Sounders team, will exec produce the series. It will go out in the U.S. and internationally as an original.

U.K. indie October Films, known for its series for U.K. broadcasters including “Walking the Nile” and “Walking the Americas,” is making the show with its Spanish counterpart Brutal Media, and Starbucks.

The six one-hour episodes have titles including “Belief,” “Love,” and “Pride.” Episodes will look at football’s uplifting role in Rwanda after the genocide, the rise of the women’s game, and Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

James Erskine (“One Night in Turin”) will serve as creative director. Emmy-nominated composer Lorne Balfe (“Mission Impossible: Fallout”) will score the series. Filming has taken place around the world, including in Argentina, China, Rwanda, and the U.S.

Amazon has pushed into sports and sports docs with shows including “All or Nothing: Manchester City” about the English Premier League soccer side. The streamer has also secured a package of rights to show live Premier League matches.