Amazon strikes overall deal with Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Fleabag

Hot on the heels of her Emmy wins, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge has struck an overall deal for TV content with Amazon Studios.

Under the pact, Waller-Bridge will create TV content exclusively for Amazon Prime Video.

Fleabag cleaned up at Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards, winning six gongs, including Outstanding Comedy, Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.

The deal with Amazon is the latest in Waller-Bridge’s meteoric rise over the past three years, when Fleabag first debuted on BBC Three. The show was picked up by Amazon, which launched the show on the service in the US that autumn. While season one of the show was critically acclaimed but didn’t receive wide exposure out of the US, the show’s second season was heavily marketed by the streamer, and has made Waller-Bridge a breakout star Stateside.

Waller-Bridge said: “I’m insanely excited to be continuing my relationship with Amazon. Working with the team on Fleabag was the creative partnership dreams are made of. It really feels like home. I can’t wait to get going.”

Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, added: “We are thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Phoebe at Amazon Studios. As evident in her great success at the Emmy Awards this week, she is clever, brilliant, generous and a virtuoso on multiple fronts including writing, acting and producing.

“Fleabag has been a gift to our Prime Video customers and we are excited for what comes next from this brilliant mind to dazzle and delight our global audience.”

Alongside Fleabag, Waller-Bridge served as a writer and showrunner on the first season of BBC America’s award-winning comedy drama Killing Eve. She exec produced the second season of the show.

She is currently exec producing the Entertainment One-distributed romantic comedy thriller Run for HBO, starring Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson.

At last week’s RTS Cambridge Convention, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the streaming giant lost out to Amazon in a bidding war for Fleabag.

Amazon’s Salke has been hugely supportive of Waller-Bridge and has clearly wanted to further the relationship. The exec told the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour in LA that “nothing would make us happier than to have her bring another season of [Fleabag] or anything else she wants to do”.