Chris Bird, the director of Prime Video UK, who has presided over Amazon’s UK TV operations for five years to step aside.
The news was broken to staff by Brigette Ricou-Bellan, the general manager of Prime Video EU, who reminded colleagues that Bird had been with Amazon since 2010 when the company acquired pioneering streaming service LoveFilm.
“In that time, Chris has helped to grow Prime Video UK into one of the most influential streaming services in the UK, overseeing major milestones such as the recent launch of UEFA Champion’s League, the acquisition of Bray Studios as well as appearing in governmental select committees to demonstrate the importance of PV UK to the UK film and TV industry,” she said.
“Working with our content and studios partners on launches such as The Rig, The Devil’s Hour and of course, Clarkson’s Farm, Chris has played a large part in establishing Prime Video as the premier entertainment destination in the UK. We’re very grateful to Chris for all his contribution to the PV business and to Amazon, and we wish him the very best.”
Bird wrote in response: “When I first joined a crazy small start-up called LoveFilm in 2004 (that was incorporated into Prime Video in 2010), our goal was to use new technology to help customers access film and TV in a deeper, more convenient, better value-for-money manner,” he wrote. “We cared about having a great selection of programming, innovating on behalf of customers, and delighting them with an ever-refreshing offering. We dreamed, one day, to make our own UK TV series. It is incredibly rewarding now to look back and see how we have stood by these principles, built a world-beating business, and served hundreds of millions of customers so well, with so much.”
Bird will depart Prime Video later this month. He previously worked for Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
