| Studio also signs first-look series rights deal with Horgan and Clelia Mountford's production company Merman LONDON—16 January 2018—Amazon Studios today announced it has closed an exclusive two-year overall deal with BAFTA-nominated writer and creator Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe). In addition to her personal deal, Horgan and co-founder Clelia Mountford's entertainment company, Merman, also signed a first-look deal with Amazon Studios. Amazon Studios will get first-look rights to Merman concepts to which Horgan is attached and remake rights to Merman-produced television series. "We are excited to be broadening our collaboration with Sharon Horgan on the heels of her two recently successful series," said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. "Her strong creative voice and storytelling sensibility have resonated with audiences globally and will make for outstanding content for our Prime members." "Sharon Horgan is one of the sharpest and most engaging actresses, writers, and directors working in television today. We are thrilled she is expanding her collaboration with us at Amazon to create new groundbreaking content," said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. "Her strong creative voice and storytelling sensibility have resonated with audiences globally and will make for outstanding shows for our Prime members." Horgan and Mountford said: "Amazon is at the forefront of groundbreaking television and Merman is delighted to be part of their remit to create unique content. The team at Amazon have supported us since the inception of Catastrophe and we are thrilled to be working together. Also, all the free books and stuff is great." Horgan is the co-creator behind the critically acclaimed Catastrophe which she co-writes and co-stars with Rob Delaney and which has previously earned them a BAFTA Television Craft win for Best Writer – Comedy, plus three BAFTA Television nominations: Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, Best Comedy Performance and Best Situation Comedy. Horgan received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2016. Horgan is also the creator and executive producer of Divorce and co-creator of Motherland. Since its creation three years ago, Merman has continued to produce award-winning television with high calibre talent. Projects include Catastrophe, Motherland, Bliss and Divorce starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Todd Margaret starring David Cross and Will Arnett with several more in the works. In 2017, Merman opened offices in Los Angeles and New York, alongside a branded entertainment division, headed by Academy and Emmy-nominated producer Kira Carstensen and advertising veteran Jeremy Rainbird. Ends. Media contacts
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Merman was founded in 2014 by award-winning duo Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford. Since then, Merman has gathered multiple accolades the world over, including BAFTA, Emmy and RTS nominations. Merman's recent projects include Motherland for BBC2 starring Anna Maxwell Martin, Lucy Punch and Diane Morgan, Bliss for Sky 1 starring Heather Graham and Stephen Mangan, the third series of the award-winning Catastrophe for Channel 4/Amazon created by and starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, Divorce by Sharon Horgan for HBO starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Hayden Church, one off special The Circuit for Channel 4 reuniting award winning duo Sharon Horgan and Dennis Kelly, and Todd Margaret for IFC starring David Cross, Will Arnett, Sharon Horgan, Jack McBrayer and Blake Harrison, with many more in development and production. Merman have also produced multiple shorts for Sky Arts across its different strands, including Morgana Robinson's Summer: Dream Land, a season of Horror Comedy Shorts, Lolly Adefope's Christmas, and Sky Arts Comedy Shorts in Ireland. Merman works in all areas of the worlds of entertainment and communications, not just scripting award-winning TV and film, but also creating and executing the next generation of branded entertainment. The Merman family of talent includes David Cross, Rob Delaney, Dennis Kelly, Jack McBrayer, Sara Pascoe, Shaun Pye, Aisling Bea, Morgana Robinson and of course Sharon Horgan. Merman's commercial directing roster features multi-faceted talent like MJ Delaney, Peter Lydon, SNL director Paul Briganti, Frank Coraci, rising star Mariana Youssef and Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker. In the UK, Merman is proud to represent Superprime and its roster of directors including Martin Scorsese, Terence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, The Malloys, David LaChapelle, and Damien "La La Land" Chazelle. Since its genesis in scripted comedy, Merman has added brand communication and advertising production to its output, with Global Managing Partner/Exec Producer and Academy Nominee Kira Carstensen running the LA and NY offices, and Jeremy Rainbird, Global Managing Partner/Executive Producer and industry veteran running the London office. Beyond traditional ads, Merman's focus is to bring writers and creators from their TV and film family into scripting entertainment for brands. Merman Founders Clelia Mountford and Sharon Horgan first met on Season 1 of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaretas producer and actor respectively. Both enjoyed full and diverse careers before joining forces to create Merman in 2014. In addition to working with established writers, actors and directors around the world, they remain committed to discovering and nurturing new talent as the Merman family grows.
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