Chris Bird to step down as Director of Prime Video UK

Bird’s departure was announced in an internal memo sent to staff by Brigette Ricou-Bellan, the General Manager of Prime Video EU.

Bird had worked at Amazon since joining as part of its acquisition of streaming service pioneer LoveFilm in 2010. He took over leadership of Prime Video’s UK team in 2021.

Ricou-Bellan said: “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 Prime Video UK to the UK film and TV industry.”

Amazon said a search for a successor for Bird will begin shortly.

In a note to staff, Bird wrote: “In 14 short years, we’ve gone on to have one of the largest entertainment services in the UK, creating incredible local programming like Clarkson’s Farm, The Devil’s Hour and Last One Laughing, building out our studio infrastructure at Bray and Shepperton, and producing one of the biggest TV shows of all time, The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power, right here in the UK.

“I feel immensely proud of Prime Video’s achievements during this time, we were the first UK streamer to offer film, series and live sports programming as part of the Prime subscription, alongside buy and rent and add-on subscriptions all in one place.”