Amazon Debuts Original Live-Action Special An American Girl Story-Melody 96: Love Has to Win on October on Prime Video in the US and UK

Amazon Debuts Original Live-Action Special An American Girl Story-Melody 1963: Love Has to Win on October 21 on Prime Video in the US and UK

First Amazon Original Special for Prime Video stars Marsai Martin, Frances Fisher, Frankie Faison and Idara Victor and is Executive Produced by Alison McDonald and Common

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 3, 2016-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)-Amazon today announced its first Amazon Original Special An American Girl Story-Melody 1963: Love Has to Win is scheduled to premiere on Friday, October 21 on Prime Video in the US and UK. The first of four original American Girl specials for Prime Video stars Marsai Martin (Black-ish) as the title character Melody, Frances Fisher (Titanic) as Miss Abbot, Frankie Faison (The Wire) as Melody's grandfather Frank Ellison, and Idara Victor (TURN: Washington's Spies) as Melody's mother Frances Ellison. Executive produced by Alison McDonald (Roots), Oscar winner Common's Freedom Road Productions, and Christopher Keenan and Melinda McCrocklin for American Girl, the special is directed and produced by Tina Mabry (Mississippi Damned, Queen Sugar).

Based in 1963 Detroit during the civil rights movement, An American Girl Story-Melody 1963: Love Has to Win centers around 10-year-old Melody whose eyes are opened to the racial inequality surrounding her, including the 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing. As a result, her belief in the indivisible promise of our country's Pledge of Allegiance comes into question as she challenges her teacher on the validity of this given the horrific tragedy. After an emotional journey of self-reflection, her mother gives her the courage she needs by instilling in her that love brings out the best in everyone; reminding Melody that it's important to stand up for what's right, even when it's hard or scary.

The American Girl Melody special is an empowering and inspiring story that will quickly become a favorite for young girls, while bringing families together to help start a healthy dialogue, said Tara Sorensen, Head of Kids Programming at Amazon Studios. Although our special is historical, the themes presented are sadly very timely and relevant for the world in which kids today are exposed.

The Amazon Original Special is based on American Girl's Melody character and inspirational stories. In addition to the special debuting exclusively on Prime Video, Amazon and American Girl have collaborated to create a destination for fans of Melody's stories to find a wide selection of American Girl Melody products. Go to www.amazon.com/americangirl to shop an 18-inch Melody doll, historically accurate 1960s doll outfits, a Motown-inspired recording studio that plays and records music, and more. We are always looking for new ways to bring our great content to life both on and off the screen, said Eva Lorenz, Category Leader for Toys. From toys to books to crafts, Melody's biggest fans can now discover and shop a wide selection of items available with free Two Day Shipping for Prime members.

An American Girl Story-Melody 1963: Love Has to Win will be available for Prime members using the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/originals-Prime members will also be able to download the series on mobile devices for offline viewing. For a list of all Amazon Video compatible devices visit http://www.amazon.com/howtostream.

About Amazon Video

Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch, and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:

Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV episodes, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, Chi-Raq and kids series Tumble Leaf, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership

Add-on Subscriptions: Dozens of subscriptions to networks like SHOWTIME, STARZ and more, available to Amazon Prime members as add-ons to their membership

Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new-release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers

Instant Access: Instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream

Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing of certain content

In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items across all categories, more than one million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos, one free pre-released book a month with Kindle First, and more. To sign up for Prime or to find out more, visit: www.amazon.com/prime.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

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