Press.disney.co.uk
The Walt Disney Company EMEA announced that global sporting icon David Beckham joins Disney+ to front a brand new transformational factual entertainment series. Save Our Squad builds on the company’s commitment to source, develop and produce original productions in Europe.
David Beckham is going back to his roots in Disney-branded series Save Our Squad. Co-produced by BAFTA and RTS Award-winning production company Twenty Twenty, and Studio 99, the global content and production studio co-founded by Beckham, Save Our Squad is a heart-warming series that sees Beckham return to the East London football pitches where he played as a child. Here he will mentor a young grassroots side who are struggling to survive in the league. Beckham and his team will take these players, their coach, and their community on an uplifting, transformative journey of a lifetime. Save our Squad will be executive produced by Sean Doyle for Disney.
Sean Doyle, Director of Unscripted, commented: “We are so thrilled to welcome David Beckham to Disney+. This is a fantastic opportunity to show the importance and impact of grassroots football in communities in the UK. The series will be exciting, dramatic, uplifting and full of heart and courage – everything David had in his own playing days!”
David Beckham commented: “It is fantastic to be making Save Our Squad with Twenty Twenty and to shine a light on the kind of grassroots football that I experienced growing up and which gave me so much at the start of my life in the game. I was so fortunate to have a long and successful playing career and now to have the opportunity to give back to these communities as a mentor is incredible. Developing and nurturing young talent is so important in the game and it is great to be working with Disney+ on this project.”
This latest UK commission is part of the company’s commitment to source, develop and produce original productions at a local level, with the ambition to create 50 productions in Europe by 2024. With more than 100 titles announced at the Investor Day event, Disney+ plans to release approximately 10 Star Wars series and 10 Marvel series, as well as 15 Disney live action, Disney Animation, and Pixar series, as well as 15 Disney live action, Disney Animation, and Pixar features over the next few years. This is in addition to the Star Originals and thousands of hours of movies and television from Disney’s creative studios, including Disney Television Studios (ABC Signature and 20th Television), FX Productions, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures and more.
About Disney+
Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, as well as the new general entertainment content brand in select International markets, Star. As part of Disney’s Media and Entertainment Distribution segment, Disney+ is available on most internet-connected devices and offers commercial-free programming with a variety of original feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. Alongside unprecedented access to Disney’s incredible library of film and television entertainment, the service is also the exclusive streaming home for the latest releases from The Walt Disney Studios.
About Studio 99
Founded in 2019 by David Beckham alongside long-time partners David Gardner and Nicola Howson, Studio 99 is a global production and content studio which currently focuses on unscripted films and series and format development. The current slate of projects in production and development for a variety of global networks includes the definitive biopic on David Beckham, the great untold sports story of the two brothers who created Adidas and Puma and their lifelong feud in World War Shoe, and A Whole New Ball Game, a BBC2 commissioned series that charts the contemporary history of the Premier League. The company is also a commercial studio and produces a wide range of both editorial and advertising content for global brand clients such as Diageo, AIA and Sands.
About Twenty Twenty
Twenty Twenty is a multi-award winning production company which has been making original, innovative programmes for global audiences since 1982, from documentary, reality, entertainment, drama and children’s content. Twenty Twenty have won numerous awards for their work including recognition from BAFTA, Emmy, Grierson and the Royal Television Society. Shows Twenty Twenty have created include First Dates, which has launched in 19 different territories around the world; The Choir franchise, now celebrating over 13 years of collaboration with Gareth Malone; award-winning documentary series A House Through Time, presented by David Olusoga, which is one of BBC Two’s best-ever rating historical series and will soon return for a fourth series.; and First Dates Hotel, five series of which have aired on Channel 4 and it was recently announced that HBO Max have commissioned a US version of the format. Most recently, they have produced David Harewood: Why Is Covid Killing People of Colour (BBC Two) and All That Glitters, a brand new series launching on BBC Two this week, fronted by Katherine Ryan, which seeks to find Britain’s most talented new jeweller.
Media Relations Contacts:
Kirsty Howell
Kirsty.Howell@disney.com
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Notes to Editors
Save Our Squad (Disney+ Original)
• Transformational factual entertainment series. 6 episodes / 35 minutes. David Beckham / Twenty Twenty / Studio 99
• David Beckham mentors a struggling young grassroots football side, taking these young players, their coach, and their community on an uplifting, transformative journey of a lifetime.