AOL is to launch two new web series starring Richard Bacon, Tess Daly and The Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes, its first original commissions outside the US.
The digital media company’s first UK commissions mark a significant expansion of its drive into the premium content market. The company announced plans for 16 new series from the US earlier this year.
Daly and Humes, who both have young children, will star in Being Mum. In each episode they will meet a well-known personality, or a mother with a “remarkable” story, to explore motherhood.
“In our series, we’ll go behind the scenes with a range of incredible mothers, with some faces you’ll know and some you won’t, but all with amazing stories to tell about being a modern day mother,” said Humes.
Bacon will star in 30 Something, a series about why “getting into your 30s shouldn’t scare you, it’s not all doom and gloom”.
“We meet a range of extraordinary people in their 30s, people who have succeeded, sometimes against the odds, to create great brands, companies, trends, etcetera all while balancing new commitments such as being a parent,” said the 38-year old Bacon. “It’s an extraordinary decade of complexity and opportunity where people really put their stamp on the world.”
Each series, which will air on the AOL On Network, will consist of approximately 12 episodes of about five minutes in length.
Mark Melling, AOL’s director of video for Europe, said earlier this week that celebrities chosen to star in AOL Originals usually have a “large social media following”.
Bacon has 1.5 million followers, Humes 1 million and Daly 25,000.
“At AOL we are committed to creating original premium content that resonates with consumers and advertisers,” said Melling, who unveiled the new commissions in a presentation at the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Digital Upfront event in London on Thursday.
US web series launched by AOL include Nicole Richie’s #CandidlyNicole, a short-form reality series based on Richie’s Twitter posts.
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker’s city.ballet looks at the lives of New York City Ballet company members. Boardwalk Empire star Steve Buscemi’s original series, Park Bench, features unscripted conversations with friends and New Yorkers.
“We’ve had fantastic success with our Originals series in the US with two Emmy nominations this year and one show picked up by VH1,” said Melling.
The two UK series are being produced in association with London-based media company 40 Partners.
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