Amazon Studios Greenlights Bear Grylls' Competition Series ECO-CHALLENGE 2019

Amazon Studios today unveiled plans for Eco-Challenge 2019, the toughest global outdoor multi-sport endurance race on Earth from MGM Television and prolific Emmy Award-winning producer and Mark Burnett, to be hosted by survival and adventure phenom Bear Grylls. The ten-episode event series will pit teams of four competitors selected from around the world against each other and nature's harsh elements in this grueling 24-hours a day, multi-day race. If one teammate quits the entire team is disqualified, which magnifies the pressure. The 2019 location for the international, epic adventure will be unveiled later this year. Eco-Challenge 2019 will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories.

Using state of the art cinematography, Eco-Challenge 2019 tests the limits of human physical and mental endurance in the most rugged natural landscapes on earth. Each team, comprised of both men and women, compete in grueling challenges over a 350+ mile race course. Past Eco-Challenge disciplines have included whitewater rafting, canoeing, mountaineering, horseback riding, scuba diving, and mountain biking - those for the Eco-Challenge 2019 event will be revealed to the selected teams later this year. To finish requires teamwork, courage, skill, and commitment; to win demands the extraordinary.

"I owe so much to Eco-Challenge. I came to the competition after I spent a few years competing professionally in expedition competitions," said Burnett, who is also Chairman of MGM Worldwide Television Group. "I went on to produce Eco-Challenge for a decade. It started my entire TV career and afforded me my first Emmy. I've been asked one question over and over. When is it coming back? Now it is. With Bear Grylls at the helm and the Amazon Prime Video team delivering it to a worldwide audience, we will make an amazing team, and the audience will see that this little race eats Ironmen for breakfast."

"Mark Burnett and Bear Grylls are a dream pairing when it comes to the world of ultimate survival. The STAKES and the emotions will run high for the teams on Eco-Challenge 2019," said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. "Our Prime Video audience is in for a high-octane edge-of-your-seat experience as these fierce competitors find their limits and are asked to push BEYOND them in an adventure unlike any other."

"Eco-Challenge is the ultimate survival-adventure race, against the elements, against the clock, and against some of the greatest extreme athletes the world has ever seen," said Bear Grylls. "Amazon Studios have such incredible global reach and the ability to unite so many countries and territories around this race, that shows human endeavor at its most powerful."

Burnett has won twelve Emmy Awards, five Producers Guild of America Awards, seven Critics' Choice Television Awards, and six People's Choice Awards. Currently, Burnett is the executive producer of five network television shows: THE VOICE (NBC), SURVIVOR (CBS), SHARK TANK (ABC), TKO: TOTAL KNOCK OUT with Kevin Hart (CBS) and BEAT SHAZAM with Jamie Foxx (FOX). In 2017, Burnett's shows won their timeslots five nights out of the week. As President of MGM Television, Burnett also oversees numerous award-winning scripted television shows including FARGO (FX), The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu), and VIKINGS (History).

Producer, host and best-selling author Bear Grylls has become known worldwide as one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. From a young age, he had a real hunger to explore. Trained from a young age in martial arts, he went on to spend three years as a soldier in the British Special Forces - perfecting many of the skills that his fans all over the world enjoy watching him pit against Mother Nature. He is known for his television work on the Emmy nominated Man vs. Wild, and the hit NBC series Running Wild with Bear Grylls, among many other programs. Grylls is an Everest summiteer, No.1 best-selling author, an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Marines Commandos, and the youngest-ever Chief Scout and inspiration to 50 million Scouts worldwide.

Eco-Challenge 2019 is produced by MGM Television with Mark Burnett and Lisa Hennessy executive producing. Bear Grylls & Delbert Shoopman from Bear Grylls Ventures also serve as executive producers. Burnett's race course design experts, Scott Flavelle and Kevin Hodder, also return.

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