Amazon clearly spared no expense with their Upfront as celebrated DJ and record producer Diplo warmed up the crowd for the streamer’s evening event.
Kacey Musgraves soon followed with performance of Dry Spell and Butterflies that reminded the crowd that this is no longer your television mother’s Upfront.
That was reinforced when Oprah Winfrey opened the show after striking a podcast deal with Amazon’s Wondery and rapper Ice Spice turned up to promote Twitch and Shaboozey was shilling for Prime Sports.
In an even more meta moment, Amazon interrupted its own Upfront with actual ads with Summer House star Paige DeSorbo flogging certain items to an increasingly frustrated audience.
The company went full in on sports, much like Fox, particularly NFL, bringing NFL MVP and LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford on stage alongside its Thursday Night Football hosts Charissa Thompson, Andrew Whitworth and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It was nearly an hour in before Amazon talked scripted television, bringing out the cast of Off Campus, which was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere.
Then came Global Head of TV Peter Friedlander and Head of Film Courtenay Valenti.
Friedlander noted the success of shows such as The Summer I Turned Pretty, which he called a “cultural phenomenon” that is now being turned into a movie.
“One of the things we do better than anyone in entertainment is reaching young adult audiences. These are the viewers shaping culture in real time, driving conversation, building fandoms, and bringing brands along for the ride,” he added.
The former Neflix exec highlighted its books-to-screen pipeline. “Many of those stories did start on screen, they started on the page, and that’s the Amazon advantage. Through our store, Audible and Kindle, we have a direct line to what fans are reading and loving. When we adapt these stories for Prime Video, the engagement is immediate,” he added.
Chris Pratt turned up to reveal that The Terminal List is finally returning to the service in October, over four years after season one premiered.
Friedlander then plugged The Boys spinoff Vought Rising, Reacher spinoff Neagley, Charlie Hunnam-led Criminal and its Carrie adaptation.
Meghann Fahy then joined Jane Krakowski in pulling double duty, having previously been at the NBCUniversal Upfront, but was promoting feature film You Deserve Each Other, part of Valenti’s latest slate.
Michael B. Jordan then closed things out with three major projects: Muhammad Ali drama series The Greatest, starring Jaalen Best as the boxer, Fourth Wing and Creed series spinoff Delphi.
“As you all know, we live in some challenging times, and I think a lot about what I’m going to leave behind and the impact that I have on the people around me. One man comes to mind when I think of the impact and work. I’m so thankful that I get to be a small part of telling the story of legendary Muhammad Ali. No athlete, no celebrity, no public figure, had an impact quite like Ali,” he said.
It was déjà vu as Amazon closed out its Upfront with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last year, The Terminator star was in New York to shill for The Man With The Bag but had to be pulled off stage by his True Lies colleague Jamie Lee Curtis. He was back this year to promote the same film, which was a good analogy for Upfront week.