Client: Amazon
Agency: Freeman / Sparks
Venue: Beacon Theater, New York City
When Amazon returned to Freeman and Sparks for their second annual upfront presentation, they wanted to elevate every aspect of the experience. The goal was to showcase Amazon’s vast entertainment universe—spanning Prime Video, Twitch, Amazon MGM Studios, Wondery, and Amazon Music—while demonstrating how reach, first-party signals, innovative ad tech, and storytelling converge to connect brands with premium content and a growing global portfolio of live sports… enter full funnel advertising.
With 2,000 advertisers and media buyers in the Beacon Theater and several thousand more watching via live stream, this wasn’t just a presentation—it was a high-energy spectacle designed to make a statement about Amazon’s position in the streaming and advertising landscape.
GXP’s Role: Executive Show Producer
For Year 2, we oversaw everything that happened on stage. We led a team of 20 directly responsible for scenic design, content management, talent coordination, and flawless execution of a meticulously choreographed 1-hour show featuring 45 A-list celebrities and approximately 200 production cues.
The Opener: Motorcycles, Steadicam, and Lizzo
Before the main presentation even began, Steve Aoki performed a DJ set to welcome everyone and set the tone. We then kicked off the show with an ambitious 3-minute open that required closing the streets around the Beacon Theater.
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa arrived on motorcycles, filmed live with multiple steadicams as they dismounted, walked through the theater lobby, and entered the venue, all in real time. The sequence culminated with Lizzo performing live on stage, surrounded by stand-in dancers and a parade of talent from the show joining her.
The entire opener was loosely scripted and rehearsed with talent exactly once. It was bold, it was risky, and it immediately signaled that this wasn’t going to be a typical corporate presentation.
Scenic Design: Dynamic LED Architecture
One of our earliest wins was the scenic design. We presented two concepts to Amazon, and they loved our first option so much that it was locked in immediately with no further discussion, a rarity in client presentations.
The design maximized the Beacon Theater’s stage with eight large-format LED walls:
- Five tower/pillar walls with integrated lighting towers between each, creating a theatrical and wow’ing experience
- One large 16:9 wall for full-resolution standard/movie video playback
- Two tower walls dedicated to IMAG (image magnification) for live camera feeds
Three of the screens were rigged with automation, allowing them to fly in and out during the show. This added a dynamic, kinetic quality to the visual storytelling and supported key transitions with complementary lighting effects. The content displayed across these walls wasn’t decorative—it was the show. Every visual moment was intentionally designed and programmed.
Content Management: Innovation Behind the Scenes
Managing approximately 1,000 custom-produced video assets for a live show of this scale required technical innovation. We designed a media server system with offline editing and programming capabilities that could be pushed to the online machines running the show.
The Old Way: Rehearsals would pause so the media server team could program changes. Content producers would have to leave the theater, sit with the server operators, and review their work on a local monitor.
The New Way: We built an offline programming environment so changes could be made in the background without stopping rehearsals. We also implemented NDI feeds that allowed content producers to stay in the theater and see both the live screens and the programming feed simultaneously in real time. This was a game-changer for quality control. Segments with rapidly changing content could be programmed and checked ahead of time while rehearsals continued uninterrupted.
Talent Management: White-Glove Service for 45 A-Listers
Our talent team managed:
- Ground transportation and hotel accommodations (coordinated months in advance with final details locked weeks out)
- Rider requirements and hospitality fulfillment
- Preprinted scripts and briefing documents delivered upon arrival
- Green room decor and uplevelling, assignments/allocations, and backstage movement coordination
- Real-time tracking to ensure every talent was on their mark, on time
The result? We never had to worry about where anyone was. The talent team was on it.
The Cast:
Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Octavia Spencer, Michael B. Jordan, John Cena, Jamie Lee Curtis, Blake Griffin, Andrew Whitworth, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Udonis Haslem, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and more, plus 20 Rockettes who performed a custom-choreographed 2-minute dance number tied to the Fallout series’ “New Vegas” theme, complete with custom costumes shipped from the West Coast.
The Arnold Schwarzenegger Moment
Even with meticulous planning, live events have a life of their own. Arnold Schwarzenegger was scripted for a 90-second segment. Instead, he went completely off-book and delivered what felt like a 6-minute stand-up performance, ignoring the teleprompter entirely.
The audience loved it. Backstage, we pivoted in real time and sent Jamie Lee Curtis out early to reign him back in and get us back on track. She was eventually supposed to join him on stage, but not in the way or timing we’d planned. Her recovery was seamless, and the show ran only a few minutes long. A small price to pay for a moment of genuine, unscripted charisma that the room absolutely ate up.
The Technical Execution
Our production utilized:
- 12 cameras (including multiple steadicams) with a full broadcast truck
- ASL Interpretation and Live Closed Captioning
- 200 cues across a 90% scripted show
- One day of executive rehearsals plus a full tech rehearsal day
The Impact
Amazon’s 2025 Upfront wasn’t just a presentation. It was a demonstration of production excellence that matched the scale and ambition of Amazon’s entertainment portfolio.
Press coverage was overwhelmingly positive. Client feedback was simple: “We nailed it.”
From the motorcycle entrance to the flying LED walls to managing 45 A-list talents and 1,000 content assets, every element of the production reinforced Amazon’s message: they are a premium, innovative, and unmissable force in streaming and advertising.
