Prime Video’s global bet: 'Trying to make a show for everybody makes a show for nobody'

One thing that streaming has brought to the world of entertainment is the expansion of the global scope of TV and movies. People sitting at home, around the world, can enjoy shows like the U.S.-based Prime Video hit The Summer I Turned Pretty, the Toronto-filmed series The Boys, or the Spanish-language Cupables movie trilogy, all proven international successes.

Proof of the impact of great storytelling, regardless of the language or setting, is evident at events like CCXP in Brazil, where fans showcase their affection for their favourite shows and movies from around the world. Brazil, specifically, is a market that serves as a brilliant melting pot for global fandom.

"This is super exciting. The energy out there is so infectious and palpable," Nicole Clemens, VP and Head of International Originals at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said during a panel at CCXP in Brazil. "It's a fantastic opportunity, because Brazil, the audience is so passionate and engaged with not just global content, but Brazilian content, which really exemplifies our strategy, which is to bring our global content to Brazil ... and then also to have the Brazilian content be made global as well."

It's that focus on global content that has proven successful for Prime Video, with a strategy that feels particularly unique to the company in the competitive streaming landscape, marked by successes such as the German-language series Maxton Hall and the Spanish Cupables trilogy. Clemens and Javiera Balmaceda, Head of Local Originals for Latin America, Canada and Australia for Amazon Studios (who's also Pedro Pascal's sister), stressed that "passion" and "authentic" storytelling are what they truly support, regardless of the location or language.

"It's so great to see when the audience takes the show that you created, and then makes it their own," Balmaceda said. "I think that is the epitome of success, and we're learning a lot about finding that local storytelling that feels very authentic to the audience, ... that's entertaining and intelligent, that makes it a breakout around the world."

"When you have a country that engages with content from all around the world and also creates content that other countries engage with, ... it's a perfect example of what we try to do," Clemens added. "The shows that become the most global are shows that are really, really specific and authentic to their culture. And they ... a universal theme to them. ... But in the execution, it's absolutely precise, and then that becomes what goes global."

'You realize how much we have in common'

While this kind of global thinking certainly helps with Prime Video's diversity efforts, Balmaceda highlighted that it's really a matter of representing what the world and local communities really look like.

"When you start showing what your population actually looks like, ... what is true is you're just showing the capabilities and the possibilities of everyone, and the exact reflection of the population," Balmaceda said. "I think that's what we're striving for, is telling really great stories from each country and showing that perspective. [These are] the people that you see every day."

Clemens echoed Balmaceda's comments and stressed that the more specific a story is about the community it represents, the greater its impact will be, both locally and abroad.

"Trying to make a show for everybody makes a show for nobody," Clemens said. "And so the more specific and local a show is, the more reach it has in terms of its growth."

"And so I think what we're really seeing in terms of the growth of global is how engaged audiences are worldwide. ... When you see diversity, when you see all this representation, and you realize how much we have in common, and it opens up doors for hearing ... more stories around the world ... That starts with not trying to be something for somebody, but truly being yourself."

Looking forward, Prime Video's upcoming global content includes English-language content like Guy Ritchie's Young Sherlock, the final season of The Boys, and Spider-Noir starring Nicolas Cage, in addition to the Italian original film Love Me, Love Me, and the Spanish-language series The House of the Spirits, starring Nicole Wallace.