Amazon Prime Video’s new action-comedy “Jackpot!” is stuffed with pop culture references, movie homages and fun Easter eggs for industry insiders. It’s also packed with brand mentions, from Airbnb to El Pollo Loco to Shinola, and that’s by design, according to producer-director Paul Feig.
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Feig, the seasoned multihyphenate behind “Bridesmaids,” 2016’s “Ghostbusters” and “The Heat,” explained that such cultural specificity is important to grounding characters in the real world. That can be particularly important in farcical vehicles like “Jackpot!,” which is set five years in the future in Los Angeles.
Speaking Wednesday as part of the Amazon Ads Immersion Day event in Culver City, Feig pointed to the old days of 1970s and ‘80s TV when brand names on consumer products were often clumsily obscured with masking tape. Much has changed since then.
“You want movies and TV to look like the world around you. And so suddenly if you’re forcing in these kind of fake brands, it feels odd,” Feig said during a 30-minute Q&A on brand building and popular culture that he did with co-star Awkwafina and moderator Cynthia Littleton, Variety co-editor in chief.
Moreover, brand integration deals in movies and TV shows can be a vital source of income for Hollywood at a time of spiraling production costs. A pact with high-end watchmaker Shinola, whose timepiece was sported in “Jackpot!” by co-star John Cena, came in handy in the clutch, Feig revealed.
“We did a deal with Shinola. John Cena is wearing the Shinola watch. We get to post-production and we want another song [for the soundtrack] and we don’t have the money for it. And then [Shinola] ponies up some extra money for that. I got no problem with that,” Feig said. “No free watches though,” he added.
The Immersion Day event featured a programming lineup focused on fostering brand loyalty. In October, Amazon Ads plans to host its second annual UnBoxed gathering, a two-day advertising conference in Austin, Texas.
On Wednesday, Awkwafina addressed the importance of artists establishing themselves as a brand to generate fandom. For her, it all starts with the creative spark and her ability to communicate directly via social media. The key is “to constantly be in charge of your own content,” Awkwafina said. “When you do that, you simultaneously establish yourself and when you know that people are watching your stuff, there is inherently an authenticity.”
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“Jackpot!” was an opportunity to stretch of her muscles in part because it was such a physically demanding role. The character of Katie Kim is an aspiring actress who winds up becoming a California lottery winner – only to learn that everyone in the state is legally allowed to try to murder her to collect the prize. Awkwafina takes and delivers many a blow in the Amazon MGM Studios movie that dropped Aug. 15 on Prime Video’s worldwide platform.
“I started my fitness journey on this movie,” Awkwafina quipped. “This was the punch-out workout.”
Feig first made his mark with distinctive work on such shows as NBC’s “Freaks and Geeks,” “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” He emphasized the importance of bringing a strong personal POV to all projects. And he suggested that creatives get adventurous to avoid being pigeonholed.
“I like jumping genres all the time,” Feig said. “You have to have your voice in comedy and then you have to get it across even though you’re doing very different projects.”
Feig told the crowd of marketers, advertisers and business leaders who gathered at the Culver Theater that he’s more aware than ever of how the new world of on-demand viewing is changing consumer behavior.
There’s no question that pacing and producing a film designed for a streaming audience is different than for titles designed to premiere in theaters.
At the multiplex, “you get a good 20 minutes before somebody storms out. But on streaming, it’s literally like, ‘Man, what am I watching?” So I always like to shoot my movies out of the cannon. I have something big happen upfront so it hooks you in,” he said.
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