A NASCAR series starring Dennis Quaid, a brand new sports docuseries in regards to the Latest Orleans Saints, a possible series based on the Bannerman novels and an update on the Point Break TV series are all on the menu from AMC Global Media, in the corporate’s first upfront presentation under its recent brand name.
The corporate hosted its upfront in Latest York’s Tribeca neighborhood Wednesday, gathering advertisers, media buyers, distribution partners and most of the company’s stars in a single room.
And it had programming news to share as well, including an extra push into sports-adjacent programming with a scripted family drama series called Thunder Road starring Dennis Quaid, set on this planet of NASCAR, and a brand new installment of its Rise docuseries focused on the Latest Orleans Saints.
AMC launched its first Rise series, in regards to the San Francisco 49ers, earlier this 12 months. The corporate also picked up TNA wrestling rights. Dan McDermott, chief content officer of AMC Global Media and president of AMC Studios, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the upfront, says that the corporate isn’t going to be bidding for the NBA or NFL, however it still wants to search out an area to play within the sports genre, citing its efforts to this point.
“They could seem somewhat bit disparate, but they’re all interconnected because all of them service the three primary pillars of an AMC show, which is 1): A ‘lightning in a bottle’ character which you can placed on a poster and everybody knows. That’s Don Draper, that’s Walter White, that’s Eve Villanelle, Rick Grimes, that’s Duncan Park. That’s Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice. And in Thunder Road, that’s Dennis Quaid, who plays Duayne Whitlock,” says McDermott.
The exec adds, “The second is that our shows take people, take the audience, into a novel world or subculture that they haven’t seen before … After which the third pillar is that, yes, we wish to be entertaining and fun, but we don’t need to be disposable entertainment. We wish our shows to say something in regards to the world we live in, to have resonant thematics and concepts and beliefs that actually provides ballast and import to the shows. I feel you may see that going all the best way back to Mad Men.”
“Sports is the nice uniter during big periods of divide. And I don’t think now’s any different than it was within the 60s, when Sports Illustrated was launched, and even before, like whenever you’re coming through a period of giant strife and divide, and what we’re all living through now, sports is a moment that brings everyone back together,” adds Kim Kelleher, president and chief industrial officer for AMC Global Media. “And I feel like there’s the storytelling of sports, which is our entry. Dan is correct, we’re not going to bid for NFL rights, but we will tell the story behind the greats. I feel that we’re on to something very exciting here.”
Thunder Road will debut next 12 months, as will Rise of the Saints.
In fact, AMC isn’t shying away from its bread and butter scripted dramas either. The corporate announced the event of a series based on the Bannerman spy novels by bestselling writer John Maxim.
Filmmaker Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 2) is attached to direct and executive produce with Craig Silverstein attached as creator and showrunner. The novels follow a charismatic former CIA spy named John Bannerman who’s reluctantly pulled back into that world.
“It’s a criminal offense story, however it’s really character-centric, and it’s funny in addition to dramatic,” McDermott says of the concept. “We all know that audiences love these sorts of stories.”
And he said that the Point Break series could debut as soon as 2027.
“We’re pushing really fast on Point Break,” he says. “We’ve got an excellent script. We’re hoping to be in production, let’s call it end of this 12 months, top of next 12 months in Australia, which is their summer.”
AMC modified its name from AMC Networks to AMC Global Media earlier this 12 months, in recognition of the incontrovertible fact that the linear TV channels are less central to its strategy, given its move to lean into its area of interest streaming offerings, and its willingness to sell programming to others.
The corporate is rolling out a brand new ad option based on a user’s first first stream of a show, the primary time they may sit down and watch.
“A premiere is the primary time anyone sits all the way down to watch something,” says Evan Adlman, executive VP of business sales and revenue operations for AMC Global Media. “The user’s, the viewer’s, attention and engagement in this system is at its highest once they first start watching it.”
“From a viewer standpoint, we just want it to be seamless, we just want them to see the nice shows the studios are putting out and we’ve shouldered that for various years, and I feel like in today’s fragmented market, that now’s the profit we’re seeing,” Kelleher adds. “I feel marketers have gotten more sophisticated, they usually want that first stream, but they need it all over the place. So that they don’t just want it in a linear environment or a digital-only environment or a CTV-only environment, like they need that first stream all over the place. How do I actually own that premiere?”
The corporate also had another news to share, including the launch of an AMC+ app for the Meta Quest headset, and an expanded partnership with the Sphere in Las Vegas (which shares common ownership with AMC within the Dolan family). The Sphere partnership will once more see AMC branding (and partner branding) on the Sphere’s exosphere around Halloween, and this 12 months around the vacations as well.
The corporate can be planning an event for June at Latest York’s Beacon Theater called The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only – LIVE, which can include a live performance from actor Sam Reid as Lestat, and a screening of the premiere episode.
“I feel this audience is more passionate than any we have now across the portfolio,” says AMC Global Media CMO Kim Granito. “So this complete campaign, and particularly the Beacon event, is a give back to the fans. We’re doing it for them.”