Prime Video Flexes YA Synergy As ‘Elle’, ‘Off Campus’ & ‘Every Year After’ Stars Turn Out For Inaugural Fan Event Obsessed Fest
Prime Video’s Obsessed Fest fan event at nya Studios in Los Angeles was for the fangirls, and it’s evident that the streamer has begun to create its own ecosystem of romance, summer settings, book adaptations, coming of age stories and returning stars for various projects.
Overcompensating writer, star and creator Benito Skinner kicked off the lineup of panels at nya Studios in Los Angeles — which has been home to Hello Sunshine’s annual ShineAway event, previously — both with a small introduction and then as a panelist for his show, which has a second season in the works. He was joined by his costars Mary Beth Barone, Wally Baram and Owen Thiele.
“We can embrace our talent, and it is a talent of watching eight to 12 episodes in one sitting,” Skinner said in his opening remarks. “Did y’all watch Overcompensating in one sitting? Good. And you can wear a diaper if necessary, I think that’s cool. We’ve all been there.”
Later on during the “Over It, Into It”panel discussing his show, Skinner reminisced on one of his favorite scenes in season one which involves him finding out some disappointing news that allows him to come out to Carmen (Baram).
“I wrote Carmen as an ode to the women that have created safe spaces for queer people until they can relly find people like the character of George,” he said, also noting that he named her after his godmother, Carmen, who passed away in college before he could come out to her. “That day on set, I just had this feeling of, we’ve nailed something, which is a first heartbreak and a friend that’s there for you. Women have created such amazing safe spaces for queer people forever.”
The casts and showrunners of recent hit shows Off Campus, Every Year After and Maxton Hall were in attendance along with upcoming titles including Hello Sunshine’s Legally Blonde prequel Elle as well as a Jenny Han reunion of sorts for The Devil’s Mouth, which stars Gavin Casalegno (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Lana Condor (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, XO Kitty). The Jeff Wadlow survival thriller, which also stars Kathryn Newton, is a co-production with Lionsgate and one of the projects not based on a book.
This comes a day after Amazon executives took a victory lap for the success of these YA shows. Peter Friedlander, Head of TV, Amazon MGM Studios said there was a halo effect from Off Campus on Every Year After. “One success begets another,” he said.
Events, meet and greets, panels and activations were divided into the three main categories of film and tv, book adaptations (with author signings) and musical experiences — plugging Amazon Music as their streaming service branch. There was also a red carpet with most of the talent in the packed lineup.
Your Fault: London star Asha Banks, whose song, “Too Busy Missing You” plays in season one of Off Campus, called the event an opportunity to “meet all of the other casts and cross pollinate and say hi in the multiverse of Prime Video” ahead of a performance of her song. Banks has A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder season three coming to Netflix sooner rather than later because they filmed the second and third season back to back, just as the Your Fault: London and Our Fault: London have been shot closely together.
Off Campus is in the thick of production on its second season, which received an early renewal ahead of the launch of season one, and Every Year After was officially renewed for a second season, which will follow Charlie’s (Michael Bradway) novel and love story, One Golden Summer. On the carpet, Matt Cornett, who plays the younger brother Sam Florek in Every Year After, expressed what he would hope to see for Charlie in a season two before the renewal news broke, calling attention to “redemption” and a “softer side” of the older Florek brother.
For those deep in the Prime Video cinematic universe, it also might be worth noting that Cornett (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) and Gavin Casalegno, who portrays Jeremiah Fisher — another younger summer brother — in The Summer I Turned Pretty, once lived together as roommates.
Every Summer After author Carley Fortune, whose book inspired Every Year After was also present, as were Red White And Royal Blue author Casey McQuiston, The Last Sunrise author Anna Todd, Your Fault: London and Drawn Together (Enfrentados: Marfil) author Mercedes Ron, who has a first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios, to promote their various film adaptations.
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Panels were divided into categories such as “Passport Stamped” which focused on projects like Your Fault: London, Drawn Together, The Last Sunrise and Maxton Hall, all of which had cast in attendance.
The authors participated in a “Page to Screen Panel,” and the “Dear Book Boyfriends” panel later brought out Your Fault: London star Matthew Broome and Maxton Hall star Damian Hardung once more to sit and chat with Every Year After’s Matt Cornett and Michael Bradway as well as Off Campus’ Belmont Cameli and Stephen Kalyn — who will take the reins as romantic lead from Cameli in the show’s second season.
Elle Woods herself, Lexi Minetree, represented the next project in the summer lineup, Elle season one, which arrives July 1 right before the holiday weekend. Elle has also been renewed for a second season far in advance. On the red carpet, Minetree teased working with Never Have I Ever star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in season two, claiming the pair probably improvised the most together.
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Back to book adaptations for a moment, The Love Hypothesis film stars Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman were also in attendance to talk their upcoming romantic comedy, which arrives on the streamer Sept. 23, and to unveil the teaser trailer.
Still another upcoming project for Prime Video that fall in the Venn diagram of YA content, book adaptations, Canadian settings and romance includes Megan Park’s (My Old Ass) Sterling Point, which takes place on a mysterious island in Canada not unlike that of Beechwood Island in We Were Liars. A teaser sneak peek scene of Ella Rubin’s Annie and Amélie Hoeferle’s Ramona.
We Were Liars, based on the bestselling novel by E. Lockhart, is currently in production on its second season, but unlike with Off Campus, the cast didn’t take a break from filming in Nova Scotia, Canada, which serves as the real life setting for Beechwood. And don’t get Beechwood Island confused for Barry’s Bay, the setting for Every Year After, also in Canada, which Prime Video has opted to return to as well. Every Year After has thus far shot in Bowen Island, British Columbia. Off Campus shoots in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadian connections can be found in Off Campus and Every Summer After authors, both of whom hail from the country. Overcompensating season 2 is filming in Toronto.
The streamer has some plans for projects in the vein of Obsess Fest past summertime, such as the Christopher Briney and Michelle Randolph-starring Clashing Through the Snow. Maxton Hall: The World Between Us will return for its third and final season in December 2026, as announced by Damian Hardung, who plays James M. Beaufort in the series.
While Deadline spoke to a majority of the talent present at Obsessed Fest, a carpet was held Friday night with other outlets and influencers in a less hectic setting for interviews.
To bring it all home, musically, Jennifer Lopez made a surprise appearance to perform “On the Floor,” which had a moment in season one of Off Campus with Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla). The synergy does not end there, because JLo’s This Is Me Now: A Love Story (2024) was a Prime Video project and streams there exclusively. The Beaches, whose song “Edge of the Earth” also took off from its feature in the hockey romance show, followed with an acoustic set, though it could be argued that JLo opened for The Beaches.
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