Nothing really signals a massive global content flex quite like rolling out the red carpet on the hallowed turf of the MCG.
On Wednesday evening, AFL royalty traded their muddy boots and strapping tape for tailored suits (or at least maybe a collar) to celebrate the world premiere of Final Siren: Inside the AFL.
Superstars Max Gawn, Marcus Bontempelli, and recently retired Fremantle great Nat Fyfe walked the turf alongside AFL chief executive officer Andrew Dillon and Prime Video executives Sarah Christie and Hwei Loke.
Absent from the event, but heavily featured in the series, Toby Greene, Touk Miller, Cam Rayner and Dayne Zorko were certainly there in spirit.
Marcus Bontempelli of the Bulldogs, former Docker, Nat Fyfe and Max Gawn of the Demons at the premiere. Image: supplied
The corporate machinery of Amazon mingling with the tribal lords of the AFL signals a major play to export Australia’s most fiercely guarded code to 240 countries and territories.
Produced by the Emmy Award-winning team at Box To Box in association with GoodThing Productions, the four-part series drops Friday, February 27, on Prime Video. The project aims to do for footy what Formula 1: Drive to Survive did for motorsport.
Mediaweek sat down with Paul Martin, co-founder of Box To Box, and Sarah Christie, head of local originals for Australia and New Zealand at Amazon MGM Studios, to discuss the commercial and creative mechanics of the highly anticipated docuseries.
Head of local originals for ANZ at Amazon MGM Studios, Sarah Christie and co-founder of Box To Box, Paul Martin. Image: supplied
The perfect storm for a new sports docuseries
The collaboration originated a few years ago. Martin had been in Australia shooting the F1 for Drive to Survive and the tennis for Break Point, and had met Beth Wallis from the AFL. Wallace invited him to a game and placed him right in the middle of the action.
“From the outside, it just looks like Aussie men in cut-off sleeveless tops beating the hell out of each other,” Martin said. “But when you get on the inside of it, you realise the skill levels, the athleticism, the uniqueness of the game.”
For Amazon Prime Video, the partnership made immediate strategic sense. The platform has launched 31 Australian originals since 2019, including three previous projects with the AFL. Christie noted that the Box To Box track record with series like Faceoff: Inside the NHL gave the local team immense confidence.
Of course, I mean, these are the guys who make Formula 1: Drive to Survive!
“Taking a sport that’s so iconic and deeply embedded in the cultural fabric of Australia, seeing those crowds roar in the stadium, but then putting that beautiful craft and storytelling skills to really deliver a very, very character-led series offers something very different to what we’ve seen before,” Christie said.
Selling the game to a global audience
Of course, AFL is a hyper-local obsession. It’s fully tribal. Taking that sort of thing to a global audience requires a specific narrative strategy. And Martin believes the secret lies in focusing on the human element rather than the sport itself.
“If you can build a story around them as people, and that’s what we’ve always tried to do, it becomes about the people,” Martin explained. “If you can make them care about these athletes as individuals, they will then start to care about the sport.”
He pointed out that viewers often come to these series because they relate to the off-field struggles. Audiences connect with players facing family pressures or professional doubts.
AFL executive GM of customer and commercial, Bec Haagsma and AFL chief executive, Andrew Dillon enjoyed the show. Image: supplied
Navigating club access and locker room trust
Securing inner-sanctum access is notoriously difficult in professional sports. Martin views this access as a privilege rather than a right.
“They have to find a reason to do it,” Martin said. “They have to have a story they want to tell, and they have to have a big reason to get involved in these shows.”
Box To Box found themselves in exactly the right place at the right time, capturing the Brisbane Lions during their second straight premiership run. But not every club always agrees to participate in these productions. Some view the cameras as an intrusion and a potential distraction.
Martin has a pretty solid comeback to the naysayers. He counters by referencing athletes like Nick Kyrgios, who experienced his career-best form while filming Break Point.
Christie highlighted a particularly emotional storyline involving Nat Fyfe during his final season, after the Dockers’ crushing defeat to the Gold Coast. She recalled tearing up while watching the first cut of the episode.
“This is a real legacy piece for Nat Fyfe,” Christie said. “The beauty of sitting there in the locker room after Nat’s final game and seeing the support from his teammates and the love in the room is incredibly special.”
Holding nerve in the edit
Condensing the better part of the 2025 Toyota AFL premiership season into four episodes is a monumental task. The Box To Box production team captured a vast amount of footage during the shoot. Martin stresses the importance of discipline in the field and the edit suite.
“The key to making these shows is not get distracted by the noise,” Martin said.
He explained that every weekend might feel like the most important part of the season, but producers must hold their nerve and stick to the core stories they decided to track. Turning the camera toward every headline simply results in an unfocused final product.
Hwei Loke and Sarah Christie at the Amazon Prime premiere. Image: supplied
A collaborative cultural translation
Balancing local authenticity with global appeal required tight collaboration. Christie described a robust dialogue between the Australian, American, and global production teams.
“There are little cultural nuances where you go, ‘Oh no, when he said that to the ref, you’ve got to leave it in, because in Australia that means this‘,” Christie explained.
The premiere screening validated their approach. The premiere screening event at the MCG included both diehard fans and international executives discovering the sport for the first time.
Sarah observed American colleagues walking out feeling energised and eager to learn the rules on TikTok! And of course, to follow the next season.
Both Martin and Christie are eager to see how audiences respond before confirming a second season, but they remain confident in the final product. They certainly managed to compress an incredible amount of drama into four tight episodes without losing the heart of the game.
But if this series turns out to be a global ‘screamer’, then maybe season two will feature a few more episodes to keep the fans happy.
All four episodes of Final Siren: Inside the AFL launch on Friday, February 27, on Prime Video.