Sacramento comic debuts special on YouTube, not Amazon Prime Video. Here’s what happened

Sacramento comedian Marcus ”Mars” Parker performed in a comedy special he thought was going to be available on Amazon: Prime Video in September.

He uploaded his video through a Prime Video Direct account which indicated his title was submitted.

He also promoted the show on social media. The Sacramento Bee published a story about the show on Sept. 21, ahead of the premiere date Parker announced.

That weekend Parker’s phone became busy with calls and messages when people who searched for his debut special “I’m a Grown Ass Man” on the streaming app, but couldn’t find it.

“The title is currently not live on Prime Video,” an Amazon representative told The Sacramento Bee in an email.

The representative said the company could not give details about the reasons why the title was unavailable on the platform because of privacy matters.

However The Bee confirmed that Parker and his team submitted the video through the Prime Video Direct content submission portal. The representative advised for Parker or the owner of the profile to check the account for further information.

Prime Video Direct is a platform helping independent filmmakers, content creators and visual storytellers to reach millions of Prime Video customers worldwide, potentially earning revenue from their views.

Parker said the account with his uploaded comedy special showed a submitted status and he thought the video would have been live on Prime Video.

Prime Video Direct guidelines state that submitting content doesn’t guarantee that it will be published by a certain date or even selected for licensing. The guidelines explain that once a title is approved, it then becomes available and searchable on Prime Video within 24 to 48 hours.

The guidelines say a title should only be marketed as “available on Prime Video” when the title is approved and selected for licensing.

Parker apologized for any confusion via an Instagram post, and announced that his comedy special would be uploaded to YouTube instead.

“We feel like we’ve created a great piece of content that we still want to put out there and give people a chance to enjoy, hopefully continue to support,” Parker said.

Shortly after stint taking improv classes, Parker began doing stand-up comedy in 2013. When not on stage he continues to entertain his audience through his social media accounts such as TikTok and Instagram.

Parker told his social media followers that his debut comedy special would also be available on Only Fans, a subscription-based social media platform where users can sell original content for profit. Parker said those who purchase the special on the platform could receive tickets to his next upcoming show.

This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 12:14 PM.