On December 3rd, Amazon Prime Video launched their new series Harlem. This show is about four girl best friends showing the power of black girl magic in life and in friendship.
Leading Up to the Premiere of Harlem on Amazon Prime Video
The premiere was a four-day event that took place in the newly renovated Harlem Parish, an intimate, amazing architectural event space. One of the highlights for this premiere was Amazon Prime Video choosing to collaborate with 5 Black-owned businesses for this project, EDEN BodyWorks being one of them. The four other businesses selected were Harlem Candle Company, Harlem Chocolate Factory, Phenomenal, and Mented Cosmetics. Each company had a pop up experiential activation at the event that made for great photo opportunities.
At the premiere, we offered style cards that gave each character a hair routine based on the way their hair was styled in the show. It included recommendations of our collections with products from EDEN BodyWorks that would be great for consumers who want to try to achieve that look.
At the premiere we were able to get a sneak peek of the show the day before its release on Amazon Prime Video. The producer of this show is none other than Tracy Oliver, who wrote for the film Girls Trip. At the panel, she shared with us that she purposefully released the film first to show that people were ready for a show like Harlem. Tracy not only proved everyone wrong, but went on to break records with Girls Trip, the first film written by a black woman to surpass $100 million dollars in the box office.
In Harlem, Tracy brings the comedy but also gets into the real life occurrences within the community. Gentrification is a big topic that communities like Harlem face, as members of the community fight to preserve the history behind the neighborhoods. The main character in the show Camille, a professor played by Meagan Good, is known for being an activist for women empowerment while also using her voice to speak up the gentrification that’s happening around her. The show also tackles hot topics like entrepreneurship, chasing your dreams, and dating to name a few. For example, Tye, played by Jerrie Johnson, is the owner of a dating app for queer people of color. She feels like there is a safety in knowing that everyone on the app is on a similar page. While Quinn, a budding fashion designer, is housing her BFF Angie, who is a rising singer. So many personalities, yet very familiar characteristics to people we all know.
The panels at the event were both amazing and empowering. The first panel included Tracy Oliver and the cast of Harlem. The cast includes Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Shoniqua Shandai, and Jerrie Johnson. The cast gave more insight into their characters and the representation each of them brought in portraying black women in the media. It was interesting hearing the backstory behind writing the script along with how Tracy came to select these women to embody the characters.
Kimberly Goldson, a fashion designer from Brooklyn, was a guest speaker on another panel that was hosted during the event. Kimberly and her sister Shelly discussed the struggles they faced starting their own business, and shared the realities of working in the fashion industry. They also shared that their hard work paid off when they announced that their clothes are now available in Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Ave. A piece of advice that they gave was to take time for self care, and not to allow yourself to burnout. Remember. it is okay to step away from work every now and then to come up for air.
In addition to the panels, there were a few activities for the guests like yoga and painting. The yoga classes came with a free yoga mat and carrying case. The paint and sip classes were a hit with the guests and very enjoyable to watch. Throughout the day, there were raffles for people to win Phenomenally Harlem tee shirts as well.
A BIG thank you to Tracy Oliver for adding more depth and personality to Black women for making each of them the main character in their own lives. It’s an amazing show and the early reviews seem to agree.
“A smart, sleek, and sharp comedy about living single in the city” – Entertainment Weekly
“STREAM IT. Harlem may feel like a show that you’ve seen before, but the four stars are more than charming enough, and the writing is clever enough, to make the show stand on its own.” – Decider
Stay up to date with the latest at HarlemEverAfter.com.
Are you watching? We hope so! We’re eager for Season 2 already.